Just found out...Cory has scoliosis!

[DammitJanet]

When Cory was conceived, I didnt know I was pregnant and had Xrays for a chest infection. Several of them. I had a very bad case of pneumonia. I was also put on a very strong narcotic cough medicine. Later that month I found out I was pregnant. My Ob/gyn recommended to me that I might want to consider terminating the pregnancy. Tony and I talked it over but we just couldnt do it, this was our child and we would deal with whatever happened.

Never were we so glad to see all the correct parts, in all the correct places when he was born...or so we thought.

When he was around six months old we noticed that his shoulder looked like he had broken it. His left arm hung limply to his side and both his feet turned in from the mid-arch to the tip of his toes. It looked like they were pointing at each other. I dont remember the exact name but it was something like a metatarsal rotation. The shoulder problem was later found out to be something called Sprengels Deformity.

At age four, he underwent an 11 hour surgery to have his shoulder blade reconstructed by having two ligaments removed from his arm and leg and attached to his shoulder blade at his arm, shoulder and spine with screws. He took over 5 hours in the recovery room because he wouldnt come out of anesthesia properly because he has some american indian in him.

He was only supposed to get back about 70% use of that arm but being the obstinate difficult child he is, he has about 90 back.

Now all his life he has had problems with his bones and joints. His ankles bother him, his back has bothered him but we always thought...well yeah...you had that surgery! You cant expect to feel like a regular kid.

Today he went to a pain doctor because his regular doctor sent him there because she took Xrays and said that is where he should go. This is a really stupid guy I used to go to and fired because he is such a quack but I didnt say anything in case he has improved. He hasnt but he did look at Cory's Xrays and told him he has scoliosis. However, he told him he wouldnt do anything for it because he is an adult! Just live with it.

I told Cory when he got in the car that we would just get rid of this doctor and get him to an ortho doctor who actually deals with ortho problems and not just a quack pain doctor.

No wonder Cory walks all hunched over. I always thought it was his baggy jeans.

 

[donna723]

The scoliosis may not have had anything to do with the other problems when he was younger. They told my daughter the same thing and she was fit to be tied! This is a girl who practically lived in the doctors offices for one thing or another when she was a kid. She never had very good posture but she was tall and skinny and that just sort of went with it. She's a nurse and not one of these doctors she saw when she was younger ever told her that she had scoliosis until she hurt her shoulder working in the ER and was sent to an orthopedic specialist! By this time she was in her early 20's. She was just furious! This doctor told her that, had it been caught when she was younger, it could have been treated, but at her age, not much he could do now. It came back to haunt her when she had her baby a few months ago. When they went to give her the epidural, they had to stick that big needle in her back THREE TIMES before they finally hit the right spot ... because of the scoliosis!

I'm so sorry that Cory has to contend with this and I hope the ortho doctor can help him. You would think that after having all those other problems treated when he was younger, they would have noticed it sooner!

 

[DammitJanet]

Cory is tall and skinny too but so was Jamie.

 

[GoingNorth]

Mild scoliosis may not have symptoms in childhood. Untreated, it worsens with age.

That said, uneven shoulders are a red flag for the disorder.

I have kyphosis, which is scoliosis of the upper back and it wasn't detected until I was in my twenties.

My shoulders are uneven as are my legs.

They often don't correct scoliosis if it is not at risk of impacting organ function (like lung expansion and the like)

CaUght early they can use treatments ranging from braces to surgery to treat it.

I hope they can do something to help Cory.

I've found physical therapy to strenghten the core muscles that support the back to be helpful

 

[Fran]

Scoliosis is treated if the degree of curvature reaches a certain amount. Not all scoliosis is treated with the brace.
My husband has some curvature. His mom who is a nurse never noticed. He said he always felt one arm seemed longer than the other. I noticed when we were newly married that his leg lengths were not the same.
husband always said that the good thing about a nurse as a wife was they knew more about your body than you do.
Hopefully, Cory won't have much of a problem with his curve.

 

[GoingNorth]

Fran is right. Back 45 years ago when I was starting school, they used to screen for scoliosis as part of the entry-exams.

Kids with bad

scoliosis were put into something called a Milwaukee Brace which was supposed to help the spine straighten as it grew.

Mine never bothered me until I started spending so much time hunched in front of first a computer terminal and later more modern keyboards.

The sitting position put a lot of strain on that part of my back. I was extremely active and up until then noticed no problems.

I notice it now because it put add'l strain on my neck and it's gotten arthritic.

My advice to Cory is to see a spinal specialist and to seriously look into physical therapy. It is likely, given the arm trouble, that he's been straining his body in unusual ways and PT can help with that.

 

[TerryJ2]

Well, you're getting a boatload of info about scoliosis!
Yes, you can do something about it even when you're 23.
Chiropractic, physical therapy, braces, surgery, all or none, depending upon the degree of the curve.
Sorry about the dr. Boo, hiss.

Best of luck.

 

[GoingNorth]

I've found chiro to be helpful when I have active soft-tissue pain. "Adjusting" doesn't seem to deal with the actual mechanical problem.

BUT, I have a sideways "S" curve in my mid and upper back. It may be different with the scoliosis

 

[DammitJanet]

I am going to get Cory into my "not so great" GP practice because he really needs a place that will write scripts and make referrals. They are good at that. Really good at that! LOL.

Then we can get him referred to my Ortho doctor who is the number one ortho in our area. I adore him which has to say something considering I am not known for liking many docs...lol. This guy came out of surgery on my knee and found Tony and apologized to him saying he couldnt believe how bad my knee was once he got inside compared to what it looked like on both Xray and MRI. He said I have something called "clear arthritis" and it simply doesnt show well on film. He will never doubt my pain again he said. If it even looks a bit iffy on a film, he will know I am really bad off. He has become a real ally for me.

I saw this doctor today myself and he was like...Janet...where have you been? I havent seen him in close to two years...lol. I just got worn out chasing cures. He took more Xrays, gave me more shots in my knees and my ankle, gave me an ankle brace and told me he is gonna do his best to make me feel some better. I feel better already! LOL.

 

[TerryJ2]

I'm glad you feel better.
Did you get cortisone shots?

Going North, a sideways curve IS a scoliosis. Did I misread your note?

 

[DammitJanet]

Yeah I got the steroid shots...some sort of cortisone but it starts with a T. Your hubby probably knows what it is. It is never just plain cortisone anymore...lol. They have to make it fancy sounding!

I really feel sort of guilty over all of Corys problems ya know. So much of what is wrong with him can be laid squarely at my feet. He is responsible for how he handles things but I gave him his genes and these bone problems are my fault. Sigh. Or I feel that way.

 

[rejectedmom]

Janet, Don't beat yourself up we have no control over our genes not what we are unaware of. I to have a scoliosis and I have passed it on to both of my biological children. One is far worse than I and has a noticable shoulder drop. She also inheritedmy knee problems and has been treated many times with taping and PT. For appearance sake we put a shoulderpad on the low shoulder to make her look even in her clothes. That said she is now a yoga instructor and her posture is way better than it ever was and her back and knees do not bother he much anymore. -RM

 

[KTMom91]

Janet, nothing you did was intentional. You didn't know you were pregnant, and the doctors weren't as careful then. Now they know more about prenatal development. Last month when I had my knee surgery, they made me take a pregnancy test. I'm almost 47, and Hubby's had a vasectomy. If I'm pregnant, it's a miracle, but they still made me pee in the cup.