Shriners Hospital My daughter has severe scoliosis, and although she was diagnosed with bowlegged ness when she was a toddler, and then scoliosis when she was 4, she has had it since birth. It is hereditary in Sams case, but there are over 300 diseases that can cause scoliosis and other bone deformities. If a child has problems walking or staying balanced, if they hunch over a lot, or if they have a shoulder blade or a ribcage that looks out of place; get it checked out! Dont just assume that they will grow out of it or that it is just part of the growing process. I took my daughter to the doctor early and often, and because of that she is walking today!! Yes you read correctly without treatment and the right kind of treatment my daughter would be in a wheelchair today, instead of walking on her own two feet upright not hunched over. Shriners Hospital was the best treatment in the United States that I could find for my daughter. They treated her aggressively and tried different things based on how her body responded to the treatment. She has had body braces, body casts, massage therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and two very successful, and admittedly hard and painful surgeries. She will always have some back pain, and some deformity in her spine, but she is a happy healthy girl with a great outlook on life! The only limitations are some roller coasters, carnival rides (only those with warnings on them), bungee jumping, and anything that requires her to jump from an airplane. These limitations are life long, and are due to her condition not the surgeries. When Sam was first diagnosed I was naïve enough to think that the doctor should be able to fix this. I knew that this was incurable in my mind, but my heart kept insisting that there must be some kind of magical pill to spare my daughter from this. Silly, I know but I would have done anything to spare her from all that she has been through. Nobody wants their child to suffer, and most parents will do just about anything to shop it, but we cant, the best we can to is be there for them. The first orthopedist she saw was Samberg with Beaumont Hospital here in Michigan, and he put her in a very painful brace that forced her body into the correct position using strategically placed metal pieces and a strap on piece that literally pushed her ribcage in forcing it to be compacted, and left marks, rashes and sometimes bruises and even sores on her body. This did nothing to correct Sams curve, but caused her lots of pain. Within the next year she was wearing her brace 23 hours a day, taking it off only to take a bath and relax for an hour each day. She would cry and beg me to take it off, but I kept it on, unless she was sick and that only happened twice. Because the brace wasnt working the doctor blamed me, saying that I didnt have it on her enough, when I told him that she was wearing it for 23 hours he moved it up to 24 and gave her an even tighter brace to wear with more torture devices on it for the neck!!! At the brace shop we were told by the technician that there are many more aggressive ways of treating Samantha without hurting her so much, which would get better results. He had a lot of experience with making braces and getting results, because it was his job and had been for many years. He suggested a body cast, or a Lumbar brace that would be made with statically placed padded pieces to push her hips and her chest into the correct position w/o compressing her ribcage, which was causing her severe breathing problems. We asked him to talk to Dr. Samberg and scheduled a consult. Basically the doctor got very angry that we doubted his treatment of our daughter. We asked him for a long term prognoses with current treatment, and he said because of the severity of Sams curve, she would end up in a wheelchair. She was curving and twisting at an alarming rate, and nothing tried so was even slowing it down. But he wouldnt try anything else either. When we sought a second opinion from another orthopedist, we were told to go back to Dr. Samberg because he was the best in Michigan. We finally found Shriners Hospital after searching for a specialist that handles severe cases, and applied. We took her x-rays to Dr. Sanders at Shriners Hospital in Erie, PA, and the rest is history. The treatment that she got at Shriners helped keep her out of surgery until she was nine and her curve reached 85 degrees for the top and 45 degrees for the bottom, was twisting and compromised her spinal cord. When we first went to Shriners her curve was 75 degrees on top and 30 on the bottom and she was curving very fast. Now after over 11 years of being treated by Dr. Sanders and Shriners Hospital, her curve is down to 45 degrees on top and 25 degrees on the bottom and will never get worse. She has suffered a lot of pain, but with results rather than ending up in a wheelchair. We went to Shriners Hospital yesterday for a one year check-up after Sams last surgery and she is doing very well and even has some bone growth over the rods in her spine. This is good because it means that they are more secure and conforming to the bone. She has never felt better or walked straighter!! Please dont ever assume that your doctor is correct. If you question your doctor, get a second opinion, a third, or even a forth; until you are sure that there is no other way. I think that some doctors get a big head and think that they know what is best for their patient no matter what the patient says. Any good doctor will admit that the patient knows their body better than any doctor. I can say from personal experience that different people, need different treatment and a doctor should be willing to try new and different things to help a patient. If they are not willing and set in their ways, then find another doctor who will try newer and more aggressive treatments. Educate yourself and find out what treatments are available for yourself or a loved one. Through the years I have seen Shriners Hospital do some pretty amazing things to help children. My daughters story is only one of many. The Shriners Hospitals help thousands of children with almost any health problem that needs special care. They are funded by donation so if you can please give to the Shriners Hospitals for Children, for the children by calling the number bellow of visiting the website bellow. If you or someone you know has a child that needs special care call: in the United States, 1-800-237-5055 or 1-800-873-KIDS; or in Canada, 1-800-361-7256. Or visit: www.shrinershospitals.com God bless. Debbie

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