How can we care for scoliosis and kyphosis and spondylolisthesis better with conservative care like physical therapy, high-tech scoliosis braces, exercise and other techniques? What can be done to improve surgical care, and understand choices for surgery, learning from those around the world? How can we learn from aviation and from Deming's principles of "Standard Work" to constantly improve spine and all healthcare?
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Is adolescent scoliosis surgery worth it as a young adult? Angela's surprise visit this past week to Hey Clinic
9 years ago this past week, I met a young lady named Angela from North Raleigh, NC who was about to start high school. Her pediatrician noticed a hump on her back, and sent her to me for possible scoliosis. It turned out that she had thoracolumbar curve over 50 degrees with a very large hump and trunk shift. Mom and Angela were like deers in the headlights -- what a shock!! She was a cheer-leader, and was afraid she would have to give it up. She was glad to hear that we get our athletes, including gymnasts, cheerleaders, swimmers, lacrosse players, soccer and basketball players, climbers ... and much more back to their sports quickly after surgery. They decided to go ahead and get Angela's curve fixed right away. I rearranged my OR schedule for the following week. She went to her first day of high school on Monday, had her scoliosis surgery on Tuesday at Duke Raleigh Hospital, went home from hospital on postop day 2 on Thursday. The day after that on Friday, she went to school for a few hours, and the following Monday went to school and her first cheer leading practice! Her mom was so psyched, that she videotaped Angela at practice and drove it over to show me at Hey Clinic that afternoon! Angela continued to do well, very happy with her posture, and gradually returned to full cheer-leading as a "flyer." Her mom gave me the picture shown below which is on our Hey Clinic wall showing Angela AFTER her scoliosis surgery up on top of pyramid with one leg directly over her head!!
9 years have gone by since then, and lo and behold, almost 9 years to the day since I did her surgery, Angela dropped in to see me this past week!! Here we are at Hey Clinic in front of her picture on the wall as the cheer leader in high school --- now she's all grown up, graduated from college and has a great job in the Triangle working with local universities. Above you can also see a short YouTube clip with Angela from her visit. Thanks for dropping in Angela!! So glad you are still looking and doing awesome 9 years after scoliosis surgery!!
Dr. Lloyd Hey, Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery http://www.heyclinic.com
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