One Year Anniversary July 18 2009

A celebration with friends was a great way to spend July 18th in 2009. Will's friends joined him in celebrating his successful spinal fusion surgery exactly one year ago. This year has been a happy one since undergoing the eight hour operation. We all preferred having a BBQ; eating little cheesecakes arranged in a scoliosis curve, and going to the new Harry Potter movie than being in the OR - a much better way to spend a summer day. We're all grateful to Will's outstanding doctor, the dedicated orthotists, and our advocacy community. We intend to keep working towards helping others with spine health issues. Stay tuned.....

Scoliosis Advocacy Continues

Nina Saab’s Children’s Book Published! Bookie and the Scoliosis Diagnosis is a child-friendly story chronicling the discovery of a young girl’s condition of juvenile idiopathic scoliosis. Nina not only tells a story, but also recommends books and website resources. The illustrations are wonderful. Nina’s dedication and pages of special thanks give testament to the magnitude of the Ottawa support community. We are keen to continue to build a network to benefit parents, orthopaedic and orthotic professionals, and most importantly, patients with spinal conditions. This Fall/Winter there will be more formalization and celebration of Ottawa’s spinal support community! We’ll send you an “S.O.S.” (Scoliosis Ottawa Society)! More to come….

Beauty is on the Inside

This is the magnificent work of the orthopaedic doctors, nurses, and OR staff at CHEO. Recovery has been excellent. Now Will has the go-ahead to cycle (leisurely) and swim. Aren’t the rods, clasps, and screws amazing? We still so wish bracing had been successful. We encourage brace wearers to persevere in order to prevent further curvature. Non-surgical treatment is the goal!

Surgery - just like that

89 - Will's mark in science and degree of curvature

89 - Will's mark in science and degree of curvature!

Wouldn't mind if the mark got higher, but the curve is another story. At 14, Will still has growing to do, but the agony of this curve and secondary problems made him a candidate for surgery. Dr. Paul Moroz performed the surgery on July 18th, 2008 and he did great "carpentry". Along with his resident doctor, anesthetist, neurotransmitter monitor specialist, and nursing staff, he corrected the curve to 24 degrees. Will is better balanced, secured with 19 screws, two Harrington rods, some clips and a fastener. His organs have proper room to function and he will be relieved of the continuous aches and discomfort he endured. He was starting to be concerned about how his disfigurement was affecting others, especially in beach season! He so wanted to be the poster guy for brace treatment for scoliosis, but his curvature was so aggressive that now our family has become familiar with the surgical side of the house. We hope to improve the support network for families dealing with scoliosis. More to come on that.

Don't turn your back on the brace

Don't turn your back on the brace!

Instead, Will drums up support for it -

Wearing a brace for scoliosis protects the spine during the period when you are growing. Once you have reached height maturity, your spine is not as susceptible to further curvature. Although Will was very diligent about wearing his brace, as a male he was told that sometimes a wild card is thrown and the brace just isn't effective. During Will's major growth spurt at 13, his brace could not contain a substantial increase to his curve, placing him at 61 degrees from 31 degrees four years earlier. We are grateful for the brace and believe it prevented Will from having surgery sooner (before he had a chance to grow more in height). Also, the brace became a teaching aid for Will each new school year when he took it off to show his classmates what he was wearing; why he had some limitations (and frustrations), and taught them tolerance of their peers who need orthosis.

Awards and Proclamations

Awards and Proclamations!

I nominated Nina Saab for the City of Ottawa Distinguished Civic Award for Health because of her pioneering work in raising awareness for scoliosis. In May 2007 she received the award from Mayor O'Brian. Nina later took the initiative to receive approval of the proclamation I wrote up for November 7th to be named City of Ottawa Scoliosis Awareness Day! The text of the proclamation is under news and events on Saab's website http://www.saabsalonspa.com/ and mounted on the wall at CHEO's "C4" clinic.