 Name: Michaela Coleman
AGE: 10
Listen to her story:
Diagnosis: Scoliosis
Like all other children, Michalea came down with a bad case of the common cold. Her family took her to the emergency room, where they took a last minute chest x-ray – the results of that test, were not so common. The chest x-ray showed the curve in Michalea’s spine, and she was immediately referred to physicians associated with Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
Michalea was 10 years old when the doctors explained that she would need to wear a back brace to support her spine and prevent her spine from curving too quickly. The brace causes extreme discomfort for Michalea while she sleeps and keeps her up for the half of the night. Unfortunately, over a year later, Michalea is not responding well to brace therapy.
Right now, she is at a 52 degree curve, but before corrective surgery is usually performed, doctors want her to be at 60 degrees. Most people are at least 15 years of age when they receive this surgery, because at that point they are mostly grown. Michalea is 11, and will most likely have to go into surgery before she reaches her full growth, and because of that, will have to go in for a second surgery after she is done growing. Michalea hopes that the surgery will make her taller and have a spine very close to straight.
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