Orthopaedic Surgery
Kevin
For nearly a year, my mom had been worried about me. Last summer, during a trip to Washington, D.C., she noticed a lump on my rib as I sat in my wheelchair.
My name is Kevin. I am a 16-year-old, who was born with cerebral palsy that left me a quadriplegic and legally blind. When I was examined by Dr. Roye, it turned out that I was suffering from such severe scoliosis that my rib cage had rotated 70 degrees, affecting my lungs, stomach and other internal organs.
My mom was devastated. Her first reaction to the scoliosis diagnosis was, "Why didn’t someone find this before? How did it get this bad"? But her anger soon turned to anxiety when she learned that extensive, challenging surgery was the only cure, and that if my spine rotation reached 100 degrees, nothing could be done.
It took her a long time to agree to the surgery. She was so depressed and lacked confidence in the outcome. She increased my physical therapy, bought a body brace and prayed I would be okay until the end of my freshman year at Nutley High School, where I am mainstreamed with a one-on-one nurse as my aide.
Thankfully, the brace and therapy helped some and my curvature of the spine remained at 70 degrees until my school closed for summer. But when I finally went into NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in New York City in June 2007, I experienced such extreme "white coat" hypertension, that the surgery almost had to be called off. Fortunately, anesthesia lowered my blood pressure.
For 11 hours while I was under the knife, my mom walked around the hospital and prayed and asked God for a miracle.
When Dr. Roye finally came to talk to her, he warned her about my appearance. He told her she may be scared when she saw me. My whole body was full of tubes, I was on a respirator, and because I had been laying on my stomach for such a long time, my lips and face were swollen. I stayed in the hospital for 6 days and every day I would get a visit from a caring and hardworking staff member who wanted to do everything in their power to make sure that I was not in pain. I couldn't believe how many doctors and nurses came to see me on July 4th even though it was a holiday.
It turned out, I did not need weeks of post-surgical morphine; in fact, I was sitting and laughing a few days later. Although I have still a way to go, my ribs are completely straight now, and I look better, breathe better and feel better.
I am just so grateful to Dr. Roye and his staff for talking my parents into having this procedure. My mom has told me that the one main thing that convinced her was when she heard Dr. Roye visiting the elderly homes and seeing people who are suffering from scoliosis he wishes that he had been able to help them out when they were younger. The last thing my mom wanted for me was to be stuck in a home when I am older where my body is stiff and crooked and I can't fit in any chair or move or breathe because of scoliosis.
I am extremely grateful to my therapists, doctors and nurses for caring for me. I am so happy to be surrounded by my family and friends who send us cards and their encouraging words. I still go to therapy and my therapist keeps telling my mom that I laugh a lot more now than I used to. My mom and I go down the shore every weekend even though the weather is now cold. I love walking on the boardwalk. Since my surgery, I can tolerate sitting in my power chair for hours. So I make my mom walk for over 4 miles while I enjoy the freedom of driving along the beach front and having the ocean breeze and the warm sun shining in my face.
