In case you missed it – Read Part 1 here
We left the hospital in shock and decided we should go eat at one of our favorite spots. What better way to process the shock than over fried chicken and biscuits and gravy? Comfort food at it’s best.
I spent the next week crying, cussing, praying and researching. That all led us to a doctor that traveled to Portland once a month to see scoliosis patients. He just happened to have an opening that week and we took it. After a couple hours with him he told us her case was too severe for him to help us but that he had a Schroth Therapy intensive course we could take that weekend to help what little we could until we could figure out our next steps. Through that weekend class he told us about a clinic that he worked with in California that treated scoliosis in a way no one else in the world was doing. It honestly sounded terrifying and way out of our budget so I just sat on the information, feeling paralyzed. What I didn’t know was that he would pass on our information to the clinic in California.
On a random Tuesday night my phone rang about 7 pm and for some strange reason I answered it. Who answers their phone for unknown numbers anymore? I certainly don’t. Unless of course prompted by God to answer.
That phone call led us to make the decision to go to The Scoliosis Care Centers for a 3 week intensive and we would leave in 2 weeks time! We had no idea how God was going to help us pay for it all, if it would work or what it all would entail but we knew that we had to give it a try. We wouldn’t resort to a spinal fusion surgery without putting up a good fight in the process.
Let me pause to explain WHY we chose this clinic:
- They took the time to explain the options and their treatment.
- They connected me to other parents to talk to about their experience.
- They look at the whole child not just the spine. They did genetic testing, blood and urine samples, medical history, diet and supplementation. They treat the body as all connected, which it is.
- They had a theory as to why most kids develop scoliosis and don’t just accept that it’s unknown. (Their theory is that it’s nerve tension and it makes complete sense.)
- Comprehensive treatments, not just one brace, but many therapies.
- Check ups every 3 months instead of 6. Too much changes when your child is growing.
- They use a standing MRI machine for images which GREATLY reduces the exposure to radiation over the years of therapy.
- Their success rate was incredible!
A few other reasons we chose to go this route was that I was in some scoliosis FB groups and the horror stories of surgeries or life long pain as a result of surgery were terrifying. Of course there are success stories but it still wasn’t the route for us. We also had multiple older friends who had scoliosis encourage us to do all we could to avoid surgery and to try this route. We took their advice seriously.
I want to mention one major player in this decision processs, amazing friends and family. We had a friend start a GoFundMe without me knowing to help us pay for those first 3 weeks that we would be in the clinic. The initial cost of this up front was enormous. Within minutes of her starting the fund, money was coming in and God was paving the way for us to go. God never asks us to do things alone and He always provides the means for the things He is calling you to do. This was just another example and proof that He was indeed up to something amazing.
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