Anyone cruised with a scoliosis brace?

[DLBDS]

My DD13 just got hers. She's been wearing it for almost 1 week every night. We're cruising in less than 2 weeks and I've been thinking about how we're going to transport it. It's a huge, bulky thing. (It's a Providence brace.) Do you guys try to pack it in it's own carry-on or just lug it around by itself? Sounds like a dumb question but I'm kinda clueless as to what's best. Not even sure I have a bag big enough for it....

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

How much does she need to wear it? Only to bed? Just curious... I worked in pediatric xray for 9 yrs and performed plenty of scoliosis xray exams, in and out of the brace, or the cast/mold for the brace. They are so big and bulky, I can't imagine wearing it on a cruise.

Is there any way ortho would let her slide a couple days? I know it's important but whew. That would be a toughie for me. How much effect would 3-7 days without it have on her overall treatment? Is it kind of like a kid gets their braces off and forgets their retainer for a few days? I don't know.

Then the parent side of me would say kids would find plenty of excuses to not wear it then; sleepovers, warm weather, vacations, etc.

Good luck and best wishes that she gets great results in the end!

ps. If you do have to bring it, I'd carry it on for sure. No way would I trust luggage handlers with it and chances are if it were damaged, they wouldn't cover the cost of a new one and your health insurance prob wouldn't cover another one so soon either. Maybe you can gate check it like they do for strollers? I'd put it in a plastic bag to keep clean/dry but use a clear one so they can see it's a medical device.

 

[DLBDS]

She's definitely gonna wear it on the cruise. We've just gotten through the break-in period which consisted of a couple of sleepless nights, discomfort and a trip back to the orthotics place for a fine tuning of the brace. Now all is good and she's sleeping through the night without any issues at all. We were able to tighten it a bit further last night. Not willing to stop wearing it now. After all, it's not gonna work unless it's worn consistently EVERY night. We're just gonna have to suck it up and lug it onboard. It's no big deal. It came in a clear plastic bag so maybe we'll just use that. I'll just make it my DD's responsibility to keep up with it and protect it during transport wherever we go. Such a pain but we do what we gotta do, right? It's certainly easier than lugging a bunch of toddler stuff around!!

 

[hopelea]

I hadn't thought about that!! My dd is on a scoliosis "watch" right now. We go every four months to see how her curve has changed. September was a good month. She goes back in Jan to see if she needs a brace. We cruise in March!

What is your dd's curve degree? My dd's is a 27, 32 & 38. She is curved in three spots. At what curve degree did you dd have to wear the brace?
Sorry for so many questions.....just curious on what we might go through

 

[tigger2on]

My dd almost 14 also has scoliosis but she is missing our cruise in May.
She has a 90 degree curve and is having surgery in Jan/ Feb. 2011. We are booked for a family cruise Oct. 2011. But hoping surgery will repair it so no brace is necessary. she wears the brace 23 hours a day!

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

My 14 year old daughter had this surgery this past June for her 75 degree curve. And she is doing great so far. I am really glad we went ahead and had this done for her. It would have gotten much worse. A 90 degree curve! Wow, I know our physician who was top notch was telling us that at 75 degrees, it would just get worse without it. I know this has nothing to do with DCL but if you want to PM me to talk, feel free to. I would be glad to offer some support to anyone with a similar situation.

 

[DLBDS]

My DD13 was diagnosed with scoliosis this summer. I took her to the doctor because of her poor posture and to get her annual physical. Doc had her bend over and sent us to get xrays of her back. Came back positive for scoliosis. The findings were that she was 20 degrees at T7 and T8 and 18 degrees at L1 and L2. However, after we went to the orthopedist, he told us she was 30 degrees. It wasn't until she was diagnosed and I started researching online that I really noticed that her right shoulder blade sticks out a bit (looks raised and hump-like when she bends over). She's not one of these boney kids. She's got some meat on her bones so it wasn't really noticeable to us. Anyway, the doc says she should wear the night-time brace (Providence brace in her case) for approx. a year. Maybe more. I've been told that if the brace works, worse case would be that the curve stays the same. The best case would be that the curve is corrected. They just don't want it to get worse and then require surgery. We're new to all this so it's too soon to say how it's gonna go. She'll go back in about a month to have xrays taken with the brace on to see if it's working. It was extremely worrisome to get the news in the beginning but I'm over it now and have adjusted to it. I've come across a LOT of folks with this. Most never wore a brace or had surgery and they look and function normally. It's really not a big deal. It just depends on how bad the curves get. If she needs surgery, then that's what we'll do. Hoping it won't get to that though. She's played bball for 7 years (AAU, rec and school). This hasn't slowed her down. She's got a tournament this weekend! Thanks for the replies. It's good to know there are others here experiencing the same issue!

 

[tigger2on]

My 14 year old daughter had this surgery this past June for her 75 degree curve. And she is doing great so far. I am really glad we went ahead and had this done for her. It would have gotten much worse. A 90 degree curve! Wow, I know our physician who was top notch was telling us that at 75 degrees, it would just get worse without it. I know this has nothing to do with DCL but if you want to PM me to talk, feel free to. I would be glad to offer some support to anyone with a similar situation.

We live in canada and the our provincal insurance covers the surgery. Unfortunately because of how expensive it is, there is a LONG waiting list. The children's hospital in our area is only allowed to do 2-3 a month. So we are looking at Jan. or feb.
I need to add that my child is disabled and is in a wheelchair. She has hemiplegia and is right -side effected so she has no muscle tone there which makes her curve worse