Brief History
As many family and friends know, Nick was diagnosed with a
condition know as kyphosis in October 2002.
Kyphosis is a forward curving of the spine that causes a bowing of the
back, which leads to a hunchback or slouching posture. After two years of monitoring and seeking
multiple physician opinions, it was decided in 2004 that surgery was finally
needed after the curvature of Nick's spine had reached 90 degrees. In
January of 2005 Nick's spine had reached a 100 degree curvature.
Nick's mom and dad chose
Dr. Larry Lenke to perform the surgery. The
process to correct Nick's kyphosis would require three primary surgeries.
In short, Nick will (1) receive a halo which he did on January 6th and be placed in traction for three
weeks, (2) undergo surgery on January 27th to attach a metal rod to his spine as well as
receive a
posterior fusion, and (3)
finally a third surgery on April 7, 2005 known as
anterior fusion
to fuse a particular section of his spine. You can
click here to read more detail about Nick's
kyphosis condition and history.
The first surgery which occurred on January 6, 2005 was to
apply a halo around Nick's head. The halo is needed for the three
weeks of traction, plus stabilization for the entire correction process.
Surgery to place the halo was done at the
Children's Hospital in Saint
Louis, then Nick's mom and dad transferred him to the
Shriners
Hospital
also located in Saint Louis.
The second surgery
occurred on January 27, 2005 for instrumentation placement and posterior
fusion. You can click here to read details
from our stay in St. Louis during this time and
click here to see pictures from the visit.
Nick's third surgery
for the anterior fusion occurred on April 7, 2005. You can
click here to read details from our
stay in St. Louis during this time and click here
to see pictures from the visit.
