Patient Stories

Hi, my name is Allie Melton. I am 18 years old and live in Dallas, TX. I was diagnosed with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis when I was 6 years old. Scoliosis runs in my family; my two older sisters experienced severe curves as well. With my family history, the doctors told me at a young age that it was likely I would suffer from severe scoliosis, too. The first time I was x-rayed at 6 years old I had a S-shaped curve that was around 15 degrees. My doctor explained that they usually recommend surgery when the curve reaches 50 degrees. But for being 6 years old, he explained that my curvature was pretty high for my age. He even thought about putting me in a night brace to prevent progression as much as possible. I ended up visiting my orthopedic doctor every six months to monitor the progression, and when I was 11 years old, he told me my curvature had reached around 30 degrees. I was then told that I needed to wear a back brace full time. I was very unhappy with this news and was upset that I would have to wear a back brace to school. I ended up getting fitted for my back brace and wore it 23 hours a day. The first brace I had helped halt any further progression with my curve, but I quickly outgrew the back brace and had to be fitted for a new one. The second brace wasn’t stopping progression within the curve, and I was told that I would need to wear a night brace because that was the only brace that could reach the top curve. This helped a little, but it wasn’t slowing the progression enough, and I was slowly reaching the 50-degree curvature. My doctor said it was time for surgery.

I was very scared of enduring back surgery because I thought it would halt my active lifestyle. I was very familiar with scoliosis surgery due to my oldest sister having to have it, but nevertheless, it was still overwhelming enduring it yourself. I had my first spinal fusion surgery in December of 2016 at age 13. Throughout the months leading up to surgery I was dreading it. But when the time came, I went into it with a positive mindset and persevered. I was in the hospital for a week during the first surgery. It was a difficult time for me because this was the first major surgery I had ever had and filled with physical therapy and focus on recovery. The first week home went well and mostly consisted of walking and resting in order to recover successfully. The second week was a little more difficult as I became horribly sick with pain and nausea. After a trip to the emergency room, I was diagnosed with kidney stones. I felt hopeless because it seemed like I wasn’t making progress with my back-surgery recovery due to this complication. I ended up staying in the hospital for the night due to the severity of my kidney stones. It took a lot of strength for me to stay mentally strong. After the night in the hospital, the doctors took an x-ray to check on the kidney stones, and to all of our surprise they were gone by the next day. After that I was able to go home and focus completely on recovering from my scoliosis surgery. I was able to return the school within the next few weeks and almost completely return to normal lifestyle. Obviously during those next couple months, I was told to limit physical activity and walk a lot, but to my surprise life went back to normal very quickly and I was able to slowly incorporate physical activity back into my life. I had no complications with my scoliosis and was back to no limits on physical activity.

Around March of 2019, I went in for my yearly scoliosis surgery check. Upon viewing my latest x-ray, my orthopedic doctor found that a screw in my rod had broken and my lower curvature had worsened. This was news I never expected to hear and was completely devastated. I was disappointed that I would have to endure yet another surgery, but it helped that I had already experienced it before and knew what to expect. I ended up receiving my second spinal fusion surgery in July of 2019. My orthopedic surgeon said that the surgery was a success and felt confident that the lower curve was fixed. I ended up staying a couple of days in the hospital after surgery, but the recovery process and physical therapy was surprisingly a lot easier than the first time around. Unfortunately, the kidney stones returned about a week after surgery, but I was able to pass them faster since we knew how to treat them. Recovery the second time around was challenging, however, not nearly as emotionally and physically draining as the first spinal fusion surgery.

I never knew I would be strong enough to endure not only one, but two scoliosis surgeries. I wanted to share my story to help inspire anyone that might be going through surgery or about to go through it, to let you know that you can do ANYTHING you put your mind to. I’m the most active and healthiest I’ve ever been. Physically I am able to do anything I want with no limitations. Although it may seem like the end of the world in the moment, spinal fusion surgery and recovery is not as bad as you think, and everything will be okay. It’s really important to keep a positive mindset and no matter what setbacks you might experience, stay strong and persevere.