Grace's Scoliosis - Spinal Fusion
Donation protected
Navigating our way through Australia's Health System here in WA is complex to the uninitiated. It's a 'maze' of health service providers. After our first visit to the local doctor in December 2016 we were given the news that Grace had adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. We were given a list of scoliosis consultants to contact and left to our own devices to seek the advice from a specialist of our choosing. As you can imagine it was frustrating and scary as we were walking into the unknown.
We were advised that Grace needed to wear a brace for 22 hours a day to stop the curve progressing and if lucky, correction. As a teenager this isn’t the news you want to hear, it's uncomfortable, it hurts and it isn't the greatest fashion accessory. But this never stopped Grace from enjoying life and participating in sport - however, she suffers with the pain on a daily basis and has to work hard with daily physio to help minimize the pain and strengthen the muscles.
The latest X-ray indicates that the scoliosis has now progressed to 61° (within the surgical operation range). Scoliosis presents many challenges in life, especially when you are an active teenager. We needed to look into other possible options, noting the closing window of opportunity due to her skeletal maturity, Grace decided to proceed with selective thoracic fusion at the earliest opportunity.
It's now all systems go, although our private health care covers a small amount we still need to raise funds $15,000 to pay for this procedure which could take place in a matter of weeks. Grace would have 7-10 days hospital in Sydney followed by a 6 week recovery period at home.
As you can imagine our heads are all over the place, we all feel excited, anxious, scared and apprehensive but we know that this is the right decision and it would be life changing for Grace. All funds raised will go towards this procedure and any excess will be given to charity on the request of Grace.
Our daughter's courage inspires us everyday, love you Grace
We were advised that Grace needed to wear a brace for 22 hours a day to stop the curve progressing and if lucky, correction. As a teenager this isn’t the news you want to hear, it's uncomfortable, it hurts and it isn't the greatest fashion accessory. But this never stopped Grace from enjoying life and participating in sport - however, she suffers with the pain on a daily basis and has to work hard with daily physio to help minimize the pain and strengthen the muscles.
The latest X-ray indicates that the scoliosis has now progressed to 61° (within the surgical operation range). Scoliosis presents many challenges in life, especially when you are an active teenager. We needed to look into other possible options, noting the closing window of opportunity due to her skeletal maturity, Grace decided to proceed with selective thoracic fusion at the earliest opportunity.
It's now all systems go, although our private health care covers a small amount we still need to raise funds $15,000 to pay for this procedure which could take place in a matter of weeks. Grace would have 7-10 days hospital in Sydney followed by a 6 week recovery period at home.As you can imagine our heads are all over the place, we all feel excited, anxious, scared and apprehensive but we know that this is the right decision and it would be life changing for Grace. All funds raised will go towards this procedure and any excess will be given to charity on the request of Grace.
Our daughter's courage inspires us everyday, love you Grace
Organizer
Helen Moon
Organizer
Secret Harbour WA
