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HOME/Rare and Complex Conditions/Body Cast Helps One-Year-Old Overcome Scoliosis

Body Cast Helps One-Year-Old Overcome Scoliosis

Body Cast Helps One-Year-Old Overcome Scoliosis
April 11, 2013
9 Comments
By: Tania Marcano

The photo above is of my son, Hector, wearing a Mehta Cast, the non-invasive corrective treatment that our family chose for Hector when he was diagnosed with idiopathic infantile scoliosis. You may be wondering why we would CHOOSE such a thing and how in the world we managed a cast that covered his entire torso and couldn’t be removed. We wondered these things at first too, but really it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be.

Our son’s journey with idiopathic infantile scoliosis – sometimes called infantile scoliosis or early onset scoliosis – started in November 2010. He had just turned one. His daycare teacher was the first to notice the curve in his spine while she was changing his shirt one day. I mentioned it to the pediatrician during his 12-month check-up and we talked about how rare scoliosis is in young children. Despite its rarity, she consulted with a physician at Cincinnati Children’s about the possibility of early onset scoliosis and ordered an x-ray that same day. It confirmed the diagnosis. 

Within two weeks we had an appointment with Dr. Sturm. He recommended  Mehta Casting, a new therapy at Cincinnati Children’s, for Hector.  We felt lucky to have the option of a non-invasive therapy, but were worried about how we were going to manage every-day baby things with Hector in the cast.

With Hector’s first Mehta cast, it was trial and error as we figured out what would work for us. We relied on other parents and online support groups for tips on what to do with this bulky vest that our guy was now wearing — a bulky vest he would have to wear 24 hours a day for eight weeks.

Each cast weighed between three and four pounds. It was quite a shock to hold him for the first time. But after the learning curve of the first cast, we adapted pretty quickly.

Our first challenge was figuring out how to fit him in a car seat. We found advice through online support groups, which recommended the Britax car seat and the Safety 1st Alpha Omega convertible car seat. We found that the flexibility of a convertible car seat, regardless of the brand, was more comfortable for Hector.

When we got home that first day, Hector was still groggy from the anesthesia. Once it completely wore off, he tried to act like a normal one-year-old. Believe it or not, he had learned to walk just a couple of weeks before receiving the cast, and it was difficult to watch him learn to balance, fall, and walk all over again. But by the second cast, he had mastered walking and even climbing!

We learned that because every cast and every kid is different, the Mehta cast needed to be adjusted to keep Hector comfortable. When we noticed that Hector could not sit properly or move his neck, we contacted Cincinnati Children’s, where they trimmed, flared, and padded the cast.

The biggest challenges we faced every day were related to keeping the Mehta cast dry.  Bathing and diapering were especially difficult.  For baths, it took two of us. We sat him on the edge of the sink. One of us made sure he did not splash the water and the other gave Hector a sponge bath. Shampooing his hair was quite a scene. We used Bumkins’ oversized bibs with velcro closures —it looked like a hair salon cape!  We had to lay him down and wash his hair quickly in order to keep him from getting the cast wet.

Diapering was particularly frustrating. The cast was quite tight on the bottom edge; we had to tuck both the front and back of the diaper under the bottom edge of the cast. Accidents were almost inevitable, but we were dedicated to becoming experts in order to prevent them!  When accidents did happen, cleaning the cast  with a soft detergent and drying with a hair drier usually did the trick.

Related to keeping his cast clean, no matter how diligent we were at avoiding the obvious locations and situations where small items could get inside of his cast, we would still find random things like cheerios in there!  We did, however, stay away from playgrounds as it was too easy for sand, gravel, and mulch to get into the cast.

Despite all of the challenges related to the cast, we were always in awe seeing our little boy thrive. He didn’t mind bending or kneeling down in a modified way. He danced, jumped and ran without a care. His resilience is what kept us going. After six months of wearing a Mehta cast, Hector’s curve went from 35 degrees to around 10 degrees. At that point, instead of a cast, he started wearing a brace for 22 hours a day. We were all excited about his two hours of freedom. Life with a brace was a lot easier but we doubted the efficacy of it. Just four months after moving on to a brace, Hector’s curve corrected even more, down to six degrees. By July 2012, one year after he started wearing the brace, his spine was completely straight, and while it has since regressed ever so slightly, we are not at all worried about the small curve that he has today.

It’s been two years since we started this journey with Mehta casting. Everything now seems like a distant memory. But seeing Hector thrive and grow up healthy is our constant reminder of the wonderful people that helped us along the way. We are forever thankful for Cincinnati Children’s and their drive to be one of the best in the nation and for bringing Mehta casting to Cincinnati Children’s. We are also thankful for Dr. Sturm and his staff for being on our side and their commitment to setting scoliosis straight!

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TAGS:
  • mehta casting
  • parenting
  • scoliosis

About the author: Tania Marcano

Tania Marcano has two children, Hector and Natalia. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Tania and her husband, Hector Sr., moved to Cincinnati 10 years ago. Hector Sr. is an engineer and Tania is a medical technologist.

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Comments

Wilmaris Marcano April 11, 2013 at 11:32 pm

We are very proud of our little Hector, and how his parents and sister have help him along each step of this journey. Hopefully, other families can benefit from Hector’s experience.

Curt Dennis April 12, 2013 at 8:14 am

Awesome blog post Tania!

Annette Y. Lopez April 12, 2013 at 8:22 pm

We are very proud of you guys. You managed to stay calm and faithful. And this is the result…a healthy child and a happy family. Love you all!

Andrea Ankrum April 12, 2013 at 9:22 pm

Such a great article Tania! Raising children is hard enough without all of the challenges that you and Hector faced. I’m so glad that this treatment worked!

Donna Czarnecki April 15, 2013 at 5:01 pm

What a beautiful little boy! How wonderful that a noninvasive procedure worked.

Denita April 29, 2014 at 10:51 pm

Your journey inspires me and gives me hope on how to accommodate my little one. I would love more insight on how to properly clean the Mehta cast when accidents happen. You stated using a mild detergent. Which did you use?

    Tania Marcano May 7, 2014 at 10:25 am

    I used Dreft but an equivalent works are well. Some parents use baking soda, as well. The stain may stay but the shirt was clean and no stink.

      Patelini02 November 18, 2016 at 8:51 pm

      HI. We have just found out our child has infantile scoliosis. Her degree and age is just like when you son was diagnosed with it. I am glad to hear that the outcome was positive. It gives us hope for this long journey ahead.

Andrea March 9, 2018 at 3:52 pm

My 3yo daughter is currently going through the bracing phase and her curve is at 12 degrees. Reading your sons story gives me hope that hers will be corrected more.

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