Breon McClendon discovered his passion for running when he was in high school. He started as a sophomore and never stopped.
The 18-year-old’s pediatrician first noticed a curve in his spine when he was younger, diagnosing him with scoliosis. It’s a condition that causes a rotational deformity in the back where the spine curves sideways.
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Breon’s case was not severe at the time, so they decided to watch it. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Breon’s mom, Antoinette Brazer, noticed her son’s back looked odd when he was 17.
“His back kind of shifted a little bit more like a hump in the back, and I knew it wasn’t right,” she explained. “We weren’t able to go to the hospital at that time, so we had to wait until it opened up and we went to Dr. Neal, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon with Nemours Children’s Health.”
Dr. Kevin Neal discovered Breon’s spine had curved so severely he would need surgery to correct it and prevent it from getting worse.
The thought of major back surgery terrified Antoinette, but the potential consequences to her son’s ability to run and grow older convinced her to encourage him to agree to a spine fusion.
“Seeing how the spine curves, seeing how the organs moved, I knew eventually if he didn’t get surgery, his future would not be bright. He would be in pain, and I didn’t want that for him,” explained Antoinette.
She decided to allow doctors to implant two rods in her son’s back on either side of his spine.
“We basically pull the curved spine to the straight rods,” Neal explained, pointing to the before and after X-rays of Breon’s spine.
The surgery was long; it took six hours.
“We remove the joints between the vertebrae and use screws to attach the rods to the spine, correcting the curve,” said Neal, who added that they move the back muscles out of the way, so they are not cut.
“When I woke up, I was wondering, where am I? Is the surgery done,” said Breon, who has no memory of the procedure.
He spent three days in the hospital and several months recovering.
The surgery generally requires students to miss 3-4 weeks of school and they need to take 3 months off activities, sports, etc., Neal said.
Patients who have the spinal fusion surgery only have minimal limitations, he said, explaining backflips and sit-ups that involve curling the back are difficult.
Neal said scoliosis is usually picked up early, when a child is between 11-14 years old, which is when they are typically going through their growth spurt.
Their spine can look straight when they are younger, it’s when they hit puberty that it becomes noticeable. Pediatricians check for the condition during yearly physical exams when they ask a child to put their feet together and bend down to touch their toes.
The doctor examines the spine to see if there is any curvature.
“It’s definitely genetic,” said Neal, “but we don’t understand the genetics very well. Even if you have it, doesn’t mean that your children are going to have it.”
Neal said scoliosis is more common in girls, which is another reason doctors think there must be some kind of genetic component.
“When you’re talking about really small curves, it’s about the same in boys and girls, but the curves that get larger and progress and need treatment with braces or surgery, that is 7-8 times more common in girls,” he explained.
If caught early enough, scoliosis can be treated with a brace, but Neal said it has to be worn at least 18 hours a day and a child could have to wear one for years to prevent the condition from getting worse.
“They (braces) don’t really necessarily make the curves go away, but we try to stop them from getting to a range where they need surgery,” he explained about the treatment that generally prevents spinal fusion surgery two out of three times.
Severe scoliosis can cause back pain later in life and a shift in organs near the spine, but it is not life-threatening. Most parents decide to treat their children because scoliosis can cause a hunched back and other deformities that can cause teenagers to feel self-conscious.
Breon just started his freshman year at Flagler College and is relieved that scoliosis is not going to stop him from running more marathons. He’s run almost 20!
“It‘s a beautiful campus. It’s the next chapter of my life,” said Breon about attending school in St. Augustine. “I hope to join the team (running) and the soccer team.”
We know parents of children diagnosed with scoliosis may have many more questions and adults may wonder if they can be treated as well. Click play below to watch my 20-minute interview with Dr. Kevin Neal, which answers many of these questions.