The founder of the Infantile Scoliosis Outreach Program, Heather Hyatt-Montoya, is the reason that the life saving method of casting is available in the U.S. at all. Dr. Min Mehta’s Early Treatment method is saving my 21 month old baby’s life at this very moment, and we never would’ve found a doctor to help without finding the ISOP website.
Time was running out for my baby, his spine was at a 64 degree curve and rapidly progressing, at only 19 months of age. Had he not been cast in this plaster jacket, he would have likely progressed to a degree of curvature that would’ve crushed his vital organs and even been fatal at a very young age. When I say very young age, I mean before the age of three years old.
Our only other option would’ve been a decade or more of bracing, which often does not stop the dangerous curve from progressing. Bracing would have led to spinal “growth rod” surgery for our baby, at an age as young as two years old. He still could’ve led a lifetime of pain and deformity, even with multiple surgeries.
This is how important the work the ISOP is doing, and there are very few doctors in the U.S. and around the world who are trained in this method, or are even aware that it exists. Parents are desperately searching for help for their babies, and many are not as lucky as us. This is heartbreaking and it is simply unacceptable, when there is an actual known cure for this condition, if caught in time. More doctors must be informed and trained in EDF to save these baby’s lives.
Because of the work of Dr. Mehta and the ISOP, we have a wonderful doctor at a Shriners Hospital, who is already training others as he continues to rescue children. Our child now will not be deformed or die from this condition. Please help us give that gift to those who so desperately need it.
Heidi Frerer
