My Milwaukee

July 15, 2002

10:30 am

My name is Casey Wilson and I’m 15 years old. I live Tennessee and I have been wearing a Milwaukee back brace for 14 hours. My Doctor suggested that I start a diary to help express my feelings.

At the moment, I am finding it very difficult to type on my computer. This damn brace makes it so hard to see the keyboard. The brace keeps pushing up and forcing up chin up ever time I lean forward. The brace also pushes into my legs painfully each time also.

My mom and I went to have my brace fitted yesterday morning at 8:00 am. I thought that the cast they made 2 weeks ago was bad, the fitting was even worse. They told us to bring several different types of big baggy clothes to wear over the brace to go home in. Of course I don’t own any really big baggy clothes. Everything I have is tight fitting and revealing….hey, I’m a teenage girl interested boys. (They won’t be interested in me now!) Mom and I picked out the biggest things I had to take with us. We arrived at the brace doctor’s office right on time and mom signed us in at the window. We had talked about the situation this morning and mom had agreed to let me go in for the fitting alone. They all to soon called my name “Casey Wilson.” Mom squeezed my hand as I slowly walked past toward my boom. I had already looked up pictures and information about the Milwaukee brace on the Internet so I knew what it would generally look like. I guess some part of me hoped that mine would be different somehow, maybe without the neck ring. Why did my back have to be crooked!

As I walked into the fitting room, I nearly broke into tears as I saw the brace lying on the table. It was horrible. I had been told that my brace would be made specifically for my body and that it would be able to straighten my back perfectly.

My doctor told me that because of the type of curves and position in my spine that the Milwaukee brace was the only real option. Lucky me!

The brace doctor and a nurse entered to start my fitting. First they told me to take off my jeans and T-shirt and to then put on the tank top I was supposed to wear under the brace. I panicked; I had forgotten to bring the tank tops. The nurse said it was ok, that the brace could be worn against the skin as long as I watched for skin irritation problems. Skin irritation problems, what was the brace going to do to me. They brace doctor brought the brace over and started explaining that the pads on the back to metal bars was to correct my kyphosis, which they told me was quite bad at 58%. The brace doctor also told me that my shoulders slumped forward and the outrigger in front with pads were to correct that. The outrigger looked really scary. He then explained the pads attached by straps on the sides were to correct my “S” scoliosis curve. He told me that these parts were standard for such problems. He then told me that my kyphosis had been present for some time and that my body and developed a significant lordosis in my lower back and in my neck. Because of this the pelvic girdle had been formed to tilt my pelvis forward for the bottom. To help hold the pelvis in this position my pelvic girdle would fit very tightly around the waist and contained extra abdominal compression to support the pelvic tilt. The stomach compression also extended to help keep my back pressed against the kypho pads and straighten my back upwards. Because my neck curves inward so much, they made special occipital pads to push the back of my head up and forward to straighten the cervical spine. Instead of a throat mold, mine brace has a contoured chin pad to keep me from looking down. He then told me that I would lift and straighten my own neck to get my head and chin up off the pads. Since I already had braces on my teeth, the chin pad could not cause dental problems.

I was absolutely sick listening to his explanation. I did not care how it worked. I did not want to wear it, but I also did not want to have a crooked hump back either and look like some goofy bird.

The moment of true arrived. I stood in my bra and panties as the nurse brought the brace over. She unscrewed the neck ring fastener and undid the Velcro straps. The brace popped and groaned as she pulled it apart and told me to put my arms through first and then she pushed the pelvic girdle over my hips. The chin pad was right under my nose and I could smell the leather it was covered with. There was now way that thing would fit. Before I could say anything however, the doctor behind me told me to stand straight. I was standing straight, but I tried to stand even taller and all of a sudden the brace closed around my back as my chin popped out over the chin pad. Oh God, this could not be. I tried to look down and could not move my head. That was not the worst. The Doctor started tightening the straps on the back of the girdle. As the girdle got tighter, I felt my hips roll forward as my stomach was pushed in horribly. As the girdle tightened I also felt my back being pushed forward from behind. Then the shoulder pads caught the forward movement and pushed me back into the brace. It was not until later that I noticed the side pads exerting force on my spine. I felt like I was choking as the neck ring and pads pushed up against my head and chin. The doctor stepped back and looked at the brace and made a few adjustments to the outrigger, placing my force against my shoulders and then told the nurse to bring my mom back. Once mom was in the room, the nurse taught us how to get in and out of the brace by making us do it to her satisfaction. I must have put it on and taken it off 12 times. She finally was satisfied that we could do it correctly. She then asked mom to come out to the office and sign some insurance forms while I dressed.

Dressing was very difficult. The jeans I brought barely fit over the brace and the shirt was too tight. You could see the different metal parts sticking out all over the place.

I walked out to meet mom and we started the journey home. I have not left my room since we got home. My boyfriend has called several times, but I have not talked to him yet. It’s just to embarrassing to face him. He will never want to hold my hand or kiss me in this thing. I took it off soon after we got home and mom and I had a huge fight over it. I finally put it back on and here I sit a 15 year old freak. They say that I may have to wear it till I’m 19 or 20 before I am finally out of it for good. My life is over!