ATLANTA — At the age of 12, Zoe Price was an active sixth grader who loved to play basketball and lacrosse. However, in the summer of 2021, during a family vacation at the beach, her family saw a misalignment in her back that would cause Zoe to temporarily stop playing sports.
Zoe’s father, Richard Price, remembers the moment they noticed a change in Zoe’s shoulder.
“While at the beach, we noticed that Zoe's right shoulder looked, it was protruding. It stuck out extremely far. So we believe the issue to be related to her shoulder,” he said.
At first, Zoe’s parents believed that they would be dealing with a sports injury, but after a trip to the orthopedic specialist, they learned that the shift in Zoe’s shoulder was much more serious.
"We were really surprised to find out that she had scoliosis. And not only did she have scoliosis, but she had a very severe case," Zoe's mother, Paula Price said.
It turned out that Zoe had a severe case of idiopathic scoliosis that would require her to undergo spinal fusion surgery, but this was not the solution that her parents were expecting.
“One of the things I asked many, many times the first time we went to the orthopedic specialist was, ‘What would you do if this was your daughter?’," Paula said. "We really were trying hard just to have them brace her, and, you know, they made it clear to us that that just wasn't going to be an option.”
When it comes to scoliosis, there are three phases of severity: the watch phase, the bracing phase, and the surgery phase. Zoe turned out to be in the surgery phase, and within three days of her diagnosis, she met with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Michael Schmitz at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, who would finally put the family at ease.
Georgia teen undergoes spinal fusion surgery
“He just won us over and really calmed our nerves, and just made us feel like everything was going to be okay,” Paula said.
Two months later, Zoe had a successful spinal fusion surgery but she still had a long recovery ahead.
“It was really hard to like, just do basic things like walking and just laying in bed, trying to get comfortable and everything, and taking my own showers because I needed help a lot,” Zoe said.
However, after three months of rehab, getting to play in her first lacrosse game was overwhelming for Price because it made everything worth it.
“I was very excited for it because, I mean, I love lacrosse, and playing my first game was…very exciting,” she said.
She even won the opening draw, scored the very first goal of the game, and her team ended up winning.
Now, six months post-surgery Zoe is celebrating her 13th birthday, but her parents are speaking out about the importance of early intervention when it comes to a scoliosis diagnosis because it could easily go unnoticed.
“I think early detection is key,” Richard Price said. “We're still, as parents, still a little shocked that we missed it. But the feedback that we did get from medical professionals is, our story is somewhat common.
“My suggestion to anyone, like my husband mentioned, is make sure you're seeing your pediatrician on a regular basis, you know, annual basis, and a lot of times with children, that's where they see it happen is where they have these large growth spurts,” Paula Price said.