Plenty to dance about after 8-hour op

Published on Saturday 5 June 2010 20:32

MARGARET McKenna was shocked when her daughter Megan told her that her hip was sticking out in a strange way. It was to be the beginning of a two-year period of gruelling treatment when scoliosis of the spine was diagnosed.

• Megan McKenna underwent an eight-hour operation to correct her condition Pic: Ian Rutherford

Two years on and Megan, 13, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, has now undergone an eight-hour operation at the Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh to correct the condition. The plucky teenager has even had to learn how to walk again but, as our picture shows, she has certainly made a full recovery.

Yesterday Megan returned to the hospital that treated her with friends from her dance troupe to perform a lively and energetic selection of disco freestyle and hip hop routines for the staff who nursed her back to health.

The condition, which causes the spine to curve to the left or right side, mostly develops in children between the ages of nine and 11 during the growth spurt of puberty. In some cases, the spine can curve so much that it has an impact on internal organs.

Megan's mother Margaret, a social work manager with North Lanarkshire Council, recalled the day two years ago when she first became aware that something was wrong with her daughter.

"Megan had just left primary school and had been out in the park playing with friends jumping around and doing cartwheels. I went to collect her and she said 'Mum, one of my hips is sticking out'.

"I immediately had a sharp intake of breath because I knew about scoliosis because a wee girl in her school had already had surgery for it.

"I didn't want to jump to conclusions and frighten Megan so I just said, 'Oh, you're just having a growth spurt, it's all to do with puberty'. But I began checking it out on the internet and read as much about it as I could."

However, a fortnight after the playground incident, when Megan was at the swimming pool with the Girls' Brigade, her aunt noticed that her niece's back was beginning to look curved. Margaret then made an appointment with her daughter's GP, who diagnosed the condition.

However, even before telling her mother about her hip, Megan, who like most youngsters is computer literate, had already been doing her own research on the internet about scoliosis.

Megan said: "At first, I didn't want to say anything and I was quite worried. But then I went on the internet and started reading stories about some people who had operations on their spine and it built up my confidence. After that I stopped being anxious and was determined to stay positive."

It took more than a year after seeing her doctor for a date to be set for the operation. Margaret said: "The curve in Megan's spine was increasing all the time and she was beginning to be stooped forward with her right shoulder higher than the other. By this time, Megan was getting a bit self-conscious about it.

"She had been given pain-killers and took them now and again, but other than that she carried on as usual with her dancing. She is the sort of girl who pushes herself all the time. She only ever missed school for medical appointments."

Megan was booked in for her operation in August last year – the day before her 13th birthday. But just as she was ready to go into theatre, the operation was cancelled due to an emergency. Margaret said: "Megan got a bit upset at that point; it was the only time I saw her like that."

The operation went ahead last October, during which Megan's back was opened from the nape of her neck to the base of her spine. A bone graft was taken from her pelvis and "fused" on to part of the spine to straighten it. Then two titanium rods were inserted at the top end of Megan's spine to keep it straight.

Megan was in hospital for ten days during which she began intensive physiotherapy. Her mother said: "It took her about a week or so before she could begin to try and sit up and after that she just kept pushing herself. She had to learn to walk again, which often happens with these very invasive surgeries, but she was exercising and her recovery was very quick.

"The staff really push the young people to keep going and Megan was up on her feet learning to walk with a member of staff on either side of her."

Megan was off school for three weeks, during which time her 11-year-old brother Euan encouraged her to keep mobile. She returned to Airdrie Academy on a part-time basis for a further three weeks before going back full-time.

After seeking advice from her consultant, she was also able to return quickly to classes at the Pamela Logan School of Dance in her home town.

Megan said: "What's happened had made me think about what I'd like to do in the future and I'm thinking that if I was to be a doctor it would be a children's doctor because they were all really nice people."