Emily Heltman was a lively pre-teen, actively participating in soccer, tennis, swimming, volleyball and track. She enjoyed music, dance and traveling with her family. Emily pursued life with vigor, unaware that she had a potentially dangerous structural deformity in her spine.

At the age of 12, Emily was diagnosed with scoliosis during a routine sports physical. Her X-rays revealed a severe "S" curve in her spine. While many people have small spinal curves--normal spines can range in curvature up to 10 degrees--Emily's spine curved at 42 degrees to 45 degrees. Scoliosis is diagnosed when the spine curves greater than 10 degrees, usually in the shape of an "S" or a "C." If not treated, scoliosis worsens and potentially can cause other health problems, including lung collapse. Emily's curvature was already beyond the usual first line of treatment of using a brace, and her physician recommended surgery. Because of her excellent health and young age, Emily's spine was flexible enough to handle it.

In 2000, two rods were surgically inserted down her spine. Emily was scared that all she enjoyed doing could be taken away if something went wrong with her surgery. "It took time after the surgery for me to mentally believe that I was going to be fine and able to do whatever I wanted to do," she explains. Two days after her surgery, Emily was up and walking. Approximately one year after her surgery, in fall of 2001, Emily was able to return to all of her former activities. Her curvature is now less than 5 degrees, and she grew 1½ inches just from the surgery.

Emily believes that early detection is key to treating scoliosis, particularly through physical education teachers and school nurses. Emily's school stopped checking students for scoliosis years ago because of lack of funding. "Funding [would] help the school nurses to purchase equipment that may accurately help detect this condition," she explains. Emily advocates for an increase in funding to help doctors and educators help identify scoliosis before it becomes a disabling condition.