by Mollie Rushmeyer
news@thenewsleaders.com
After years of physical pain due to her Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis, Makayla Keehr, 15, of St. Joseph, is standing taller these days, literally, thanks to her spinal surgery from St. Cloud Orthopedics’ Dr. Trevor McIver.
Prior to Keehr’s scoliosis surgery in August 2016, there had not been this type of procedure done at the St. Cloud Hospital, nor had there been a specialist available in the area to complete it.
In 2015, during a seventh-grade sports physical for Keehr, her parents, Jodi and Dan Keehr, were told the curvature in their daughter’s spine was at a severe 55 percent.
“We were told it would continue to get worse as she got older,” Jodi said. “And it could affect her breathing.”
They had known about Keehr’s AIS for a couple of years, but they did not know how much worse it had become. Keehr was suffering increased pain and discomfort. The family went to St. Cloud Orthopedics at first, but because no one there at that time could perform the type of procedure she would need, they were referred to specialists in the Twin Cities.
A doctor in the Twin Cities suggested wearing a full back brace for 20 hours a day to see if that could help correct the curve. But the brace felt uncomfortable and painful, and Keehr’s mother said it made her feel self-conscious. She would wear it at night, but the curve in her spine did not improve.
When Keehr stood for a long time or participated in certain activities, she said her pain was at its worst. Even so, she did not allow her condition to keep her away from the hobbies she enjoyed, such as wake-boarding and volleyball.
“I did do normal things,” Keehr said. “I didn’t really let it affect me.”
In the spring of 2016, the Keehrs family went back to St. Cloud Orthopedics after much time spent on the road commuting to the Twin Cities.
“When we didn’t have a good connection with the doctor we were seeing in the cities,” Jodi said, “we went back to see if St. Cloud Orthopedics could help us.”
That’s when they met Dr. McIver, a recent addition to the St. Cloud Orthopedics team who had completed successful AIS surgeries in the past and recommended the surgery to the Keehr family. They knew he would be the right doctor for them.
Ultimately, it was Keehr’s decision to go through with the nine-hour spinal surgery. Her mother said Keehr did her own research and found another teen who had the same AIS-corrective surgery. The two talked back and forth about what the procedure and recovery would be like. Keehr decided she would rather get the surgery over with as it would be needed eventually anyway.
For Jodi and Dan, the prospect held many concerns, not the least of which was the worry that something could go wrong during the long procedure. But they supported their daughter and trusted the doctor recommendations.
“I think the worst part was sending her off before the surgery,” Jodi said. “I kept myself busy by working, and we got updates throughout. But it was still hard.”
Keehr, at first, had no idea how difficult recovery would be.
“I didn’t care (about going into surgery) before,” Keehr said. “But after, it hurt a lot, more than I thought it would.”
At first it was so painful she regretted having the surgery. Once she got through the first week, she said she reduced to over-the-counter pain relievers and felt much better, and she is glad she did the surgery now.
After four to six weeks of no lifting, no bending and basically being tied to home, Keehr said she is glad to be back to school and even running in gym class. She is grateful to all the friends and family who came to visit and brought flowers during her recovery time.
“I feel like I never even had surgery,” Keehr said.
Her mother said she has seen such a positive change in her daughter compared to before the surgery.
“Because of the deformities in her back, there was so much pain,” Jodi said. “Now she has lots of confidence. No more pain.”
“She always wanted to be taller than mom, and now she is,” Jodi added with a laugh.
The surgery corrected her 55-percent curvature to a less than 8-percent curve, increasing her 4-foot 11-inch frame to 5-foot 1-inch, making Keehr happy to finally stand a little taller than her mother and do it without the pain she once had.
Makayla Keehr (left), 15, of St. Joseph, has a check-up from Dr. Trevor McIver from St. Cloud Orthopedics following the Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis corrective surgery he performed on Keehr’s spine in August – the first surgery of its kind at St. Cloud Hospital.
Though Makayla Keehr of St. Joseph never let her severe adolescent scoliosis hold her back from doing the things she liked to do, she’s happy to be a little taller and pain-free after her scoliosis surgery to straighten her spine. After she and her family were told the condition would worsen and become dangerous to her respiratory system, Keehr decided to go for it, and get the long but much-needed surgery.
After the successful spinal surgery to correct her scoliosis, Makayla Keehr went from a 55 percent curvature in her spine to a less than 8 percent curve, making her 2 inches taller than her mom Jodi Keehr (left), who stands next to her daughter Makayla (center) and Dr. Trevor McIver, who performed the nine-hour procedure.
