Walking taller, straighter

For James Dal Santo, a 5-mile run on a weekend morning used to be no big deal, a relatively easy exercise that helped him stay in shape for cross country and track.

James Dal Santo organizes his books for Nick DeLazzari, one of the students who has volunteered to help carry things for James while he recovers from surgery.James Dal Santo organizes his books for Nick DeLazzari, one of the students who has volunteered to help carry things for James while he recovers from surgery.

James Dal Santo packs up his bookbag at the end of the day while his friend Nick DeLazzari waits to carry his things.

James Dal Santo walks through the halls of Wyoming Valley West High School with Nick DeLazzari, who is carrying James' books for him.

Nancy Rowlands, physician assistant, and Dr. Meagan Fernandez examine James Dal Santo during a recent check-up.

Nancy Rowlands, physician assistant, and Dr. Meagan Fernandez examine James Dal Santo during a recent check-up.



James Dal Santo of Kingston goes for a walk with his mom, Beth, in January, a few weeks after his surgery.

Today, as the 16-year-old scholar/athlete from Kingston continues to recover from surgery that corrected a serious case of scoliosis, any little jog is a triumph that gets him closer to his return to competition.

“I’ll just do a block here and there,” said Dal Santo, whose once-twisted spine is straightened and held in place by rods made from titanium and cobalt chrome.

Dr. Meagan Fernandez, the orthopedic surgeon who corrected the curvature during a seven-hour operation on Dec. 16 at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, fully expects Dal Santo to return to the sports he loves — and says at least part of that will be thanks to improved technology.

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ROBOTIC ADVANTAGE

Another helpful breakthrough in surgery to correct scoliosis is robotic technology. The Mazor Robotics Renaissance System Dr. Meagan Fernandez used at Geisinger Medical Center increased the safety and accuracy as tiny screws are put into the small bones in a patient’s spine, she said. It also decreased the recovery time.

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“The instrumentation we use has changed dramatically, the screws and rods that he has in his back,” the surgeon said in a telephone interview. “We used to use wire exclusively, and kids were never allowed — once you had surgery for scoliosis — never allowed to ever do anything again.”

“I just saw him at the 3-month (post-surgery) mark, and he’s doing OK. He’s doing fantastic,” Fernandez said. “He’ll be released to go full-steam at the six-month mark.”

For now, Dal Santo has plenty of activities to keep him busy, including a project regarding the area of triangles that won him a first-place award at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science, held recently at Wilkes University.

The honor student has been back in class at Wyoming Valley West High School in Plymouth for weeks, and his mom, Beth Dal Santo, says he didn’t miss very much school time because of the many snow days this winter.

“The school is great. They are so accommodating,” Beth Dal Santo said, explaining her son is allowed to leave classes early so he can get to the next class on time. Some of his friends, including Nick DeLazzari and Billy Stone, have similar schedules and carry books for him.

“I’m glad to help my good friend,” DeLazzari, 15, said on a recent Wednesday as he carried Dal Santo’s books from Ms. Wills’ chemistry lab to his locker. “We’ve been friends since Cub Scouts.”

Dal Santo’s spinal curvature, which Fernandez described as “almost 40 degrees over 60” was a case of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, which means the cause is not known. “He has no other medical condition like cerebral palsy or neuromuscular disorders,” the doctor said.

Many people believe scoliosis strikes more girls than boys, Fernandez said, but that is not true. “It affects about as many males as females, but females are eight times more likely to have a case that progresses to moderate or severe.”

Signs that a person might have scoliosis include one shoulder higher than the other, one hip higher than the other, or a “crease” at the waist, which would make the individual’s waist appear uneven.

“If kids are going to progress with scoliosis,” Fernandez said, “it often happens during periods of peak growth velocity at puberty.”

In Dal Santo’s case, he had grown 6 inches in one year about the time he started to feel a certain unevenness.

In the aftermath of his surgery, Dal Santo has experienced pain. On a recent day of very cold weather, after he had tripped over some furniture, he did stay home from school. “My back was killing me,” he explained. But the next day he was back in class and said he was feeling OK.

“I wish all our students were so motivated,” principal Erin Keating said. 

By : Mary Therese Biebel

Email :   mbiebel@civitasmedia.com

 

Source : Times Leader , 8th April 2014