My story with VBS

Hi everyone,

In honor of Scoliosis Awareness Month, I wanted to share my experience with early vertebral body stapling (VBS), since it’s a procedure I rarely see discussed here and my case was done at a very early stage of its development.

I was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 4. At the time, I was too small for a spinal fusion, so vertebral body stapling was recommended as an alternative. My understanding is that it was still relatively new/experimental when I had it.

My surgery was done from T6–L1.

Recovery was long for me—about a year—and definitely not easy. I still live with chronic pain today, and I’ve developed new curves over time (currently around 43° and 36°, with another curve forming).

That said, I also want to be honest about the bigger picture: if I hadn’t had the surgery, I would likely have needed multiple surgeries throughout my childhood up until around age 13. Despite the long-term complications, I do think the surgery allowed me to avoid a much more aggressive surgical path growing up, and I’m able to do a lot of things in my daily life that I might not have been able to otherwise.

Looking back, I wanted to share this because there doesn’t seem to be a lot of long-term patient experience out there for early VBS cases. I’m not a medical professional—just sharing my personal history in case it helps someone who is researching or feeling overwhelmed by treatment options.

I’m happy to answer questions about my experience.