Local teen able to hop back on the saddle six weeks after spine surgery at Children’s Hospital Colorado

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - Ashley Kisicki is a student at Central High School and loves to rodeo. In 2018 she went in for her routine sports physical, when her doctor encouraged her to get checked for scoliosis.

“I was like no I don’t have it, I don’t have it, all the way to the x-ray technicians. I was like I don’t have it, I know I don’t, I’ve been fine my whole life.”

But the X-Ray ended up showing that Kisicki had a significant curve in her spine.

“We do know about 2% to 3% of adolescents will develop scoliosis. Most kids have small curves that don’t need any treatment and don’t really impact their life. But there are some that will unfortunately have larger curvatures that require treatment,” said Pediatric Spine Surgeon at Children’s Hospital Colorado, Dr. Sumeet Garg.

Kisicki admits going into the surgery was frightening, but the Children’s Colorado team made her feel safe.

“They’re able to help you along the way, keep you calm and they’re trained to give you activities to get your mind off things. So all their teams are amazing and just support you so much.”

Dr. Garg said the surgery is a safe procedure and scoliosis is also much easier to treat at younger ages.

“Modern surgery for scoliosis is actually very safe, and very reliable with a quick return to full activities and good long lasting results.”

Speaking of quick returns, Kisicki was able to hop back on a horse as early as six weeks after her surgery.

“I felt like I had more balance on the horse and I honestly didn’t know what to say. I honestly didn’t think after surgery I was going to be able to continue riding.”

Dr. Garg said getting kids like Ashley back into their activities as soon as possible after surgery, is what it’s all about.

“We want this to just be a small sort of bump in the road, nothing that derails their life or the things they enjoy doing. By getting back to sports quickly, their pain actually reduces, they feel more self confidence, their self esteem goes up and that’s what kids should be doing.”

Kisicki and Dr. Garg still stay in touch and he enjoys seeing and hearing how well Ashley is doing in rodeo.

For more information Children’s Hospital Colorado’s spinal surgery’s, you can follow this link.

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