Florida

Hello, I am Morgan and will be a Junior in high school. I was born and raised in Orlando, Florida. I love living the lake life and visiting our local beaches. I am active in my community, volunteering at my church and participating in walks supporting those surviving and fighting cancer. I also participate in many clubs at my school and am a varsity cheerleader at my school. My other hobbies are dancing, yoga, shopping, watching football, and hanging out with my friends.

My scoliosis journey began when I was 9 years old. My parents noticed my shoulders were not symmetrical while we were on a summer vacation. My pediatrician ordered an X-ray and she watched my curve. During my checkup in 6th grade my curve was worse so I was sent to a pediatric orthopedic physician, Dr. Herrera-Soto, at Arnold Palmer Hospital. My curve at that time was a little over 20 degrees and because it changed so quickly he started bracing me. I wore a brace at night and did physical therapy (Schroth method) 3 days a week. At every checkup with Dr. Soto my curve got worse and he told me the bracing wasn’t stopping my curve from progressing.  My thoracic and lumbar spine was now over 50 degrees.

My family planned a great early summer vacation and on June 30th, I had my spinal fusion. I am fused from T2-L3. After surgery, I spent a few days in the hospital and went home to continue my recovery. The nurses that took care of me were awesome. After about 2 weeks I felt somewhat back to normal. Here in Florida we go back to school in early August. I started high school without any issues and was back to dance and cheer!