Dear Ms. Dunn, Your article in Macleans magazine, “Amazing Brace” has been a godsend. If it was not for your article we would never have discovered the brace that has helped our son deal with his scoliosis. Our son is 21 years old. At age 12 he was seen by a doctor at the Bloorview-MacMillan Centre because he seemed to have a very stiff back. We were told that he may have a very mild scoliosis not to worry and to just keep an eye on it. He has annual physicals both with our family physician and at the Hospital for Sick Children because of a congenital heart condition. In addition, my husband and I have always been obsessively vigilant where our son’s health and wellbeing is concerned. None of us ever noticed any change in his back. One day after taking a shower our son came into the room wearing only a pair of shorts. He was 18 at the time. As he bent over to pick something up from the floor I noticed a very pronounced hump on the right side of his back. My husband and I were shocked. Within hours we were in our doctor’s office, she was stunned. She made an immediate appointment for our son with an orthopedic surgeon at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. My husband and I were certain that this was a very rapid change in his back because our son had recently started to complain of a sore back and asked us to rub his back at least once or twice daily. Our son had x-rays done at Sunnybrook that indicated a curvature of 40 degrees. The orthopedic surgeon recommended that we wait and see how the scoliosis progressed. About six months later, we thought that the scoliosis was worsening and went to Sunnybrook again. The x-ray indicated that the curvature measured at about 45 degrees. We were told that this was within the margin of error and that we should continue to wait and see. This was becoming increasingly more difficult to do because our son was becoming more and more uncomfortable. He needed us to rub his back more to alleviate his discomfort. He would come home from school or from his part-time job and need to lie down. Shortly after this, I was in the doctor’s office for a personal appointment. I picked up a Macleans magazine to pass the time and it seemed to fall open to your article. I could not believe what I was seeing. I tried to read as quickly as I could before my doctor came in. The article could very, very easily have been written about our situation. By the time the doctor walked in I was in tears. I showed her the magazine. She told me to contact Dr. Rivard immediately. Since our son was over 18 and Dr. Rivard is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon he directed us to Dr. Louise Marcotte, a chiropractor in Montreal who has been personally trained by Dr. Rivard to fit adult patients with the Spinecor Brace. The orthopeadic surgeons we were seeing in Toronto tried to dissuade us from going to Montreal, they did not know about this brace and stated that the brace would not help our son, they instructed us to wait and see how things develop. We were reluctant to accept this suggestion. As parents we felt that if there was any way to slow down or stop the progression of the scoliosis we needed to explore it, even if the chances were small. We met Dr. Marcotte on February 18, 2008. Our son had a four hour appointment with Dr. Marcotte, during which time she collected a full medical history, took x-rays, did testing and made her observations. She then consulted with us indicating that the curvature was over 50 degrees. She proceeded to fit our son with the Spinecor Brace. Unbelievably, our son felt relief almost instantly. After a few days of wearing the brace, he no longer asked to have his back rubbed, he no longer complained of soreness and he seemed to stand straighter and taller. When Dr. Marcotte initially told him that he would be wearing the brace for at least 20 hours daily, he did not think that that would be workable. Now he is wearing the brace for 22 hours a day or more. He says he feels better when he wears it. It does not hinder his movement or his ability to participate in activities. In fact it enables him to be more active with less pain. He is able to spend a full day at the university, come home, shower, change, and head off to his part-time job without pain. This kind of activity without a break was impossible before the Spinecor Brace. During our last visit to Dr. Marcotte, the x-rays indicated that our son’s curvature was decreased by five degrees. Although that is not a significant improvement, and there is no guarantee that this improvement will be permanent, it is an improvement. Most importantly the brace has improved his quality of life. If it was not for your article we would never have found this remarkable brace. Why is this life-changing Canadian product not in the mainstream of healthcare in Canada?