TAMPA, Fla. – A local high school student has recently returned to dancing after battling severe scoliosis since the age of 12. Melissa Gonzales, a 17 year old senior at Tampa Catholic High School, is now telling her story to other children and parents to ensure anyone with scoliosis gets the best care possible.Melissa Gonzales – Dancing
After an initial consultation with an orthopedic surgeon, Melissa Gonzalez’s mother wasn’t ready to put her daughter under the knife. She decided to seek a second opinion where they were told to use a brace to correct the scoliosis. After three years of using the brace, the degree of scoliosis had more than doubled. This is when they returned to Siambanes and immediately moved forward with the surgery suggested for Melissa.
“When Melissa and her mother Vickie came in to be seen for her scoliosis, we knew she was going to need surgery,” said Dr. David Siambanes, founder of the Children’s Scoliosis Center and director of the St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital Scoliosis Center. “Addressing these issues as early as possible will help return kids like Melissa back to a normal lifestyle.”
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Melissa has grown up dancing and cheering competitively throughout the state of Florida. She most recently was awarded the Regional Dancer of the Year Finalist for the Rainbow National Dance Competition. She was invited to attend the national competition for Rainbow, but was unable to due to her surgery taking place.
Her mother, Vicki Gonzalez, has been her biggest supporter and can now watch her daughter continue to follow her dreams. Only three months after surgery, Melissa has been released back to 100 percent activity.
“If I had listened to Dr. Siambanes, I wouldn’t have put her through the misery of not having the surgery,” explained Vickie Gonzalez. “Siambanes makes you feel like you won the lottery rather than you are about to have spine surgery for your child.”
Melissa is now an advocate for getting the word out to other families and children how successful her surgery was in taking care of her scoliosis. She wants to ensure they highly consider getting the surgery to fix the problems as early as possible.
“I would say to anyone my age dealing with scoliosis to not put off the surgery,” explained Melissa. “The surgery wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought, and it was completely worth it to return to dancing.”
