Charlie Toney is an energetic second grader, who loves gymnastics and piano.
When she was three, her mom, Courtney, noticed a curve in her spine.
"It was like a backward c along her back, so we took her to the doctor in Fort Riley, Kansas, and they told us it was something she would grow out of as she got older,” recalled Toney.
A year after Toney returned from a deployment to Afghanistan, she learned of her daughter's condition. "They said she has on-set juvenile scoliosis. They sent us for all kinds of tests to be done," said Toney.
Toney wore a brace, but her mom did not want her young daughter to undergo surgeries every three months to lengthen her back. Then, came hope, a rod that can be placed into Toney's back and lengthed through a magnetic device. "We're like, we're not getting any better. We have to try something and with magic, there would not be no repeated surgeries and that was what was going to be the great thing. She has surgery as a child and the rod lasts for five years," said Toney.
The rod was placed into Toney's spine in June and she was one of the first to undergo this type of treatment at Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte. As Toney grows, the rod can be extended.
"Charlie has done terrific and I think she is actually the ideal candidate. She's young, she had a big deformity, and she progressed, despite bracing, and she has done just terrific so far," said Dr. Kelly VanderHave, an orthopedic surgeon at Levine Children’s Hospital.
Toney is the first patient in the region to undergo this procedure and she is back into gymnastics and dance, which amazed her mom, as she said, “we went from the doctor's office home and on Tuesday, she was back in classes."