Spinal surgery is putting a saxophone back in the hands of a Belvidere High School student.

David Price, 15, received an ok from his orthopedic surgeon, Dustin Greenhill, who corrected the student’s scoliosis. After the complex surgery, he was temporarily restricted from playing the sax.

Diagnosed in 2020, David was operated on at the end of November 2021 at St. Luke’s Bethlehem campus. His mother, Pauline called the results “amazing.” David says, “I’m feeling good, not having any pain.”

Greenhill is the area’s only pediatric orthopedic surgeon who performs the demanding, operation to straighten a youth’s spine. St. Luke’s is one of the few places in the country offering both high-level adult and pediatric spine deformity surgery.

During a six-hour procedure at St. Luke’s on Nov. 30, Greenhill inserted and attached torso-length specialized implants into the diseased portion of David’s spine to realign the vertebrae in his upper back. This corrected his spinal deformity, which had developed a 70-degree, C-shaped curve, most likely during an adolescent growth spurt.

“This type of spinal deformity often becomes visible during the teenage years, due to one’s growth spurt,” explains Dr. Greenhill. “Ideally, it is treated before starting to cause pain or other complications.”

Severe scoliosis, like David’s, can eventually compromise breathing and other physical activities. Because David plays saxophone, which involves deep breathing, Pauline adds, some physicians were relieved that he was able to retain his lung power despite their reduced capacity from the curvature.

Mild scoliosis is usually observed to determine if it’s worsening, explains Dr. Greenhill. Moderate cases may require the patient to wear a custom-molded upper-body brace, and severe cases, like David’s, often warrant surgical correction.

His recovery from surgery has been smooth, and there’s little chance that he’ll ever need another corrective operation, says Dr. Greenhill.

The probable cause of this deformity, says Dr. Greenhill, was a bit unusual. A long, thin fluid-filled cyst had grown inside his patient’s spinal cord over years, causing his bones to curve abnormally.

This condition didn’t give David much pain, says his mother, who felt its malformation while rubbing her son’s back to give him relief for mild discomfort.

“He never complained about the pain and often wore loose-fitting sweatshirts, which hid the problem,” Pauline explains.

Now well into his recovery, David has returned to school and again is practicing his musical scales and tunes on his sax, both seated and standing, as he prepares for upcoming band performances.

“He’s doing really well, thanks to Dr. Greenhill,” says his mother.