Fourteen-year-old Jeremiah Cardona from Weslaco is now able to stand tall thanks to Driscoll Children’s Hospital.

Jeremiah was born with congenital scoliosis, which was causing a curvature in his back. He was having difficulty sleeping and it would hurt to lie down.

Sochic Contreras, Jeremiah’s mom, said, “He was not a regular little kid. He would cry all the time, everything hurt. He didn’t even know where the hurting came from. He just knew it hurt and it hurt everywhere.”

Congenital scoliosis was causing Jeremiah’s hips to be unaligned, and one leg was longer than the other. He would trip all the time and had difficulty running. He was in constant pain.

After receiving a diagnosis at the age of three, Jeremiah and his family met with Christopher Comstock, MD, Orthopaedic Surgeon at Driscoll Children’s Hospital. Together, they determined that surgery would be the best option to help keep Jeremiah’s condition from getting worse.

Driscoll’s pediatric orthopaedic surgeons have extensive training and experience in using the most advanced types of surgical instrumentation and techniques to correct scoliosis, spinal deformities and many other orthopaedic conditions.

At the age of five, Jeremiah came to Driscoll Children’s Hospital for a surgical procedure to correct his scoliosis, with Dr. Comstock as his orthopaedic surgeon.

Dr. Comstock said, “We had to treat Jeremiah’s congenital scoliosis with surgery from both the front and back of his spine on the same day. This was quite an extensive operation for such a young boy but he and his family handled it all beautifully. It has been a true pleasure to help with his care and watch him mature over the past several years.”

Jeremiah is thankful for having surgery at Driscoll Children’s Hospital. Jeremiah said, “It helped with the curvature. After a while, I learned how to walk again and it helped a lot. I was able to sleep better.”

Sochic added, “Ever since we have started with Driscoll they have just been wonderful. They have helped him a lot. Everyone at Driscoll is very friendly, Dr. Comstock is very friendly; he always has answers. They are like family.”