Gillette Children’s Scoliosis Team Helps Dancer Keep “Popping and Locking”

Libby Donohue is a self-described hard-working, ambitious, and friendly 11th grader from Minnetonka, MN with a passion for dance.

“My dance coach calls me a “powerhouse” even though I’m only 5-foot-1.” Libby says with a smile.

Known for her impressive jumps, leaps, and strength Libby, and her mother Cami, are grateful for the spine care she received at Gillette Children’s after a scoliosis diagnosis threatened the future in hip hop dancing. Gillette Children's offers comprehensive scoliosis evaluations, treatments, and services for all ages, from infants to adults.

During Libby’s yearly physical with her pediatrician in the Fall of 2020, she was surprised to hear she might have scoliosis, and new images were needed to confirm the suspected diagnosis.

“Once the x-rays confirmed Libby’s scoliosis things went fast,” Cami recalls.

The Donohue’s were referred to Gillette Children’s pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Daniel Miller, MD in October of 2020.

“We felt good about Dr. Miller and his team,” Cami says. “Dr. Miller is so nice and funny, and we connected with him right away. As a mom, I know you don’t get to be a surgeon at a place like Gillette without the receipts! Dr. Miller has great medical training.”

During their first appointment Dr. Miller said Libby needed to wear a brace to help with the curvature of her spine. The purpose of a brace is to slow or stop the progression of the scoliosis curve and is prescribed for children and teens who are still growing.

Dr. Miller and his team took time to explain the importance of adhering to the bracing plan and gave Libby good advice about being a teenager and dealing with scoliosis.

“At first it was really challenging to wear the hard plastic brace for 18 hours a day,” Libby recalls. She was patient with herself and reports, eventually, wearing the brace began to feel more comfortable.

From the start Libby and her mom felt supported by the Gillette team. “We just can’t say enough about Janet in orthotics who fitted Libby for her brace, did the mold, and was so kind at explaining things,” Cami says.

Orthotics and prosthetics practitioner Janet Cortes has years of experience helping people diagnosed with scoliosis get properly fitted for their brace and is known for helping people feel comfortable during what can be a stressful process.

She and her colleagues now have new tools to bring ease to the process of making scoliosis braces. “Back in 2020, when I was seeing Libby, we were doing plaster molds for bracing,” Cortes recalls. “Today we almost exclusively scan the spine to get a 3-D image. There is no plaster involved, and it is a much easier process.”

Janet Cortes says the spine and scoliosis care at Gillette is remarkable because of the commitment to making sure there is enough time in the process to properly educate patients and families and to make them comfortable.

“At Gillette, we can take as much time as we need with patients. We don’t have to rush them,” Cortes says. “Most organizations have just an hour or two to fit a brace. At Gillette we usually schedule six hours for that brace fitting appointment. We might not need all that time, but we want to be sure the brace fits well and that patients are comfortable when we send them home with the brace.”

Libby wore the scoliosis brace for about 18 months and was carefully monitored by the Gillette team. Eventually, it was determined that spinal fusion surgery would be the best option for Libby. Spinal fusion surgery permanently joins two or more vertebrae together to help with a spine curvature.

Dr. Miller is pleased the spinal fusion surgery went well and he’s impressed with Libby’s dedication to improving her scoliosis and getting back to dancing.

“Libby never let scoliosis define her,” Dr. Miller says. “Her dedication to the recovery process is the same spirit she brings to the dance floor—focused, graceful and unstoppable.”

Dr. Miller appreciates the strong partnership among the spine surgeons, orthotics team, and the physical therapists. He says the Gillette spine team experts often push him to be more creative about treating teens who have scoliosis.

Gillette Children's physical therapist, Michelle Engberg started working with Libby about 6 weeks after her surgery with Dr. Miller.

“Libby was really motivated to get back to her hip hop dancing,” Engberg recalls. “She and I discussed the difficult movements involved in this kind of dancing and I came up with a physical therapy program to help her reach her goal of returning to performing.”

Engberg admits she initially was not very familiar with the physical moves needed to perform hip hop dancing. “I would watch YouTube videos to get ideas and then Libby and I would talk and collaborate,” she says.

“Libby is a high-level dancer, and it was so fun working with her,” Engberg says. “As a physical therapist, it’s rewarding for me to see someone like Libby achieve her goal and to watch her nail her dance moves.”

Today Libby says she’s a stronger and more confident dancer. She’s looking forward to performing in an upcoming production of “The Nativity” with the CREO Arts and Dance Conservatory.

Libby is working on earning the Girl Scout Gold Award which is often compared to an Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts. Her project for this award is inspired by her experience at Gillette and she’s working with Gillette research coordinator, Michaela Hingten. Her APEX Spinal Fusion Recovery resource is aimed at helping teens find information and community after the first six weeks of spinal fusion surgery.

“Gillette and the spine team have helped me in so many ways,” Libby says. “I feel grateful for the support and care.”