Local teen offers help to others while waging her own battle in hospital

Her spinal curve went to 50 degrees.

The process of seeing an orthopedic surgeon started in 2018 and the now 14-year-old is receiving treatment in Calgary.

Syrah had a 12-month wait just to get into the Children’s Hospital and in that amount of time, her curve jumped from 57 to 94 degrees.

And with COVID last year, everything was paused.

Her mom Elesha says according to one of their surgeons, it looked like Syrah fell through the cracks.

“It shouldn’t have been a two-year wait, this should have happened immediately when it was at a 57-degree curve so that it didn’t progress quickly and severely,” Elesha said.

Syrah was admitted on March 31 of this year and had the halo-gravity traction applied which would begin the gradual process of straightening her spine.

She is expected to be in hospital for 6-12 weeks.

On March 18 Syrah had a 103-degree thoracic curve and now with the halo, it’s down to about 70 degrees.

“It was really hard in the beginning,” Syrah said. “It is getting easier, there are quite a few rough days still but it is getting easier.”

At this point, Syrah does not have a date for the spinal fusion surgery, but they hope to be home by the end of May.

“And then for spinal fusion, they actually keep the gravity traction on, and then they make the incision and actually pull her spine as straight as they can through that process and then they add three rods and bone graphs,” Elesha explained.

Elesha has been documenting Syrah’s process and recovery on Facebook.

It started as a way to connect with supporters on their GoFundMe Page.

Elesha says writing is therapeutic for her.

She and Syrah wanted to be honest and help other people who might be going through the same thing or a different journey.

“Just what we’re experiencing, the ups and the downs,” Elesha said. “You hear when you’re going through something like this, living in a hospital how difficult it is, but it is exponentially harder than I ever could have imagined.”

The GoFundMe page will help support the family with the costs associated with Syrah’s hospital stay and recovery time at home.

“Our goal is $25,000. We were kind of back and forth. Is that too much to ask or is that not enough? Just because it is very expensive to live in a hospital, you wouldn’t think so.”

As for Syrah’s spine now, she has had quite a bit of improvement in just under one month.

And a 40-50 degree improvement for her would be considered a success.

“So she won’t have a straight spine walking out of this, just because of the severity of her scoliosis. But she is well on her way to a success story here,” Elesha said.

For more information and to support Syrah and the Lake family visit:

Teen Scoliosis Warrior – Facebook

Teen Scoliosis Warrior Halo Traction & Fusion – GoFundMe

(photos & videos courtesy Elesha Lake/Teen Scoliosis Warrior Facebook)

by Chantal Wagner

Local teen offers help to others while waging her own battle in hospital

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