I haven't signed in this site in years, but have read it regularly. I had to chime in on this subject though.

My daughter was not diagnosed with scoliosis until just after she turned 18. They stopped monitoring/screening for that long before that. She also didn't have a huge (and last, thankfully) growth spurt until she was 17. Last August, 2008, her scoliosis was caught. By then, she had 60 degree plus curves (S-Curve). By November, it had rapidly progressed. My mid-December her curvatures had increased and she was having the largest scoliosis surgery in our state, lasting a little over 12 hours.

I won't go into the graphic details, but now she has a zipper down her entire back, two steel rods and 26 screws holding her straight. In a nutshell, it was a nightmare.

Please take any diagnosis of scoliosis seriously. If caught early enough, some doctors believe bracing will help. Anything over 40 is potentially surgical. Keep in mind, my daughter's experience is rare, but it was severe.

If you want more information, feel free to PM me (there still is PM here, isn't there?) or I can provide an email address.