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Scoliosis can't keep Ryan out of the water

David Willis
Published: October 18, 2007

The only clue to what Margot Ryan has been through over the last 15 months is the prominent scar that stretches nearly the length of her back.

“I’m not back to what I was before,” said the Andover High junior, who has two rods in her spine. “But swimming is definitely slowly getting easier. I can finish practices now, and I am almost back to where I was.”

An avid swimmer throughout her childhood, Ryan was diagnosed with scoliosis, or a curvature of the spine, while in the sixth grade.

In hopes of fixing the problem without surgery, her doctors gave her a back brace. For the next three years, she was expected to wear the brace 19 hours a day, including while sleeping.

“The brace was just too much,” she said. “It was just a pain, and it got to the point that I wasn’t wearing it as much as I should have been.”

Undaunted by the back problems, Ryan continued swimming and became a breakout star for the perennial power Golden Warriors, placing 10th in the Division 1 state meet in her event of choice, the 100 butterfly.

But during swim season, Ryan received the bad news.

“The doctors said there was nothing more they could do and I had to have surgery,” said Ryan, whose family does not have a history of the normally hereditary disorder. “I was upset because I didn’t want to get it done. It never bothered me so I felt like it was no big deal.”

But her spine now had a curve of 40 degrees, and surgery was a necessity because of possible health issues later in life.

So Ryan scheduled the surgery for January 2006 in the hope she could recover in time for the fall swim season. But her family decided to put it off after her grandfather passed away. She then set it for March, but was sent home with a fever. They then scheduled it for May ... still, more problems. She was sent home because of her allergies.

“The waiting was tough,” said her mother, Erin Ryan. “Your anxiety level is so high because you think this is the day.”

Finally, on July 17, 2006, Ryan underwent the eight-hour surgery at Children’s Hospital Boston to install two medal rods in her spine, one on either side, to straighten it.

“I didn’t think the surgery was going to be as hard as it was,” said Margot. “While I was in the hospital it was a lot more painful than I had imagined.”

Ryan spent a week in the hospital after the surgery. During that time she had to regain the strength to walk even a short distance, and was unable to eat for much of her stay.

When she returned to Andover, there were plenty of limitations. She could not lift anything over 5 pounds for six months, and she struggled to move around. The recovery time for the surgery was eight months, and she was not allowed to participate in physical activity for another two months.

“The surgery was a lot worse than I had thought,” Erin Ryan said. “Margot spent the whole summer on the couch. She could only stay on pain killers for three weeks, then it was just Tylenol. Her sisters (Maura, then 16, and Anna, then 12) helped out a lot.”

Once September came around, Ryan returned to school and to the swim team. But still early in her recovery, she was far away from returning to the pool. So coach Marilyn Fitzgerald found a new role for her, as team manager.

“We wanted to keep her involved,” Fitzgerald said. “She did it all. She took daily attendance, helped with entries and did all the ordering (swimsuits, caps, etc.). I didn’t have to do a thing.”

But Ryan, then a sophomore, focused on returning to the pool. She was allowed to swim again in June, 11 months after the surgery, and she made it back for Andover’s first meet of this season against Belmont.

“It was so exciting,” she said. “I swam the 100 fly, which is my favorite event, and I did OK.”

It was an emotional day for the Ryans.

“On the first dive she took I had to hold my daughters’ hands,” Erin Ryan said. “It was a long road and it was really something to watch her back out there.”

At press time, her season-best in the 100 butterfly was a 1:06.6, good enough to qualify her for the North Sectional meet. Her best time as a freshman was 1:03.77.

Her ability to bounce back is not a given for patients who have had the same surgery.

“It’s not that common that athletes are able to regain their old form,” said Dr. Tom Pappas, a chiropractor from the Belmont Chiropractic and Midwest Scoliosis Care Center in Chicago. “Surgery often takes athletes out of competitions. There is often pain and a reduced range of motion.”

But that was no problem for Ryan.

“It felt weird to be back in the pool,” she said. “It was very tiring. But it came back to me.”

Swimming is not Ryan’s only area of excellence. She was recently accepted into the National Honor Society.

“She is truly a special kid and a special athlete,” Fitzgerald said. “I couldn’t ask her to do more in or out of the water. She does everything that is asked of her and more.”