Uploaded November 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Beth Bozzelli, a resident of Cape May County, New Jersey, has had scoliosis her entire life. She was officially diagnosed with it as a very young teenager and spent time in the Milwaukee brace – a full-body device that goes up around your chin and back down through your pelvis.
Now, as a 59-year-old woman, osteoporosis has begun to set in. About three years ago, Beth began to notice that she was losing height. She had always been an avid runner, but could no longer run because the pain became incrementally worse and worse. She began walking instead, yet eventually it got to the point where she couldn’t walk any distance because of the discomfort. Even her regular activities of daily living became difficult to do.
Beth decided to undergo scoliosis corrective surgery in order to straighten her spine. She looked at many hospitals before deciding Barnes-Jewish Hospital was the place she wanted to have the procedure done. She says her friends and loved ones tried to convince her to stay in Philadelphia, or go to New York or California, but when she found Barnes-Jewish Hospital, she knew this was where she wanted to be and says she has never looked back.
Now she is three inches taller, and even though she used to have chronic pain, it is almost nonexistent. To prove it to herself, less than six months after surgery Beth challenged herself to walk 30 miles in 30 days. She smashed her goal by walking 78 miles.
To learn more about how Barnes-Jewish Hospital diagnoses and treats scoliosis and other spine deformities, visit: barnesjewish.org/Medical-Services/Spine-and-Spinal-Cord/Spine-Deformities
Beth Bozzelli, a resident of Cape May County, New Jersey, has had scoliosis her entire life. She was officially diagnosed with it as a very young teenager and spent time in the Milwaukee brace – a full-body device that goes up around your chin and back down through your pelvis.
Now, as a 59-year-old woman, osteoporosis has begun to set in. About three years ago, Beth began to notice that she was losing height. She had always been an avid runner, but could no longer run because the pain became incrementally worse and worse. She began walking instead, yet eventually it got to the point where she couldn’t walk any distance because of the discomfort. Even her regular activities of daily living became difficult to do.
Beth decided to undergo scoliosis corrective surgery in order to straighten her spine. She looked at many hospitals before deciding Barnes-Jewish Hospital was the place she wanted to have the procedure done. She says her friends and loved ones tried to convince her to stay in Philadelphia, or go to New York or California, but when she found Barnes-Jewish Hospital, she knew this was where she wanted to be and says she has never looked back.
Now she is three inches taller, and even though she used to have chronic pain, it is almost nonexistent. To prove it to herself, less than six months after surgery Beth challenged herself to walk 30 miles in 30 days. She smashed her goal by walking 78 miles.
To learn more about how Barnes-Jewish Hospital diagnoses and treats scoliosis and other spine deformities, visit: barnesjewish.org/Medical-Services/Spine-and-Spinal-Cord/Spine-Deformities
