I was diagnosed with scoliosis in March of 2011. I had been at a check up because one was required to join my school's track team, and my doctor had me bend over for a routine scoliosis check. She told me it looked like I had a small curve and suggested I head to the local hospital for x-rays. So my dad and I went there and got x-rays and continued with our lives. A week or so later the hospital called us up and said they wanted me to see a specialist. I hadn't seen my x-rays yet at this point.
In late April, we went to see Doctor Rubery, a spinal specialist. They did some x-rays there and we waited a little while for them to print and stuff, and then the doctor came in and brought this up on the computer:
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| 45 degrees :O |
He told me I had a 45 degree curve --I was right on the border of needing surgery to fix it. He said that a brace probably wouldn't do much because I was done growing, and a brace would only stop a curve from progressing if you were still growing. (for girls, they judge how much growing you've got left by how long you've been getting your period --I had gotten mine for a year and a half at that point, so I was nearly physically mature.) He also said that if it reaches 45 degrees before you finish growing, it'll generally progress about a degree a year.
He concluded the appointment by saying we would just keep an eye on it and make sure it didn't get too much worse. Through this whole thing, I was in a state of a shock, but I wasn't too worried. Maybe by some miracle, my spine would magically straighten itself. (yes, I really hoped this.) I started laying on my left side while I slept, hoping that the curve would go down and align with the rest of the spine. It didn't work, for some strange reason :P
A year and a half later, on October 3 (about 3 weeks ago) we finally got around to taking me back.
This time, my x-ray looked like this:
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| 57 DEGREES. :O LOOK AT MY POOR RIBS :( |
My curve had progressed to 57 degrees --12 degrees worse than before. I had a really hard time getting my head around it --twelve degrees in a year and a half, when they had said about 1 degree per year! Doctor Rubery left the room to give me and my mom privacy to discuss the possibility of surgery. Before this point, I knew that surgery was a very likely possibility. But when it was for sure in my future, I had sort of a mental break down. I felt like my life would be over - think of all those things I wouldn't be able to do anymore! - and I almost cried there in front of my mom. Those that know me know that I never cry, especially not in front of people. The doctor came back in and we all talked for a little while longer about details of the surgery. I gave him a huge list of questions that I had written before, and he went through and answered, although with some less than satisfactory answers. Some reasons we decided not to just leave my back alone: My curve was only going to get worse each year. The worse it got, the less space my lungs and heart had to function. Not to mention I was feeling significantly more pain than before, and now one of my shoulders was about two inches higher than the other. All of that could be fixed (except maybe the pain) with surgery.
So now I'm counting the days until my surgery, which is scheduled for November 20th. As of today, I have exactly 4 weeks of being able to bend and twist and such. Twenty eight days. And then I'll never be able to do that stuff again. I've made it my goal to be able to do a scorpion (which is a ballet move- see below) before surgery, because I'll never ever be able to after. I'm not a gymnast, but I'm incredibly flexible. Unfortunately my spine isn't very flexible, so I haven't managed this move yet.
| scorpion :D |
I can almost do it now.
I have a pre-op appointment on November 6. That includes getting blood drawn, getting my spine monitored, and having a nice talk with Doctor Rubery.
I'll try to post again after that with how it went. I'm horrible at blogging, so we'll see.
So that's all for now. If you have scoliosis as well and are worried about things or just need someone to talk to, feel free to comment --I'm always here for you :)
