Scoliosis.. my experience
I wish I had written down exactly what I was feeling when I was going through all the tests and xrays and my brace.. mostly what I remembered was feeling scared and ashamed that my body wasn't perfect.. and I just wanted to share what I remember about my experience.
I was about 11 or 12 years old and i was in puberty and it was a very rough time for me, well for any girl at that time.. my body was changing I felt ugly and I was the oldest out of all my friends.. I already had glasses and braces.. so if you can imagine my self esteem was on the rocks.
But I was at a routine checkup at my pediatrician and she noticed that my hips were uneven.. she said it probably wasn't anything but that she wanted us to go see a specialist. I remember my mom being freaked out and upset.. now for this whole process my parents did not have health insurance.. they paid for everything out of pocket.. and this stuff can get pretty expenshttp://www.blogger.com/ive. But we went and we met with the specialist and he had us take xrays. He ordered fully body xrays and I was not very comfortable with that.. but it had to be done..
I am not sure if it was the same day or if we had to come back.. but we confirmed that I had lumbar scoliosis.. We then found out that my grandma(on my mom's side) had scoliosis too.. she just had thoracic.. and my aunt Julie's doctors suspected that she might have a mild case..
But when he was telling my mom and I that I did have scoliosis I remember feeling scared and confused.. I sorta felt that I was being punished. I mean I already had the glasses and the braces and I was home schooled and I was a christian.. I remember being very angry for a while.. probably because I had all this stuff wrong with me and my younger sister didn't have to go through anything.. as far as genes go, she got all the good ones.. I just felt like life had taken a giant crap on me.. AND I WAS IN PUBERTY.. what a horrible time for this to happen!!
But my doctor told us that I was lucky that we had found it early and by using a brace I might(MIGHT) not have to have surgery to place metal rods in my back. He also told me that even if I did wear the brace and help to straiten out my back that I would always have problems with my spine.. And they started telling me all the things I couldn't do.. and all the things I wasn't allowed to do. That is a horrifying thing to tell a young girl.. that she will have trouble with pregnancy and that she cant lift over 50 pounds.. he suggested that I not do sports.. looking back I think that might have been one of the worse times of my life.. I think the whole situation could have been handled differently.. I think my doctor could have been nicer, but he was a clinical guy who was just used to dealing with getting the job done.. he wasn't sweet or caring like the doctor I had to go to next to get my brace..
I wish I could remember the name of the doctor who was in charge of my brace and my time of wearing it.. he was a young cute doctor and he made me feel like this wasn't the end of the world.. he let me cry and he talked to me about my future with dealing with this.. and the near future of going to summer camp in the brace.. and he just made me feel like I had hope.. Now with my brace it was simalar to the one in the picture below.. I could wear it under my clothes.. That was the best part of the whole thing..
Now with my summer camp experience.. it surprisingly went a lot smoother then I had thought... most everyone was supportive.. the girls in my cabin were very sweet and they even offered to help me put it on.. and the staff was very willing to let me sit out of certain activities that I couldn't do(for example the kickball game).. but for the most part I was very happy and I got to do a lot of stuff.. I can tell you that the best time of the day was when we got to go swimming! I could take the brace off then and of course when I showered and then right back into the brace.. I also remember one time it was soooo HOT one night that I didn't put it back on.. and I didn't feel guilty about it.. of course I had to put it on the next morning but I had one night of freedom..
one of the things I learned through out my experience with scoliosis is that it is important to wear the brace and even if you do you will still have it.. this condition is a lifelong thing.. I wont ever be able to get rid of it.. but it has made me realize how STRONG I can be.. Back then I never thought that I would be able to come to a place where I would be able to feel this good about myself.. but I am.. I am almost 21 years old, I am single, I have scoliosis.. those are just details about me... they do not dictate the person I am... even though there are some days where I am in pain.. there are also days where I am doing just fine.
June is National Scoliosis Awareness Month so go out and celebrate what makes you unique and different!
I was about 11 or 12 years old and i was in puberty and it was a very rough time for me, well for any girl at that time.. my body was changing I felt ugly and I was the oldest out of all my friends.. I already had glasses and braces.. so if you can imagine my self esteem was on the rocks.
But I was at a routine checkup at my pediatrician and she noticed that my hips were uneven.. she said it probably wasn't anything but that she wanted us to go see a specialist. I remember my mom being freaked out and upset.. now for this whole process my parents did not have health insurance.. they paid for everything out of pocket.. and this stuff can get pretty expenshttp://www.blogger.com/ive. But we went and we met with the specialist and he had us take xrays. He ordered fully body xrays and I was not very comfortable with that.. but it had to be done..
I am not sure if it was the same day or if we had to come back.. but we confirmed that I had lumbar scoliosis.. We then found out that my grandma(on my mom's side) had scoliosis too.. she just had thoracic.. and my aunt Julie's doctors suspected that she might have a mild case..
But when he was telling my mom and I that I did have scoliosis I remember feeling scared and confused.. I sorta felt that I was being punished. I mean I already had the glasses and the braces and I was home schooled and I was a christian.. I remember being very angry for a while.. probably because I had all this stuff wrong with me and my younger sister didn't have to go through anything.. as far as genes go, she got all the good ones.. I just felt like life had taken a giant crap on me.. AND I WAS IN PUBERTY.. what a horrible time for this to happen!!
But my doctor told us that I was lucky that we had found it early and by using a brace I might(MIGHT) not have to have surgery to place metal rods in my back. He also told me that even if I did wear the brace and help to straiten out my back that I would always have problems with my spine.. And they started telling me all the things I couldn't do.. and all the things I wasn't allowed to do. That is a horrifying thing to tell a young girl.. that she will have trouble with pregnancy and that she cant lift over 50 pounds.. he suggested that I not do sports.. looking back I think that might have been one of the worse times of my life.. I think the whole situation could have been handled differently.. I think my doctor could have been nicer, but he was a clinical guy who was just used to dealing with getting the job done.. he wasn't sweet or caring like the doctor I had to go to next to get my brace..
I wish I could remember the name of the doctor who was in charge of my brace and my time of wearing it.. he was a young cute doctor and he made me feel like this wasn't the end of the world.. he let me cry and he talked to me about my future with dealing with this.. and the near future of going to summer camp in the brace.. and he just made me feel like I had hope.. Now with my brace it was simalar to the one in the picture below.. I could wear it under my clothes.. That was the best part of the whole thing..
Now with my summer camp experience.. it surprisingly went a lot smoother then I had thought... most everyone was supportive.. the girls in my cabin were very sweet and they even offered to help me put it on.. and the staff was very willing to let me sit out of certain activities that I couldn't do(for example the kickball game).. but for the most part I was very happy and I got to do a lot of stuff.. I can tell you that the best time of the day was when we got to go swimming! I could take the brace off then and of course when I showered and then right back into the brace.. I also remember one time it was soooo HOT one night that I didn't put it back on.. and I didn't feel guilty about it.. of course I had to put it on the next morning but I had one night of freedom..
one of the things I learned through out my experience with scoliosis is that it is important to wear the brace and even if you do you will still have it.. this condition is a lifelong thing.. I wont ever be able to get rid of it.. but it has made me realize how STRONG I can be.. Back then I never thought that I would be able to come to a place where I would be able to feel this good about myself.. but I am.. I am almost 21 years old, I am single, I have scoliosis.. those are just details about me... they do not dictate the person I am... even though there are some days where I am in pain.. there are also days where I am doing just fine.
June is National Scoliosis Awareness Month so go out and celebrate what makes you unique and different!
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