Scoliosis: Life, Support & Friends

I like to think that as a 20-something, I am endowed with a charmingly cynical sort of outlook on the world that comes through at the most inappropriate intervals. My family could easily attest to this as I am always spouting some sarcastic phrase here, or perhaps a crudely spoken insult there. I don't really mean it, it's just my way of dealing, but I think that over the years this 'way of dealing' has somehow forged its way into my brain and become part of who I actually am, which unfortunately can mean me saying things that might be considered in poor taste here and there. I just wanted to explain that before I told you guys about my physio appointment at the advanced spinal care centre down in Calgary a couple of weeks ago. My family doctor hooked me up with them after a family friend had mentioned my issues to her Doc at the chronic pain clinic (which, by the way, I have still not heard back from.) That doc mentioned it to the friend who told my mom who told my ...

Well, I have been up front and sharing since I joined the Scoliosis community over 5 years ago so I decided I would not stop now, I am sure I will not say something here that has not crossed the mind of many chronic pain sufferer with Scoliosis! But I have never been one to mix my words so I will not start now :) I think this week has to be in my "Top 10 Pain Weeks with Scoliosis" and finally I gave in, went to see the Dr and got myself some drugs! While we are at it, let's throw some facts in here - where does the word drug come from? Well it turns out that the word comes from the Dutch word droog, which means dry because most drugs (medicines) came from dried plants - so there you have it, cool fact for the day hahaha! I have always had a problem with the donor site as many of you well know (donor site = where they take bone form the hip to place around the spine) but these past few months it seems to have changed and would swell constantly rendering me unable to...

A friend of mine, Simon Wainwright , bit the bullet and applied for How To Look Good Naked with Gok Wan. His TV appearance aired last night on Channel 4 and he was fantastic! We have been running features on Simon in our Facebook Group, so we can follow his progress and support him during his time of filming and questions! We are very proud of Simon taking the challenge for all Scoliosis people out there. We have been discussing clothes for people with Scoliosis for some time now and still we are debating what is best to suit the curves, trousers, bras and strappy tops are the big offenders in a person with Scoliosis so we look forward to the tips that will come on the show. We could do with a woman being featured next as the male body is different to the female but at least we have someone fighting our corner, I hope the show brings more awareness for people with Scoliosis! We are so glad you look good naked and twisted :) I asked Simon for a little interview so I could publi...

ScoliosisJournal have produced a study Development of an online information and support resource for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients considering surgery: perspectives of health care providers Authors: Radha MacCulloch , Joyce Nyhof-Young , David Nicholas , Sandra Donaldson and James G Wright Background Adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis who are considering spinal surgery face a major decision that requires access to in-depth information and support. Unfortunately, most online resources provide incomplete and inconsistent information and minimal social support. The aim of this study was to develop an online information and support resource for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients considering spinal surgery. Prior to website development, a user-based needs assessment was conducted. The needs assessment involved a total of six focus groups with three stakeholder groups: (1) post-operative AIS patients or surgical candidates (10-18 years) (n=11), (2...

The outcomes of scoliosis treatment are being evaluated continually in an attempt to optimise the results for each scoliosis patient. The two prinicpal goals of any scoliosis surgery are to limit further curve progression and achieve some degreeof deformity correction. The greater the focus on deformity correction, however, the greater the risk of procedure, with the most obvious risk being limitation of spinal cord function. Advances in surgical technique, instrumentation, and intra-operative monitoring of the spinal cord have allowed greater and safer deformity correction than that achieved with the Harrington rod , which is the correction I had in 1989. The Harrington rod is from the era of the 1960s and 1970s. Deformity correction both radiographically and with regard to trunk shape is important to many patients with scoliosis. The functional outcome after fusion is equally important and may be assessed using a variety of methods, including measurements of physiologic function, s...