Scoliosis: Life, Support & Friends

Hey guys. I was looking up some exercises that are ideal for Scoliosis and came across some very useful ones.  Stretch Up and Reach Down The stretch up and reach down exercise is recommended for those with scoliosis by SportsInjuryClinic.net. Stand with your back against a wall, both arms dangling freely at your side. Standing with your back against the wall to perform this exercise helps you avoid bending forward or backward. If the left side of your back is your tight side, lift up your left arm so that it's pointing straight toward the ceiling. Reach up toward the ceiling with your left hand. At the same time, reach toward the floor with your right hand. You should feel a subtle shift in your spinal alignment with this stretch. Hold your stretch for five seconds, then relax. Repeat your stretch up and reach down exercise a total of 10 times, and perform your stretch two to three times per day. If you're not sure which side of your back is tighter or which arm you should ...

My mom and I were recalling some of our later experiences in the blood thirsty adventure that is the Alberta Health Care system, and a particular memory got me thinking more about my second surgeon. I figured I did an Ode to Dr. Elf (lord help me if any doctor ever stumbles upon this page), and now it's time to address the issue of Dr. Stoic. When I hit the tragic age of 18 I was informed that I was no longer allowed to go to the Alberta Children's Hospital as I had exceeded their maximum height allowance. Also, last time they opened me up they counted my rings and discovered I was far older than appropriate for hanging around small children (apparently clowns can do it and no one makes a sound. Go figure.) So as I stated previously Dr. Elf and I laid out three potential surgeons. He patiently went through them one by one, giving a thorough explanation for each although suspiciously leaving out their criminal records which I request from anyone I spend more than five minutes ...

The Daily Mail report about a 14 year old girl, Megan Parker, 14, who was diagnosed with hemi-vertebrae and curvature of the spine at just six weeks old and had to have over 40 operations to correct her twisted back!!!! She was forced to permanently wear a specially-made body shell to correct her posture and keep her neck upright. Every time she grew medics were forced to open up her back again to stretch the titanium rods screwed into her to keep her spine straight. But after a lifetime spent in her shell she has finally broken free after racing to recovery - and has even taken up go-karting. Nowadays Meg, who wants to be a singer, can be spotted zooming around her local track - a far cry from the pace suggested by her old nickname. Megan, who lives in Colchester with full-time mum Tina, 39, and specialist car mechanic dad Robert, 43, said being without the cast had totally changed her life. She said: 'There is so much that I want to do now, but I have to take things steady becaus...

I have FINALLY given an approximation of how long I will have to continue with my brace!!! I'lll HOPEFULLY be done by early 2011! My current curves are 16 degrees and 19 degrees! It is most likely that I'll never need surgery! I'm getting a new brace in 3 weeks! My orthotist has said that since I've done well with my bracing (I've now nearly HALVED my original curves of 31 deg n 31 deg), it may be possible to try to overcorrect me. Seems very very painful to be honest... Apparently the long side on my boston brace will be shortened a fraction and the shorter side will come up further, to control my upper curve. My next post will probably be on the 4th of June, when I get my new brace. Also, when we told the orthotist about my skin condition, his reply was: "Excellent! The brace is doing its job!" But after some moisturiser, my poor skin is nearly back to normal. There are still scars all over my back though.

Spinal Cord Spinal cord injury is the most feared complication of spinal surgery. Even when the spinal cord is not exposed, it is at risk for injury during reduction of deformities and during ligation of segmental vessels, which could precipitate an ischemic spinal cord event. Decreased blood flow in the anterior spinal artery can result in infarction of a significant portion of the spinal cord. Disruption of blood flow in the artery of Adamkiewicz often has been implicated in this phenomenon. Cadaveric investigations suggests that the anterior spinal artery typically appears to be a continuous structure. However, because of the wide range in luminal size there may be functional discontinuities in anterior spinal artery blood flow. Because of the changes in diameter (0.23 to 0.94 mm), variability in resistance to flow is likely. This resistance to flow may be as high as 278 times normal in vessels with narrow lumens, resulting in regions of functional hypoperfusion of the spinal cord. ...

So, how does a credit crunch come about and why has this affected me? Well, a credit crunch is more often than not caused by a long period of careless and inappropriate (in other words the banks have borrowed more money than they can afford) lending which results in losses for lending institutions and investors in debt when the loans turn sour. A knock on effect of the credit crunch is the reduced availability of credit. The cost of accessing credit is increased and thus raising interest rates. This loss in credit available is making times hard for everyone around the globe, the changing of money from business to business or person to person is dramatically affected and even sound businesses are finding that cash flow is become harder and harder each month, their bank loans are slowing down and generally everyone is feeling like the World is going to stop spinning - it's not is it? The reason I am bringing this subject up on my Scoliosis blog is because a few months ago, paying for...