Scoliosis: Life, Support & Friends

WOW! I can't believe it I have been doing this gym thing now for 4 weeks and my trainer Daisy Hudson is really starting to crack the whip with me and boy oh boy can I feel it! Now, as I mentioned before with my previous gym efforts, it had all gone very sour by now, simply because I had over strained something and the trainer didn't understand the mechanics of a twisted spine, however, this time round is very, very different. Daisy has listened to my tales of woe regarding my back, tried her best to understand what I can and cannot do due to the Harrington Rod and generally been a great support for my work-outs - I am starting to love it! As per usual I started off with the Power Plate session which lasts just 20 minutes, Daisy works a lot on my legs during this time and I carry out a lot of squat movements 1of which is a deep squat for 45 seconds - she has me laying on both sides for cellulite which is also a bit of a time out and relaxation. We then do some of the yoga mov...

It started so well, we casually gathered our belongings as we were heading down to the coast so my husband could play poker with his friends, stay at our townhouse and then get up the next day and finish off the last few bits before our guests arrive on Sunday for 3 months, from Canda. We spent a few hours at our friend's house, Chris played poker while I chatted to my girlfriend, Karen. I was comfortable while at their house, we were sat on a swing which has good support for the back and not too soft. This morning we went out for breakfast and I was fine, although feeling the effects of the bottle and a half of wine we drank each, hehehe. We then had to go to the shop and buy some curtain ends, nothing too exciting or over strenuous! Back at the house we put curtains up, checked the internet was on as planned and I cleaned the windows and did some light pruning in the garden, the plumbago and gazanias are amazingly large now so I cut them back and cleaned up after myself, s...

I am now ready to talk about my visit with Mr Evan Davies on Friday 9th April, 2010. I have been very quiet which is unusual for me but I did my normal thing - keep busy and ignore what was said until there is a point where I have to think about it. I am usually such a gob shite but I switched off, I avoided anything social media and just turned off my PC, I know I should have updated my wonderful Scoliosis family but I was torn inside and really did not want to talk. I met on time with Mr Davies and first impressions were wonderful, I was told he was a good guy and out of all the Drs I have met in my time I warmed to him very well, I thought he had great bedside manner and I also appreciated his bluntness. He did more x-rays and he was very impressed that I had all my medical notes and x-rays since the original surgery - well considering I have been banging on about getting medical history and how important it can be I could hardly arrive without mine could I!? hehehehe He read th...

Well, it has been a long time coming for various reasons, one of them being I needed to grab myself by the balls and work towards an appointment to see Dr Evan Davies. I have been nervous as I am sure you can imagine, but the time has come where I need to know if I can have revision surgery and remove this pain or not. I have been so used to guiding and helping people for years that I put myself to one side, not that I am complaining of course, in fact, if I am honest I have been hiding behind others for many years, trying to avoid surgery for myself, now it is my time to take the walk and go see a Dr to find out if he can help me. I came across Dr Davies from a lady who found our Facebook group for " How To Look Good Twisted ", we had a chat on the phone and she explained what her revision surgery involved and what Dr Davies was like. I will not mention her name because I am not 100% sure she would like me to! After we had our chat I came to realise she was also a previo...

Dammit, I promised myself I wouldn't cry. Mom and I drove to Tulsa and flew to St. Louis. Completely uneventful. Up early the next morning, called the shuttle to the hospital so we wouldn't have to worry about parking and grabbed breakfast in the cafeteria. Let me tell you something. Barnes Jewish is the biggest hospital I've ever seen. No joke, the building I was in is 20 stories high and all of the buildings cover SEVEN CITY BLOCKS. This place was GINORMOUS. I got two new x-rays taken. Oh, I forgot to mention, I was in excruciating pain THE ENTIRE TRIP. So I couldn't stand up straight (especially without my shoes) during the x-rays. I didn't bother to tell the radiologists or Dr. STL, I don't really know why. I was amazed to see the x-ray up on the lightboard. My bones are so off center when I am in pain. It was a good thing I stood like that, though. None of my previous x-rays had shown that my L4 vertebra is a good 1-1.5 cm to the left of my L3 ...

I wish there was one from the left side, then you'd see the comparison between the my back ribs on the left and the right. Oh, well. Heh. My CT scan was pretty much the same; I couldn't get it to rotate like Dr. OKC did. Picture 1 Picture 2 I haven't gone through the whole story yet. Here's the short version. My curve was found during a routine exam at school in 7th grade. I was 12, my curve was 18 degrees. Eight months later, it was 36. I had several braces, I think they were the Boston type. I chose to have surgery in July 1996 (I was 16); my curve was 48 degrees, and they fused me from T10-L3. I was in a cast for nine weeks and another brace for about six months. My curve was 20 the day after surgery. I only discovered that from my medical records. As far as I knew, it was 34. No, it increased to 34 post surgery. Before last summer, my most recent x-rays were January 1998. Last summer it was 37, but Dr. Q said to ignore that, the first radiologist mus...

I have noticed just recently that I seem to be leaning left again and walking is becoming a real struggle, I only noticed this the other day when I had my jeans on and I saw myself in the mirror (not something I do very often especially as it is cold). I was shocked, my right side is fairly straight and flat (not too much flab) - my left side is almost folded in half and I can wedge my hand in between the fold that appears there - I look awful!!!!! Is it even possible for me to start curving again and my Scoliosis show signs again after a Harrington rod surgery 19 years ago? I never used to be conscious over my body years ago and I know it changes the older I get but I am no bigger than I was when I got married at age 24 and I am now 31, I hate my clothes I do not feel comfortable at all and I hate it when people look at me when I am walking down the street in a sideways crab walk!! I have even added a picture of my back, I never thought I would share that with the world because I am ...

We have had a busy Summer and I now have possession of my own wheelchair, although it took some time to get used to the idea that I was using a wheelchair but now I am more settled with the idea and it helps me a great deal. Going out and sitting in various pubs or clubs started to become a problem last year, so much so that it was not worth going out, the chairs are not comfortable for me so I tend to suffer, having my own chair with me means I can relax while I am out and enjoy myself. The last month or so has been more or less up and down, however, I always force myself to get out of bed and get on with the day, this sometimes can be a bit much though. The pain has been there everyday now for a very long time, bending down is such an effort and a strain, I generally bend down holding onto something with one of my legs in the air behind me. This year's pain has been worse as I have not even managed to do much exercise because the pain has placed a burden on that area, although I ...

So far this year I have had many ups and downs and it is only May! I remember a time when I would go a few months before any major pain or discomfort inside. I noticed last week my shoulder muscles were very strained and became painful, I thought perhaps this was due to me using a walking stick which had put pressure on my upper back muscles. I am now a week later and no change except it is now a dull ache and I notice my rod a lot more than I ever did. I never had problems in the upper back before or surrounding the rod area. After close inspection on the scar my husband says it looks as if the skin has moved slightly as the scar used to be a straight line up the spine whereas the top of the scar is now bearing to the left slightly. For a few weeks now I have complained of heart palpitations (feels like a butterfly is flapping its wings over my heart) when I get into bed at night, my ribs have moved (we think) and my hips do not feel as aligned as they did a few months back and I have...