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 ...

Scoliosis Journal report about brace treatment for patients with Scheuermann`s disease - a review of the literature and first experiences with a new brace design Authors: Hans-Rudolf Weiss, Deborah Turnbull and Silvia Bohr Published: 29 September 2009 Background In contemporary literature few have written in detail on the in-brace correction effects of braces used for the treatment of hyperkyphosis. Bradford et al. found their attempts effective, treating Scheuermann's kyphosis with Milwaukee braces, but their first report did not specifically focus on in-brace corrections. White and Panjabi's research attempted to correct a curvature of > 50 degrees with the help of distraction forces, but consequently led to a reduction in patient comfort in the application of the Milwaukee brace. In Germany they avoid this by utitlising braces to treat hyperkyphosis that use transverse correction forces instead of distraction forces. Further efforts to reduce brace material have resulte...

In November, I mentioned that my elder daughter Ruth, aged 23, had just started on the scoliosis journey. She's now had an MRI scan and the results are back, she read them to me over the phone (she's not long moved in with her boyfriend, another story for another blog maybe) and she has an S-shaped thoracolumbar curve, if she told me the degree of curve I didn't take it in. I'm guessing that the reason it only showed up recently is that maybe an S-shaped curve can sort-of balance itself out appearance-wise, and what's happened now is that one of the curves has grown more than the other so that's no longer the case - does this make sense? The physio who assessed her doesn't think she should have surgery and that she should have some sort of physio treatment. Mind you, she has a new GP now and he/she may take a different view. This has upset me for all sorts of reasons, one of them is that I feel guilty and that it is all my fault for passing on the scoliosis....

I went to Spine School last night, I wasn't looking forward to going after a hard day's work but I will do what my Dr has requested. I had to be there for 7:30 start so I left home 30 minutes before and headed off to Marbella, got there on time but then the receptionist took forever to put my payment through so I ended up having to wait ages and then I was the last person to join the class and I hate walking into a room where everyone is waiting for me, they turn and stare at you. So, basically the class was Yoga but concentrating on the lumbar spine, as a person who has done Yoga for many years it was all new to me and I was surprised by this, there were many new moves that I had never done before, some of the moves I really struggled to do and just couldn't get up like she wanted me to so I had to get up from the floor as I would normally. The instructor was Spanish and the class was all in Spanish so I struggled a bit there, I have a good understanding of the Spanish lan...

Well I had my follow up appointment with Dr Ayllon yesterday (I would have blogged last night but we didn't have internet!). I was scheduled for an x-ray prior to meeting with Dr Ayllon and I have to say I was impressed, especially for the Spanish! Bless the Spanish we always diss them for being late and slow and yesterday in the hospital they blew me away - we arrived at 17:45 for my x-ray and by 17:58 I was out having 2 x-rays done, waiting in reception for my results! In the UK you have to make an appointment which takes weeks, wait around for ages for the x-ray, pay an absolute fortune and it gets very tiresome, then you make another appointment weeks later to see the Dr with your x-rays. I turned up at the USP Hospital and had my x-rays done in 13 minutes, walked to their other office to see Dr Ayllon and was in for my appointment with him on time - bloody marvellous, but hey I guess that is also the beauty of private healthcare, however, my last x-rays in the UK cost me 199 G...