Scoliosis: Life, Support & Friends

I thought for my first blog I'd introduce myself and tell you a bit about my Scoliosis journey. So, my name's Kat and I'm currently 16 years old. I was diagnosed with Scoliosis in 2009 after a holiday to Florida where my Dad noticed my ribs were sticking out. My first appointment with my surgeon was 2 months later, where I was told I'd have to have surgery as my curve was already at 44 degrees and was too late for bracing. When I had surgery in January 2010, my curve had increased to 53 degrees. My surgery took 6 hours and I came out with an almost fully straight spine (3 degrees). My recovery was quite a speedy one, so when I finally went back to school I only missed an hour of it as I went home early. From having the surgery, I can tell you that having the surgery is really worth it! The pain decreases a lot after surgery. You may get a few bad days, but nowhere near as many bad days as you had before surgery. There are so many reasons why having the surgery is wo...

I'm still counting down - 75 days left. Things to look forward to after surgery, other than pain relief: 1. Having a bra that fits properly. 2. Wearing any pair of shoes I want, without having to get an expensive lift put on. 3. Not having my legs fall asleep all the time (hopefully). 4. Sleeping better! 5. No more limping! 6. No backaches from doing the laundry or dishes, showering, or anything else that requires standing for long periods. 7. Better posture. Things to dread: 1. The insane medical bills. 2. Changes in my ability to bathe, dress, and move. Other than the money ($50,000 and up), everything else I can deal with. At least, I think so. I'm currently fused from T10-L3. It's going to be revised and continued, from T4-S1. Does anyone out there have a fusion this complex? I really want to know what it's like to be fused this much, so I know what to expect. Comment me here or hit me up on Twitter, @oddcupcake.

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've been thinking about how to introduce myself to you all a lot over the past few days. I suppose I'm overthinking things. I don't have to tell you all my entire life story in one post, and my current pain level doesn't allow me to type that long, anyway. Let me start off with this, then. I had spinal fusion surgery from T10 to L3 in July 1996. I only got health insurance a year ago, so I just decided last summer to get a doctor and have a checkup and a new set of x-rays. (It had been 10 years.) Long story short, I'm having another surgery next month. It's been twelve years since my first surgery, so my memories are a little fuzzy now. I was under the impression that the first surgery would cure my scoliosis, end my pain, and not limit my activities at all. I only realized the other day when reading Simone's story that this has happened to others. I'm not quite sure if my first surgeon actually told me this, or if I just assumed it and no one ever told...