Scoliosis: Life, Support & Friends

It's been a while, dear friends of the Scoli-verse. Last week I moved down to Lethbridge which, for those of you with any idea of what the province of Alberta is like, is a bit different from Red Deer. When I say different I of course mean dear god I can see for miles. Literally, miles. That's not the worst part however. As I'm sure I mentioned before, my mom and I have been on our own for quite a few years. I do have two older brothers but they're four and six years older than myself and for the most part either emotionally stunted or just too far away to be of any use. That means for the last ten years I have been 'dealing' with my scoliosis issues using my mom as a primary support. Let me tell you, it's more than a little unnerving to suddenly have your entire support system suddenly not be there. Of course, that's a little melodramatic. She's with me in spirit, and we've talked every single night (most of the conversations end in tears, I won...

This song appeared on our group Facebook group this morning and as I thought Lisa had done a grand job in singing about her scoliosis I wanted to share it here too, you can watch the video below The Lyrics Copyright 2008 Lisa Nicole Grace. Lisa says "This is a song I wrote about my life long journey with scoliosis - curvature of the spine. This November marks my 8 year anniversary of my spinal fusion surgery" This scar, tells a story And it always reminds me Of where I've been This scar, runs from the nape of my neck Down to the small of my back And it's part of who I am After nine long hours Of blood, sweat and tears My mama and my daddy And a hundred prayers, I'm standing here I'm standing here With this scar, That represents my life A good old fashioned fight A willingness to survive This scar, Says it's okay to be scared As long as you're prepared To learn how strong you are This scar This scar, taught me a lesson That...

On September the 12th, 2010 the 2nd Annual Move-athon will be taking place in New York! Move-athon: Making My Moves So Others Can Sharon is a member of our How To Look Good Twisted Facebook group and wanted to help spread the word about this year's Move-athon. Sharon represents the Pediatric Orthopaedics division of the NY-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in New York City. The division specializes in treating babies and children with congenital, developmental and traumatic musculoskeletal conditions. "Our team is committed to providing superior orthopaedic care for children. Children from everywhere, not only New York, receive top-quality care for their orthopaedic conditions at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hosptial of New York Presbyterian" says Sharon. NY-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital Specialty Centers Early Onset Scoliosis Clubfoot Center of New York Scoliosis Center of New York Neuromuscular Disorders Center of N...

Transverse plane pelvic rotation increase (TPPRI) following rotationally corrective instrumentation of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis double curves Marc A Asher, Sue-Min Lai, Brandon B Carlson, Jeffrey L Gum and Douglas C Burton Background  We have occasionally observed clinically noticeable postoperative transverse plane pelvic rotation increase (TPPRI) in the direction of direct thoracolumbar/lumbar rotational corrective load applied during posterior instrumentation and arthrodesis for double (Lenke 3 and 6) adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) curves. Our purposes were to document this occurrence; identify its frequency, associated variables, and natural history; and determine its effect upon patient outcome. Methods  Transverse plane pelvic rotation (TPPR) can be quantified using the left/right hemipelvis width ratio as measured on standing posterior-anterior scoliosis radiographs. Descriptive statistics were done to determine means and standard de...

Well I am having a bad day but on a professional level so I decided to take some time out to breathe and calm down and writing helps me do this :) I have been on Lyrica now since the 12th July, 2010 and we have had some interesting moments! I am definitely a different person, not quite on the ball as I used to be, I am delayed in my reactions to everything, I am always tired and lethargic and I forget what I am doing ALL the time, I walk into a room and say "what am I doing in here?" a few minutes later I will go "oh yeah, I remember now", not me at all and not sure I like that, what is this drug doing to my brain exactly? My periods are all over the place, I was late by 2 weeks last time and only bled for 2 days - this is most unusual for my cycle as for years, since the age of 14 I have been regular and lasted fror 5 days so I guess Lyrica is playing a part in that also. I think I read somewhere that Lyrica makes you infertile but if you consider we are trying t...

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...