So, once upon a time in a land far, far away(or possibly just the porch) one of my friends noticed that my back felt really screwed up! like there was a big lump there! WOW!! So after joking about how it could be a tumor, Siamese twin, alien, etc. I had Mom and Dad look at it later. (Mom says she thought it was a tumor too. Wow. thanks for the support, I can feel the love BURNING. well actually looking at it, quite a couple people thought that. huh....) When we went in for some shots at the doctor we asked her about it. She thought that it was scoliosis but said to go see a specialist. (grr this is getting more complicated than my teenage mind wants to handle) so, we go to a specialist a month later at Primary Childrens Hospital. They took X-rays and such and Dr. Smith concluded that it was indeed Scoliosis. The weird thing is, I dont stand weird or my hips or shoulders aren't uneven. (joy...) I have 2 curves in my back the top one is 23 degrees and the lower one is 47 degrees. In the shape of a backwards "S" the only 3 options for scoliosis are: watch it, brace it, or surgery. Watching it is for very small curves and bracing it is for smallish curves and if you are still growing. But, my growth plate got lazy and decided it wanted to stop. So, screw that plan. Which leaves us with option 3! surgery!! yay!!! (honestly i wasn't that surprised I was sorta expecting it) so surgery is planned for June 28th, I'll be in the hospital for about a week then recovering at home(which means confined to the couch in the family room) for a month. then physical restrictions for 6 months. I have been doing a ton of reading about it and im actually looking forward to it! as crazy as that seems! Yes, i give you all permission to hold that against me in June and July. And to answer a few often asked questions:
does it hurt?
nope. It tends not to hurt much in kids and teens. it will start to hurt when i sit or stand for a long time, or walk up a big hill or something like that.
how did you get it??
dont know, sorry! i have idiopathic scoliosis which means they don't know the cause. this particular type of scoliosis is pretty common in teens, particularly girls.(5% of teenage girls and 2% of boys)
what are they gonna do??
Im hoping that they will use the more recent surgery and have only a few 1 inch incisions were they will put in a camera and fuse the curved bones together(not all the way!) and support it with rods and screws)
i'll answer any more questions you have! but this is getting pretty long so i'll stop now....
