Scoliosis

“Well Maria,” my dad had said to me, “his is our last meal with a crooked spine,” as we were munching on sandwiches at a local Subway.
We had discovered that I had Scoliosis when I was about nine years old. Scoliosis is the technical term meaning: abnormal curvature of the spine. I also had abnormal rotation of the spine (forgot the technical term for it). The doctor informed us that I in fact, had two curves, one on the top (or thoracic), and one on the lower part of the spine (or lumbar). In other works, I had an S-curved spine. When I felt like I was standing up straight, my family said that I looked like I was going to fall backward. Also, one of my legs is longer, and one of my shoulders is higher, and one of my shoulder blades sticks out more…all effected by scoliosis.
About a year later, I went to another doctor to find out would our options were. The doctor said that since the degree of the curve wasn’t that extensive yet, (28 degrees for the thoracic, and 26 for the lumbar), the curves could be corrected by wearing a brace. The other option was surgery, if the curve exceeded 45 degrees.
My back had never bothered me, and didn’t cause me any pain. Because I have such a high pain tolerance, it’s a miracle that we found out that I had scoliosis at an early age. The degree of the curve increases with age and your amount of growth (and I didn’t stop growing until age 19!). It could get as bad as my becoming crippled someday.
Not long after, I was fitted for a brace, It was the most uncomfortable thing one could wear. It was much like a corset, worn under the clothes, but it was made of a hard plastic. It synched up with large Velcro straps in the back. The left side went up the armpit, so that it would compensate the curve. Now I felt as if I’d fall forward.
I wore the brace for a period of about fourteen months. I wore it at night at first, then gradually worked my way up to wearing it all the time, except when showering. It was annoying at times. I had to buy pants several sized larger. I also couldn’t bend over very far.
Though I must admit this brace (Boston Brace) was much better then the old-fashioned Milwaukee brace. The Milwaukee brace came up under your neck, so you couldn’t even turn your head. At least no one knew I was wearing this one unless they decided to punch me in the guts.
Wearing the brace had kept the thoracic curve at a steady 30 degrees. About a year and a half into wearing the brace my dad read something on the internet about the Copes Brace. It was a new and improved version of the Boston Brace. It was made of a light-weight thermo-plastic, so that I could bend, and be more flexible. The only drawback was that it was $78,000, compared to $2,000 (the cost of the Boston Brace).
Some time after finding about the Copes Brace, we got a second opinion from a local Chiropractor. He said that by coming in for weekly adjustments, we could correct the curve. So for about eighteen months, we did as he advised, until we were shocked with devastating results. The curve had gotten far worse. The thoracic curve was at 53 degrees, and the lumbar was at 46 degrees. We hadn’t taken an x-ray the entire time I went to the Chropractor, not knowing at the time, but it was a very unwise thing to do.
By this time I was about thirteen. Now it seemed that there was only one option: surgery, but we tried everything that we could to prevent it. I wore the brace for another six months. That didn’t help.
Now I only had one option. The surgery would consist of making a 10 inch insion down the center of my back, and inserting two three inch long titanium rods on either side of my spine.
I was fifteen years old when I had the surgery. The surgery went very well, it only took four hours instead of six. It corrected the curve to 32 degrees (thoracic).
If the curve stays the same for awhile, I’m good to go, if not I might have to have a second surgery, which would limit my mobility.
I praise God that the surgery and recovery went so well. I feel very fortunate. The surgery has not restricted me from any of my normal activities, except for Rugby (I’m sure I can live without that).
And no, I don’t set off the alarm while going through the security gate at the airport.