My Scoliosis Story

When I was nine years old, I was diagnosed with Scoliosis. Scoliosis is when your spine isn’t as straight as it should be. My pediatrician was the one who discovered it, at my nine-year check-up. She told me to bend over and touch my toes. Then she placed a scale thing on my back and she told me it wasn’t even. She gave us the name of an orthopedist, and two weeks later we saw him. He said he wasn’t sure what it was, and he didn’t want to give us a false diagnosis, so he gave us the name of a Spine Specialist. A week later, we saw the Spine Specialist, and he confirmed my diagnosis. I had scoliosis, and at that moment, my life was turned upside-down.

Dr. Mermelstein gave a prescription for a back brace, a Boston Brace, that I would have to wear to keep my curves from getting worse. A week later, we went to Bay Orthopedic to get me measured for my brace. A few days after I was measured, we got a call from Bay Orthopedic to come and pick up my brace. At first I only had to wear it for five hours, but after a while I got to full time which was twenty-three hours a day. I got an hour each day when I didn’t have to wear it. The purpose of the brace was to make it so I didn’t have to have surgery. Wearing the brace wasn’t that bad in the winter. But in the spring and summer it was torture, because it was like I had an extra layer of skin on my body. I was a trooper though and put up with it for 2 ½ years before things got ugly.

Three years after I received my diagnosis, things started to take a turn for the worst. My doctor started to not have the answers to our questions, and we leaning toward the option of surgery. In an effort to make it the best for me, we switched doctors. In our first appointment with the new doctor, he told me the worst thing I had heard from a doctor yet in my life. The brace wasn’t working. He said that the only thing it was doing at this point, was keeping the curves from progressing really fast. He also said that the curves would progress either way so I was better off being comfortable. He told me I could stop wearing the brace. At this point I was in tears, and my mom was clutching my hand in hers squeezing it. At first I was hesitant about not wearing it because I thought it would make everything worse. But my mom convinced me it was okay, so I stopped wearing it.

Three months after I was told I could stop wearing the brace, I went back to the doctor and he told me that my curves were getting really bad and I needed surgery. At that moment, millions of tiny tears started to escape my eyes and I cried a river of tears. My mom, just as last time, squeezed my hand tight, and comforted me. My mom decided to plan the surgery for Christmas break, since it was the longest vacation. So it was set, I would have my surgery on December 23rd 2008. The first couple of months before the surgery were pretty normal. There wasn’t really any word about it during that time. But when it got closer to the surgery date, it became scarier to me. I wasn’t ready for what was about to happen.

Soon it was December 20th 2008, the happiest day of my life, my Bat Mitzvah. But with that happy day, came the harsh reality that my surgery was only three days away. I had a lot of fun that day at the party and during the service. But at the end of the party, I just randomly started crying after I danced with Myk. It was because I wasn’t going to see everybody for over a month, and that was really sad for me. Myk hugged me and soon everyone else was in on the hug too. The next day I woke up with butterflies in my stomach, because the surgery was only two days away. I spent the whole day with my family that day, because next day was reserved for tests and important pre-op procedures. That night I couldn’t sleep, because I kept having dreams about the surgery and it kept scaring me. I was finally able to fall asleep, but that night was full of horrible dreams.

The next day was Monday, and I didn’t go to school. I went to the doctor and got my last dose of a shot to make me my own blood bank, just in case I needed a transfusion. After the doctor, my mom took me to Starbucks and bought me a Frappuccino and a Cinnamon Roll to cheer me up. I spent the rest of the day with her, and that made me feel tremendously better. That night, I did my last batch of cartwheels before my surgery, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to do them after my surgery. That night my dad switched beds with me, because I was scared. I slept like a baby, but my mom and dad were up all night terrified for me. The next day my life would change forever.

I woke up at 4:45, and got ready to go to the hospital. All I had to do was put on my shoes and get in the car. I was fine the entire ride, until I saw signs for the hospital. That was when I started to panic. I couldn’t control it, I had tears streaming down my face at an alarming speed, and they just wouldn’t stop. After we parked the car and got out, my mom gave me a huge hug to calm me down. It usually works, but at that moment, it didn’t. We entered the hospital, and had to wait a little while outside the admitting room, because they didn’t let us in until 5:30. Once they finally let us in, we had to wait about five minutes until they called me into the office. As soon as my name was called, we entered the office. My mom and dad filled out some paper work to officially admit me into the hospital. The woman in the office let me keep a cute blue teddy bear so I would have a friend with me during the operation. After being admitted, I was led into a room with a chair in it. I was told to sit in the chair and wait for a woman to come in. Sitting in that room, I became more nervous than I ever was, because I knew that as soon as she came in the room my surgery experience would start.

After about ten minutes, the woman we were waiting for came into the room. She took my blood pressure and told me to put on two hospital gowns, one opening in the front and one opening in the back. At about 6:15 a guy came in with a wheelchair, I had to get into the wheelchair instead of walking, and I was led into the holding area for the Operating Room. At 6:30 my doctor came in and explained to me what was going to happen, and answer any questions me, my mom and dad had. After talking with us, he wrote my initials on my back, that way when he was in the Operating Room he would know he was operating on the right body. At 6:45 I was given some medicine to calm me down, and then at 7:00 I was wheeled into the Operating Room. I was given anesthesia to put me to sleep, and then the surgery started. It took five hours and then the surgery was over; I was wheeled into recovery and my mom and dad were there waiting for me.

I don’t remember anything about being in recovery. The first thing I remember was being put into ICU and being left alone the rest of the day of the surgery. The next day, I was moved to a regular room. My doctor came in and made me get up and walk. I couldn’t walk without holding on to something, and I walked very slowly. The five days I was in the hospital were terrible. I was in excruciating pain and had no appetite for anything. On the fifth day, I was able to go home. But before I was discharged, I was taken down to Physical Therapy to make sure I could walk stairs. When I got back to my room, all my stuff was packed up and my mom was filling out the paperwork so they could send me home. After everything was done, my mom took all my stuff and I was wheeled out to the car. With a pillow against my back, I sat in the car and thanked God I turned out okay.

When I got home, after staggering up the steps, my best friend Rebecca Danziger came over to visit me. I was still weak and in a lot of pain, but I let her hug me anyway. After Winter Break, I was homeschooled until February 23rd. All my teachers came to my house at different times to tutor me. On February 23rd I went back to school. I was so happy to be back in school, even though I was still in pain. But I had discovered how strong I really am, so the pain wasn’t that terrible.

Now I am over one year post-op and feel great. True I do have 2 rods and 28 screws in my back, but that doesn’t bother me because the surgery was a success. Before my surgery my curves were, 70° on the top, and 50° on the bottom. Now they’re 13° on the top, and 11° on the bottom. After having an experience like this, I want to help as many people in the same situation as I can. Scoliosis has become a major part of my life, and I will always be a true Scolio Girl.

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