Scoliosis Strikes: When My Back Issues Began

When I was in middle school, in the seventh grade actually, I came down with a case of Mono. I was at the pediatrician during that time and my doctor noticed a curvature in my spine. I'm not sure how long after that realization it was, but my parents soon after took me to see an orthopedic doctor. Since I was just 12 years old, my memory of that time is quite vague, but I do recall learning about two major curves in my spine, and I vividly remember the pink back brace I had to have custom made. I recall going to the brace center, Floyd Brace Company in my hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, and being wrapped in some sort of cloth cast that would later set and form the mold of my brace. I remember later sleeping in that terribly uncomfortable thing, even taking it to sleepovers, and having one particular father tease me asking if it was a "my size Barbie." I remember wigging out of the brace at night, and no one can blame me for that as it was the most bulky and strangely shaped thing you could imagine. I don't have pictures of it anymore, to my knowledge, but I'll do my best to describe it to you so that you have some image in your mind. It was a hard plastic on the outside, in a light pink color, lined by a "soft" foam on the inside, maybe an inch thick. It had three large fasteners on the front and down the middle, where velcro would tighten to "lock" me into place at night. Because I had two curves, it curved me back the opposite direction in both places I needed support. I remember lying on the table at the brace maker and having them manipulate me into an S shape, moving my hips one way and my ribs another. To sleep, I'd be helped into the brace and then I would "rest" on my back, my right arm having to always lie above my head because of the way I was being reshaped. The hope was that I was young enough that my spine would straighten out, but this wasn't the case. Because of the brace being so uncomfortable, and because I was growing quickly, not a year after discovering my condition, my parents had to make the decision to schedule surgery.

It was May of my 8th grade year of school when I went under the knife. What was supposed to be a 5 hour surgery ended up being over 8 hours. The doctor had to carefully separate each vertebrate and then install hooks, wires, pins, and rods to straighten my spine. My parents, and if I recall correctly, my sister and grandmother, all waited for me the entire 8 hours. Of course they received updates, but what a terrifying experience that must have been for them. Even the letter sent out prior to the surgery was terrifying:

Your child will soon be undergoing a rather extensive operation of the spine. The purpose of this will be to gain some straightening of the spine, obtain a fusion or solidification of a portion that is curved with the additional use of metal rods and special hooks and wires to provide support the spine while the bone is fusing...

Correction is never complete and some of the cosmetic deformities will remain after surgery...

The spine is fused by taking bone either from the hip area or from a bank supply and encouraging your child's own bone to form around the corrected spine...

Can you imagine? Reading back through the paperwork years later, I sat in tears when I realized what I had gone through, and what my parents must have gone through. The doctor's notes were incredible, and on several occasions he stated he didn't think my parents nor I knew the severity of my case or what surgery entailed. I now know he was right.

To be clear, not only did I have all that hardware installed, but the doctors had to go through my back to my hip bones, scrape to remove some bone, reshape and remold that bone, secure it around my new rods and hope that it would form and fuse to my spine.

Thankfully, the surgery was a success and I was walking within 5 days, home on homebound for the remainder of my middle school career and then "back to normal" soon after. I wore a smaller brace under my clothes for several months until I was fully healed, and most of my memories of that time are pleasant ones. I remember phone calls, cards, and visits from friends. I remember lots of milk shakes and balloons, and I have no memories of pain. NONE AT ALL. It's amazing how the mind works, and how powerful prayer is.

Fast forward to my adult life and I've had very few problems arise, but I have dealt with pain since about 2005, and the older I get, the more aware of it I become. I was put on pain meds for a while but I didn't always see the benefit of them. My prescription was for Flexiril but again, I never really felt it was much help. I started seeing a chiropractor in 2005 or 2006. Later I found a better one, one who was attentive to everything, and who took a holistic approach to my needs rather than offering a quick fix. I've always gotten therapeutic massages to help maintain my mobility. While living in Ireland, I sought massage therapists help and while in Italy I received physiotherapy. When I moved to China, I tried different massage techniques, began getting cupping, and enjoyed acupuncture to help with the pain in my lower back and the tension around my shoulders and neck.

With all this help, and with a more Eastern approach to my body's needs, I've become very intuitive about my health. I knew long before getting pregnant that I'd have more trouble than some with carrying a child...the added weight on an already weak core has frightened me for years. I can say now though, that through research and talking to others, I'm becoming more and more comfortable with my "situation" and am looking forward to being a success story so that others who may have fear of carrying child because of their own issues, will understand and trust that they too can have a successful pregnancy.