When I was 12, being diagnosed with scoliosis was the last thing I expected. I played tennis, swam, and did things normal 12 year olds would do. but I've learned to deal and since then things have been crazy with my scoliosis.

After being told I had scoliosis at age 12, I found an orthopedist and every few months I had to go back, get an x-ray, and he would see how much my curve progressed. At first it just changed a little, but there was a 9 month period in-between that last doctors appointment and the next one because of other medical reasons, and over that 9 month period I had a huge growth sport and my curve went from around 19 degrees to around 35 in my Lumbar region. since it had got so bad I had to see a spine specialist, Dr. Mermelstein. I went to Dr. Mermelstein and he told me I would need a brace. I ended up getting my first brace, the Boston Brace. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but I would say that I had rock hard abs, because I wore the brace under my clothes so no one can see it. I had to wear the brace 24/7 and I ended up wearing it non stop my whole 8th grade year at school.(I was 13 then). After a year of checkups every 3 months with Dr. Mermelstein, my curve still got worse. The time now came for a new brace.

My next step in treatment was to get a Charlston Bending Brace. The brace held me bent to the left while I slept. The purpose of this brace was to try to unbend my curve while I sleep because I was told that you do most of your growing when you are asleep. When I got this brace my curve was around 45 degrees in my lumbar region, and I now had a compensatory curve in my thoracic region that measured around 25 degrees. After wearing that brace every night for half a year when I was 14. Eventually we realized that the brace wasn't really helping like it should. and the next step in my treatment was surgery.

I didn't what to have surgery. But if I didn't I was told that I would face problems when I was older with my spine. So I chose surgery. That was December. My next appointment was in April and we were going to start planning my surgery. after a really long doctors appointment, my surgery was almost scheduled, we just needed a date. And after donating blood (just incase I need a transfusion I will get my own blood back), numerous pre-op appointments with all my doctors, about a week after my 15th birthday I was ready for my surgery on August 2nd 2006. the day before my surgery I spent in the pool with my friends and playing tennis because I new it would be a really long time before I was able to do those things again. The next morning came and I was ready. my surgery was scheduled for am that morning and I had to be at the hospital for 6:30am. I got to the hospital put on my gown, got my IV, and was rolled into operating room 9. In the operating room I saw Dr. Mermelstein looking at this big computer screen with about five different panels each with a different view of my spine. After talking to a really nice nurse, looking at all the stainless steel and blue and green scrubs, and counting all of the tools lined up on the table I was out cold.

The next thing I remember was waking up in recovery and rolling from my back to my right side, and the nurse was yelling at me because I kept getting tangled in the wires. What they did in the operating room was go in through my left side, took out half of my rib, remove the discs in-between the vertebra they were fixing, put all kinds of screws and little rods in where they needed to go in my lumbar region, and did a bone graph over the metal with the rib they removed. After waking up in my ICU step-down room at the hospital I was on a morphine pump and had a chest tube in my side right above my incision. I ended up having a complication with my chest tube when an airbubble developed in my ribcage and wasn't letting my lung expand correctly. Having that complication forced my to have to stay in the hospital for a week until I was finally able to come home.

Once I was home it was a long road to recovery. I wasn't allowed to do anything strenuous until further notice. But of course I didn't listen to my doctor and after about 2 weeks of being home from the doctor I went bowling. after the doctor found that out he was pretty mad. Since then I've made a wonderful recovery though. right when I returned to school I wasn't allowed to play gym in school and had to right reports. that was the worst part of my recovery because I like gym. Eventually right around Christmas time the doctor told me I could go back to modified gym and work out in the school weight, but I wasn't allowed to lift weights, or bend or twist my back. My next appointment is on valentines day and im going for a catscan and then my doctor and I are going to be discussing if I can stop wearing my EBI bone growth stimlulator which I have been wearing since about a week or 2 after my surgery. An EBI is a little square thing that gets worn on you belt with probes that get stuck to your back. the purpose of it is to "zap" your bones and make them grow and fuse faster for a faster recovery.

Well as of now that's my battle with scoliosis. Scoliosis and I have come along way to get to where we are today but our fight isn't over.

Update - April 9, 2007
At my last doctor visit we discussed going back to normal activitys being that I was 7 months post-op. We decided that in June I should be able to go back to normal activities and in 2 months from my last visit which will be May 14th I can stop wearing my EBI. It's great news and I'm really happy.

Update - June 29, 2007
At my last doctors appointment on June 13th, Dr. Mermelstein told me I can resume all normal activites like playing tennis, swimming, and my favorite: jetskiing! I'm so excited and it happened just in time for summer vacation! I'm finally cleared and my doctors appointments are getting farther and farther apart, which is really good. I'm so happy.

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