My name is Heather and I am a 13 year old girl who is living with scoliosis. I am a very energetic girl who likes to sing, hang out with friends, go shopping, listen to music, make people laugh, go camping, spend time with my family, and have FUN!! I don't think of scoliosis as a setback to me or my life. I still go through everyday as a normal teenager. I would like you to post my story on spinekids.com so other kids out there can read it and learn from it. Who knows, maybe it will prevent them from going as far as having surgery like I am going to in the very near future.

It all started about 2 months ago (around the beginning of May). I became very sick and had to go to the doctor. When it was my turn to be seen the doctor decided that I would need to have an x-ray taken to make sure that I didn't have pneumonia. So I figured that it was no big deal and that I probably didn't have it so I went down to the x-ray room and after they had taken the x-ray me and my mom noticed that there was a curve in my spine but we didn't really make much of it. When we got back up to the patient's room there was good news and bad news. The good news was that I didn't have pneumonia, but... it turns out that I have scoliosis (which is obviously the bad news).

When I heard my doctor say that I thought ok this is no big deal since I really didn't know what it was. Boy was I wrong! Without any explanation of what scoliosis was I immediately had to go back down to the x-ray room (which I dreaded more than anything). I brought the x-rays back to my doctor and she said that I definitely had scoliosis and I needed to go to Children's Hospital (which is about 1 ½ hours away) but I wasn't worried at all because she said my curves were only 5 and 15 degrees.

As soon as I got home I ran to my computer and started to do as much research on it as I possibly could, lol. Later that night I started crying. I really didn't want to wear a brace but I knew if I ever wanted to get better then I would have to. Also, my mom called and set an appointment for children's for May 23rd.

A few days later I got a call from my doctor saying that the curves were actually 28 degrees and 20 degrees and that's when I really started to worry. That night I cried myself to sleep from the worry that I would have to wear a brace and I might eventually have to have surgery.

Finally May 23rd (the day I NEVER wanted to come) had arrived. I had decided that I wasn't going to let scoliosis ruin my life and I needed to be strong about it. After all, wearing a brace for a few years wasn't going to be all that bad.

When I got to Children's I had to wait hours before I got to see my orthopedist (that is no joke, it really did take a couple of hours). He walked into the room and told me that my curves were actually 45 degrees (thoracic) and 24 degrees (lumbar). He also said that the reason I got a few different numbers was because everyone measures them differently. Then he said that next time I came (August 16th) that we were going to set a date on when I was going to have surgery. That was the worst day of my life. I was trying so hard to fight back the tears and I could tell my mom was just as scared as I was even though she was trying to be strong for me. At that moment I wished I could be anywhere else but there. He said I had a few years left of growing so surgery was my only option. I left the hospital feeling very scared and confused.

When I got home I once again starting researching except this time it was about surgery not bracing. I sometimes cry but everyday I seem to be getting stronger and stronger and I have occasional back pain. I know my family is here supporting me and they will help me get through it. I still don't get how a trip to the doctor because of a cold could end up as me having to have a very serious surgery.

I promise to keep you updated about my next visit and of course SURGERY!

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