Hi I'm Jamie and I'm sixteen.

In October 2005 my Mom discovered I had Scoliosis because I was trying on clothes and she noticed that my hips were uneven. Then she had me bend down so she could check my spine and it was crooked. My Dad said that I would have to go to a doctor and they'd fix me right up.

My first appointment the doctor did x-rays and he looked at my back. At first he thought one of my legs were longer than the other but it wasn't that. It was Scoliosis. When I was in the x-ray room putting my clothes back on I cried really hard because the doctor had said I would have to have surgery. I had never had surgery before. He said I had to go out of state to have surgery.

My parents talked it over. They decided it would be best for me to go to an Orthopedic Surgeon three hours away from us.

MEETING MY DOCTOR
My doctor was very nice to me and said he could fix my spine. I had an x-ray done and he looked at my spine. He explained the surgery and told me to write down any questions I had. He was full of hope for me.

MRI
I had an MRI done which was loud and long. I felt like a gopher stuck in a hole! After it was finally over my doctor took a look at it and decided which vertebrae to fuse and stuff. He showed me what the stainless steel metal rod looked like that would soon be put into my spine with four big screws.

COUNT DOWN TO SURGERY
The date was set for my surgery: March 14, 2006. I was really scared and I cried a lot. All I thought about was surgery. I had all these mixed up emotions of excitement, fear, and sadness. It was really hard. But my parents supported me and always let me know they were there to talk to.

T'WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE SURGERY
We packed up the day before surgery and went to Home Away From Home. A room was reserved for us there. My Dad also made sure I had a fun day before surgery. He took me, my Mom and my little sisters to LOTS of different stores and the mall, and then we went to Pizza Hut! That night at Home Away From Home I took a shower and we all went to sleep.

SURGERY
That morning we all got up at 5:30am and went straight to the hospital, checked in and I got weighed and they put a band on my wrist. A doctor asked me lots of Q's and had me put on a gown and lay in a bed that was in a small room. Nurses came in introducing themselves and then my doctor came in and marked my back with a skin marker. I said good-bye to my family and was wheeled to the operating room where there was surgeons and bright lights and the operating table. They cut my wrist bands off.

HEALING
I opened my eyes. The surgery was over. I stayed in the hospital and my mom stayed with me for two weeks! I puked a lot, got a bath, and learned to walk again. It was all so hard for me. I was in pain a lot. I did have the morphine button, but it didn't always help.

MY BRACE
The day I got to go home I had to first go to Quorum (the brace place) and got my new brace which I hated. When we got home there was a WELCOME HOME PARTY!!!!! I hated my brace and it hurt me.

GETTING THROUGH IT
Well I wore my brace all spring and summer. I went through three braces because the other two were made wrong! But having Scoliosis has made me a stronger person. My family has supported me through it all and it's made me a better person. I've got through it with the help of God, my family and my wonderful Doctor. Scoliosis changed my life. I'll never be 100% straight but that's OK. I think the biggest thing with having Scoliosis is that you have to learn to except yourself and live with the fact you have a problem. But that's alright.

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