"Let's Start At The Very Beginning..."

I was trying to figure out the best way to share my story with you.  I think the best way would be to post my story in sections.  And, I guess the best way to do that is like the song says, "Let's start at the very beginning..."

Scoliosis.  I remember the first time I ever heard that word.  I was in sixth grade.  A notice had been sent home to parents that Scoliosis screening would be occurring during gym periods.  Our parents had to sign off if they wanted us tested.  My mother didn’t.  At that point I didn’t even know what scoliosis was.

I remember being in gym class the days the testing was going on, and watching the girls file in to meet with the nurse behind a privacy screen.  I knew it had something to do with your spine, but the details of it I was unsure of.  I didn’t give it another thought.

Fast forward a few months.  My mother had made an appointment with my doctor for a physical.  At the physical the doctor asked me to bend over and that’s when it was discovered I had scoliosis.  I was eleven years old.  I didn’t know at this point still what scoliosis was or what it meant for me.  The doctor gave my mother a bunch of pamphlets to read about Scoliosis and informed her I would need x-rays.  So, down to the first floor of the doctor’s office I went to have x-rays done.  I had never had x-rays done before and I remember thinking this could be interesting.

 I remember standing in the room as they took the x-rays.  After a few minutes I was told the x-rays came out fine and I could leave.  As I was leaving the room I saw x-rays up on a light box.  They were pictures of someone’s spine, shaped like a letter “S” and all crooked.  I asked, “Whose x-rays are those?”  And I was told they were mine.  I was in shock!  That’s when it hit me just what Scoliosis was. 

My mother and I met back with the doctor.  I don’t remember what it was determined that the scoliosis degrees were at the time, but it wasn’t enough to warrant any further investigation.  We were told I would have to go for checkups throughout my life to make sure the scoliosis wasn’t progressing.  We were told that Scoliosis could impact my breathing, and being a child who always worried I remember thinking that this is something I could die of!  This would remain a fear of mine for years to come.

A few months after my diagnosis I went back to the doctor’s office so my scoliosis could be checked by another doctor.  He said that it wasn’t bad enough that anything needed to be done.  So, I put it out of my head. 

My back never bothered me.  I went to camp, I rode my bike, I rollerbladed, I swam, I rode horses, I went to dance class; I was fine.  I could do all the things I always did.  As the years went on I thought less and less of the scoliosis.

Little did I know that this was all going to change.  When I was about thirteen or fourteen I heard some words from a doctor that to this day still scare me.  To be continued...