My Single Mom Life

Scoliosis is an abnormal curve of the spine that causes it to twist from side to side, and may also be rotated. It is an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine.
On an x-ray, the spine of an individual with a typical scoliosis may look more like an "S" or a "C" than a straight line.
It is typically classified as congenital (caused by vertebral anomalies present at birth), idiopathic (sub-classified as infantile, juvenile, adolescent, or adult according to when onset occurred) or as having developed as a secondary symptom of another condition, such as cerebral palsy or spinal muscular atrophy.

Scientists, with the help of current patients with scoliosis, have recently discovered that it is genetic.
They have discovered that there is a gene (CHD7) that is passed from parent to child, associated with idiopathic scoliosis.
More females than males have it, yet males can have it as well.

Scoliosis.org and the U.S. House of Representatives Proclamation by Pennsylvania Congresswoman Allyson Y. Schwartz invites the President, Governors, officials and the American People to join with her and the National Scoliosis Foundation in recognizing and reaffirming our commitment to increasing the awareness of scoliosis. The Proclamation highlights the importance of early detection and treatment of scoliosis in trying to prevent or alleviate the worst effects of this spinal deformity for our children.

I was diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 12, and had therapy for it which involved basic stretching techniques and other exercises, but the doctors back then did not think that my curve required a brace or surgery at that time, and told my parents that they did not believe my scoliosis would progress any further.
How wrong they were.

During my late teens and early 20's, I only had pain a few times a year, but would often throw out my neck, and sustain injuries to the left side of my body.
I would lose my balance and fall, causing me to injure my left knee, or twist my left ankle.
I sprained my left ankle about 8 times a year.
After the birth of my first son, I started having pain in my lower back after any strenuous activities.
After the birth of my second son, I was told that due to the curve of my spine, it was not recommended that I have any more children.
I began experiencing pain on an almost daily basis even if no activities were done.
I would be at work and after just a few hours on my feet, I would be in agonizing pain.
I was downing full bottles of Tylenol and Advil about 3 times per week, over 100 pills per bottle, just to make it through my work week.
If I was asked at work to do things like mop the floor (at a whole foods store) or unload furniture off the truck, (Pier 1 Imports) I would be in so much pain that I would cry the whole way home from work, and have to order dinner for myself and my sons because I was unable to stand to cook anything.

By December 2001, I was no longer able to work due to constant pain in my lower back and left side rib cage hump on my back, numbing in my legs, lack of circulation to my legs and feet, and my pain had forced me to be unable to keep a good posture all of the time.
I was usually hunched over, yes, much like a hunchback, because that position alleviated the lower back pain.
I would either have to lay on the couch or bed, or when sitting at my computer, my legs would have to be propped up on an end table, not a foot stool, because it created the curve in my body that allowed me to be pain free while sitting in a chair.
I was told by an orthopedic specialist that if I continued to work, I would cause irreparable harm to my spine and nerves, and I was destroying the discs in my lower spine even further than they already were.
I had completely flattened discs, stenosis, and had severed the majority of the nerves and veins going through my pelvic region.
He ordered me to stop working and get surgery immediately, or lose my ability to walk within a few years.
He was unable to perform the surgery I needed.
And so were 18 more orthopedic specialist surgeons in this field, as the majority of their patients were children or teenagers, and my spine and the damage done was beyond their skill level.
It took fighting with my insurance company for almost 5 years, to allow me to see a surgeon out of network, the only surgeon who was qualified to do it, and the only surgeon willing to take it on.
They insisted I see their surgeons first.
By the time they finally relented and allowed me to be seen and treated by him, I had seen 21 different orthopedic specialists.
I consider him the man who gave me my life back.
I met him in November 2005, and had my surgeries in February 2006.
I had 2 surgeries 1 week apart, lasting 24 and a half hours in total.
You can read my surgery story if you are new to my blog or just curious what the whole procedure is like.

Did my surgery fix me fully?
No, I still have problems like my recent shoulder issues, but we are working on those.
I don't regret the surgery at all, even with the current pain issues I'm facing.
I would be in a much, much worse place today if I had never had it done, I know that, and I am so greatful to my surgeon and his whole staff for what they did for me.
I do have most of my life back, I am no longer hunched over, I'm not in a constant state of pain in my lower back and the "hump" any more.
I'm able to go out and do things, I can walk again without having to stop from debilitating pain.
I can sit in regular chairs without having to put my feet up or have pillows all around and under me, things are so much better today than they were from 2001 to the beginning of 2006.
I still can't work a normal outside the home job, but I can almost do everything I did before the pain got so bad.

If you have kids, please please get them screened for scoliosis, even if no one in your family has ever had it.
It is genetic, but it's also one of those things that just happens.
Get your daughters screened, get your sons screened, and if there are signs of a curve, get them treated now, don't wait, please don't wait, take them to a scoliosis specialist and have them taken care of.
They have much more comfortable braces for teens now, much better than the one I would have had to wear when I was a teen, it can be worn under clothing and it fits so close to the skin, no one can tell you have it on. I've seen it, it's so nice, and the teens I've talked to who wear it, say that it's very comfortable, they actually like wearing it because it keeps them standing up straight, yet they have totally free movement to play sports, run, and any other activities they do.
If only the doctor back when they found mine, had just treated me correctly, maybe I wouldn't have had the problems I ended up with.
I don't blame him, they really didn't know back then that it would truly get worse for me, they figured I had stopped growing and therefore my spine was stable.
Because it can be genetic, I have the boys screened for it every 6 months at their regular well-child appointments.
So far so good, it doesn't appear that either Mark or Sebastian have it, but I will continue having them screened because it can show up later in life too, and because I have it, it is important that we screen them at every single doctors appointment all through their teen and young adult years.

June is National Scoliosis Awareness Month.
Be aware, get your kids and teens tested and screened, and take care of it now while they are young, because kids and teens heal so much faster from the surgery (if it's needed) than adults do.
Kids and teens are usually up and running, playing, and back at school within 3-4 months after the surgery. Adults can take anywhere from 1-3 years to be back to any sort of a normal life.
Take care of it while your kids are young, save them from being in pain and severely deformed later in life.