About me..

Hi!! My name is Kelly, i'm sixteen years old, and just over a year ago I was diagnosed with Scoliosis. When it was noticed, I was fifteen, which is quite late for Scoliosis to be picked up. Most kids are diagnosed at about thirteen or so, so when I was diagnosed, urgent x-rays were booked for about two weeks later. I came out confused and scared. I had been told that it was likely I would need some major surgery on something I myself couldn't see, let alone remember what it was called! Over the next few weeks, most of my time was spent looking it up on the internet, watching youtube videos, and reading blogs just like this one! Pretty soon the name began to stick. I realised that Scoliosis was extremely common, and a major surgery was not the only option. Pictures of teens who had the surgery carried massive rib humps, disfigured torsos, and apparently a lot of pain-none of which I had. I decided then that my scoliosis was nothing, it probably wouldn't come to anything, an x-ray was nothing to worry about!! So, finishing a surf session early, mum picked me up and with a tee shirt and shorts chucked over my bikini, we went down to the hospital. I'd never had an x-ray before, so as well as being a bit scared I was pretty curious. I went in, and struggled to put a cloth gown on that would have fit a giant quite well, not to mention spending five minutes finding the ties at the back to hold the gown closed. The x-ray room was small, with a glass wall that the radiologists stand behind to protect themselves from the radiation. Great, I thought. I get to stand in front of the radiation, full beam. Hugging a plastic board which was taller than me, with my nose almost flattened onto it, is still one of the weirdest things i've had to do, but seeing my x-ray on the screen was one of the moments that i have been most suprised in my life, exluding the time i found a bike in my living room on Christmas morning. Anyway, my spine which i had thought was probably barely noticably bent, actually made quite a defined "s"shape, as if someone had pushed down on my shoulders, and my spine had started to flatten evenly, forming two relatively even curves. Well, I was suprised. After looking at that x-ray, they put a "Superman belt" around my hips, which basically is a velcro strap with a little blue thing attached over my hip, in the shape of a shield. This time I stood, my right hip touching the board, standing sideways with my arms out in line with my shoulders. This x-ray of my spine appeared normal apparently. It was great to get my clothing back on, and walk back out into the hot sun. This process for me has happened again three times this year, each time the curve getting slightly worse, however, i'm now a pro at squishing myself onto the board, and finding the ties on the gown at a faster rate(just!). The first appointment with my surgeon and his registrar was also slightly scary, but again curiosity took over. After getting weighed and measured by the nurse, I talked timidly to my surgeon about the curve. We talked about things I participate in, mostly sport, and he decided a back brace wouldn't be a good option for me. Alongside probably being too far through my growth spurt to help, he didnt want to put a barrier between me and doing all the things I love, and especially now after reading about other people's struggles with these plastic prisons, I am so grateful to him for not putting me in one. All we decided by the end of that appointment, was that i would come back in 3 months for more x-rays, and monitor what progression might happen. Although I sometimes did think about my scoliosis, it wasn't bothering me at all, nor in the back of my mind all the time. I was just fine, for now.