My family doctor diagnosed me with scoliosis in December 1999. Going to the hospital was not a big thing for me. Before considering surgery, I wore a brace. At first, wearing the brace was exciting. Then when I had to wear it to school, I would use every possible excuse to take it off. It just wasn’t cool.
I can remember one day so clearly, I was in so much pain that I could not even move. I was crying as I went to the garage to wait for my mom to get home from work. It was the worst I ever had it. Eventually, after many hours, the pain went away.
After a visit with my surgeon in the summer of Grade 9, he told me that I didn’t have to wear the brace any more and that my only option now was surgery. He told me that I didn’t have to do it, but it was clear to me that surgery was my only way out of this. It took me a while to decide. My dream of being a model would no longer happen with a scar going down my back.
I decided to go through with it and we booked the date for July 19 th, 2005. I had a year to get ready. What was I going to tell my friends? Would they be there for me? What would happen? I don’t want to be too tall! Those were things that kept running through my head. My surgeon and his team went through the surgery in detail. They cleared up most of my questions, but the ones that could not be answered were the ones that I cried about over and over.
The night before the surgery, I went out with my friends and we had a great time. The morning of the surgery, I was so tired that I couldn’t even pay attention to what the nurses were saying. I was fine, but my parents were freaking out. When I saw that they were scared, I knew that I had to pull it together and be strong. When the nurse came to walk me to the operating room, I looked back as she talked to me and I could see my mom start to cry. My dad was a rock. He was my rock.
When I walked into the operating room, the table was right in the middle of the room with all these nurses and doctors preparing for the surgery. I saw the screws, rods, and drills that were going to be used. Some people say they would have been freaked out, but I wasn’t. I thought it was pretty cool. I don’t remember much of what happened when I was in the operating room, but they said that it was nine hours long and that it went well.
I woke up in the recovery room and after some time there they shipped me off to my own room where I spent the next five days. I couldn’t eat for three days, but I wasn’t really hungry. My family stayed with me overnight in the hospital. The nights there were the worst. The nurses were checking on me every hour. Fortunately, the pain was not too bad so I didn’t use my pain pump very much. They got me out of bed and walking as soon as they could. At first, it was awkward and I felt like I was going to fall over. The nurses were amazing and talked to me about everything. It was like they were not just someone who got paid to take care of me, but someone who actually cared enough to talk.
Going home five days later was bittersweet. I was excited to go back home, but sad because I was going to miss everyone at the hospital. My friends came to visit me every day, and they were there for me. Sadly, others didn’t.
This surgery changed my life forever. I look and feel healthier.
After the surgery, it took a while to recover. I could hardly walk up and down the stairs. I was tired all the time. All I ever wanted to do was sleep, but I knew that I had to keep walking and build back my strength. I got dizzy in the shower for about two months following the surgery. I needed someone to be there when I did shower in case something happened.
Now, almost two years later, I can do whatever I did before the surgery: play soccer, dance, and swim. I have not lost any mobility while bending over and picking up things. I’m really happy with the way the surgery turned out. Even though my scar goes more then halfway down my back, I am very proud of it. The scar healed really quickly and people rarely notice it.
To future patients, remember friends come and go. If they’re not willing to stay with you through the hardest times in your life then they’re not worth spending the greatest moments with either.