Day 207- Sore Back

When I was 15 years-old I had surgery to fix my scoliosis. While still a kid I developed what is known as an S Curve. It basically means my spine was shaped like an S with a curve up top and a curve on the bottom. Now a curve on the bottom is not too dangerous because there are not too many vital organs that can get damaged as a result. So that curve has not been fixed. It may need to be in the future if it begins t cause major problems, but for now all it would do is cause nearly zero mobility and flexibility in my entire torso. In the meantime, I try and make sure to do as many core exercises I can to keep my core strong.

They did, however, need to fix the top curve. Since the upper part of the spine is connected to the rib cage, a sever curve can cause damage to the heart and lungs. At the time of my surgery my upper curve was at almost 70 degrees. As a result my lungs were starting to be crushed. To this day I only have about 60% capacity in my lungs, which means activities like running, hiking, and high altitudes very difficult.

Now we did try and prevent this. I was fitted in 5th grade for a brace. this was basically a plastic cast that covered my entire torso. It was located right underneath my arms and went all the way just at my pelvic area. Inside was padding that was strategically placed to help push on certain areas, and the back was in closed with velcro straps. I was suppose to wear this 24/7, but I didn't. I only ever wore it at bed time. Even if I had worn it when I was suppose, the doctors told me that I would most likely have had to have surgery anyways.

How they fixed the my curve was between my 5th and 12th vertebrate they placed steel rods on either side of my spine. They then took donor bones in between my spine and the rods to fuse them together. They then placed wires and screws on either side of my sine to keep everything in place. To close my up they literally put a zipper, like the kind on a pair of pants, over the cut they made and pulled the skin together to heal like a scratch (Note: I was the first person in the United States this closure procedure was used on). After that healing time was a week in the hospital, a month at home, and then I was back to normal. Overall, it was one of the easier surgeries I've had.

Probably for the last 8 years or so I have experienced pain every few months in my upper back. It occurs in between my shoulder blades, mostly on the left side. Basically it is right above the top of the rods in my back. Depending on how I sleep, I develop a  huge knot right there that takes a few days to let up. Today this has occurred. So, I'm going to take a warm shower before nicely begging my mom to give me a bit of a massage to see if she can loosen up the knot. Hopefully tomorrow it wont hurt as bad.


Day 207- Happy Halloween

Since skeletons are a huge part of Halloween, I thought I would post a picture of a spine that has had this kind of surgery. Now this isn't my back specifically, but it is what mine looks like.