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bsky

To start off, for those of you who don’t know, scoliosis is a condition in which the spine curves more than its natural curve, resulting in a C- or S-shape. The hips or shoulders may be on a slant (one higher than the other), which is generally one way to tell if a person has scoliosis. Scoliosis is more common in girls than boys, and is much more common to need correction through bracing or surgery.

I was in the third grade when I was formally diagnosed with scoliosis. It was actually found through allergy testing, which coincidentally also caught the fact that I needed to have my tonsils removed. It took about a year for the formal diagnosis (my tonsils came out in second grade). I was put on the “wait and see” treatment plan, since I was still young and my curve wasn’t too severe.

I went to see a chiropractor about once a week, on and off, for a few years. I didn’t like it much, and I always found it strange that I was constantly complimented on my posture as a child despite my spine being curved. FYI, they have nearly nothing to do with each other. People with scoliosis can have good posture and vice versa.

But I digress. I went to an orthopedist in January of 2015. I’d had a growth spurt going into seventh grade, and my parents wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t need to be braced. That was the worst-case scenario in my mind.

There was a resident with my orthopedist that day. One of the first things he said to me was that I needed spinal fusion surgery. I was so shocked by that, I thought he was joking for a moment. My orthopedist came in a little while later and explained everything more in depth to me. My growth spurt had made my curve worse, to the point where bracing wouldn’t necessarily help. I went out crying, but with the mindset that I would be getting the surgery.

My orthopedist gave me something very valuable, too: the email of another one of her patients, who was my age and starting our own local branch of Curvy Girls Scoliosis. It’s a support group specifically for young girls, and the first meeting would be February that year. I contacted her through email, and was one of the first three girls in our local group, which has grown exponentially since then. I think we have something like 25 families total, maybe more.

That July, I had my surgery. Mine lasted only five hours, compared to the average of eight, and I was in the hospital for five days afterward to recover. By the third day I was going up and down stairs again, and my orthopedist said I handled my chest tube removal (since they went in through the side) better than most adult patients, since I hadn’t cried or complained at the pain.

My upper two lumbar and lower three thoracic vertebrae were fused and held together with a rod and screws. Sounds scary, right? Especially because I was just going into eighth grade, switching from the middle school to junior high. But I was recovering well; I was moving around easily, getting up and down with relative ease. I had to wear a protective brace in crowded places, including school, which was a definite pain, especially since I was in the ensemble of our high school’s musical that year.

I have a long scar from my upper left side, to the point where it reaches just above the band of my bra, to about six inches from the top of my belly button. a few inches away, more on my back, is the small circular scar from the chest tube. Not only that, but my ribs on that side are shaped oddly, since the doctors had to take one out completely for a bone graft and cut another in half. These traits are pretty noticeable, which may have caused me embarrassment from the unusual sight.

But they never did. That summer was actually the first where I wore a bikini- with pride. After the surgery, with a gained inch and a half and some gained weight and stretch marks, I was perfectly comfortable with my body. I still am, stretch marks and all. I don’t see why they should be erased, why I should get a tattoo over my scar or position my arm just right so the larger one isn’t seen. They’re a part of me; no need to get rid of them.

Curvy Girls Scoliosis was a definite blessing in the months before and years after my surgery. I found such a good place with them, and have a strong kinship with a lot of the girls in the group. I find pride in my scoliosis and my scars, and I feel that it’s something that a lot of people should know: scoliosis and the scars from surgery are nothing to be ashamed of. Rock them! They’re a part of you!

These were drawn specifically for @yelody who I tried to ping once before and learned the hard way that I cannot lmao -- this [at] is useless!! [dunks it]

bsky [1] bsky [2]

https://www.twitch.tv/frag__raptor