Dharmafrog

Bionic-Lady

I first noticed it when I was heading to the principal’s office. I was wearing a tight turquoise t-shirt. The left side of my ribs were sticking out farther than the right side. I didn’t know why and it didn’t hurt. So I did what any 7 year old girl does, started skipping down the sidewalk, and then realized that was the exact reason I was on my way to the principal’s office in the first place.

Two years later, I was 9 and in the fourth grade, and was voted most awkward. I kept having back pain and sore leg muscles, it kept me up at night. One weekend I could barely move without pain shooting down my spine and legs. My dad thought that if I laid in the tub with hot water and some epson salt, it might start to feel better. I complained that he made the water too hot and he came in the bathroom and comforted me like only your hero can do. When I bent over to get in the tub, he let out a gasp that I will never forget as long as I live.

I don’t remember if they told me what they saw at the time but when I got out of the tub, a friend of my mom’s who was also a registered nurse was there. She said I had Scoliosis, (a curvature of the spine) and that they should take me to the doctor and get a referral to an orthopedist. Which is what we did, and were directed to Dr. Palmer at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Phoenix Arizona.

I was scared. I saw kids who were in braces of all kinds and wheel chairs that were so small. All I could think of was running out the door. They called me back for x rays, and everything was decorated with bright colors and cartoon characters. I was in shock. They put us in a small room and we talked to Dr. Palmer who confirmed I had a curvature of the spine. An S curve to be more specific. My spine was in the shape of an S! The treatment for scoliosis is observation, bracing and surgery if needed. I was past observation and needed to be cast for a brace before I could go home. Surgery would be a must in a few years when I stopped growing.

My 11th birthday came and I was still stuck in a brace for 23 hours a day. I had an hour to feel normal. I couldn’t sleep on a mattress, it was too soft, so I slept on a box spring or the floor.

One day I had a scheduled appointment to “check on things”. The x-rays showed that “things” had gotten worse, my rib cage began to rotate to make room for my spine. I needed surgery. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for myself.

We walked out into the lobby and I looked into the eyes of the mothers watching their kids in braces and wheelchairs play with toys, and I realized that whatever I was going through, there were kids who were a lot worse than I was. My surgery was scheduled for the next month.

December 13, 1990 I had spinal corrective surgery. I had two ribs removed (they grow back) which were used to fuse my entire spine, which immobilizes the vertebrae. Two steel harrington rods were placed on each side of my spine and then tightened to straighten it as much as possible. I spent eight hours on the operating table and ten days learning how to walk and sit and get around in a new kind of brace and fifteen to twenty pounds of steel in my body. A year later I was finally brace free and running on the school’s track team.

Even though I have muscle pain and stiffness and cannot touch my toes to save my life, I am so thankful for that experience. It has made me stronger and healthier and more compassionate. It’s been eighteen years that I wouldn’t have had, if not for the doctors and nurses at
St. Joseph’s Hospital. Someday I’ll pay back that debt.

Learn More About Scoliosis