As humans, we all seem to go through some struggle in life. Maybe you just lost someone significant to you, or maybe you were told you had a new diagnosis that you had no idea existed. In life, we all go through this and there's always a time where we overcome what bad or sad event just occurred.
As we all know, around the age of 12-14 boys and girls go through some major changes in life. It's that awkward stage of your life that you dreaded as a teen and there as no way out of it. For me however, one thing that really changed in my body during this time was my spine.
One day when I went for my annual physical exam, the doctor told me to bend over to check my spine. I casually bent over and let the doctor check my spine. Instead of hearing the words "looks good!" or 'looks normal!" I actually heard something unexpected. The doctor told me to bend over again so she could check it once more and I remember her saying how she wants me to get x-rayed to check for Scoliosis. At the time, I had no idea what scoliosis was. I was a little scared to get x-rayed but I knew it was the right thing do in order to find out if something was wrong with my back.
After the x-ray I went back to the doctors office and was told that I have Scoliosis. Scoliosis is a condition in which your back is curved so when you view it under an x-ray it looks like an S. Scoliosis can be caused by a bone abnormality at birth as well as abnormal muscles or nerves. The good thing about my scoliosis was that at the time, it didn't need to be taken care of because the curve wasn't so serious. However, when it was time for my 6 month check up with the doctor my curve got worse due to my growth plates not being closed yet. When I heard the news about getting a back brace I actually cried. I was scared and didn't know how this new brace was going to affect my life.
Putting the brace on for the first time was a struggle. You would put it around your body and it would tighten in the back. I felt like I was suffocating the first time I put it on but my mom told me that I would have to get used to it. I had to wear the brace for 12 hours a day so I had to choose if I wore it at night or during the day. At the time, I wore it during the day which meant, I had to wear it to school. The worst part about the brace was that it ripped all my clothes apart. I remember I had to go shopping with my mom to get all new shirts that were an extra size bigger because I felt insecure about people seeing my brace. Nobody made fun of me at school which was a great thing, in fact when my friends were finding out about my brace that was underneath my shirt they actually thought it was neat! My friends would knock on me and always say funny stuff like "you got rock hard abs!" I did have some laughs while wearing the brace. The only hard thing about wearing my brace at school was that I had a bottom locker which was a struggle bending down considering it was hard to bend and twist with the brace on.
One evening I decided to actually see if I could sleep with the brace on. I even took one pillow away and even turned on my stomach to see if it made a difference. I woke up the next morning with the brace on and realized that I slept with it on. I was actually very excited as I didn't have to wear it to school anymore. I continued doing this for the rest of the months that I had to wear the brace.
It was time for another check up with my orthopedic doctor. I took my x-ray and waited patiently for the doctor to come into the room. I remember she walked in smiling and I knew something good was going to come out of this visit. My doctor pulled up my x-ray and pointed to my growth plates which appeared to be shut completely with bone tissue. This meant that since they were closed I was at the point where I was going to stop growing which means my spine was not going to get any worse. This meaning that I did not have to wear the brace anymore. I was very excited and I couldn't stop smiling the rest of the appointment. I knew I did my job and wore the brace everyday and dealt with the struggles of wearing it and I couldn't have been more proud of myself!
After my last appointment with my orthopedic doctor, I remember after the appointment my mom even let me get a treat at the hospital gift shop. I knew that in order to succeed with this back brace I had to follow the doctors orders and wear the brace everyday. I remember in the beginning when I first got the brace I would take it off at times when I shouldn't have but then I realized if I didn't do the right thing and wear it, my back could have gotten worse and I would of ended up in a more serious situation like surgery. Wearing this brace was definitely a struggle for me but it was a struggle that I had to overcome. This was definitely a struggle in life for me as it affected things like just trying to lay down or bend over. This is something that I will never forget and I want to let young teens around the world know that if they do end up becoming diagnosed with scoliosis they should always remember that if you do the right thing and follow your doctors orders you will come out as a successful patient and make your doctor and of course yourself happy. "The truth is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it." - Robert H. Schuller
