Re: Scoliosis

[scoliMoma]

Girls, meet Sabrina who is from Michigan. She is proud of what she
has learned from her scoliosis and wants very much to help others and
share her story with you.

Dear Sabrina, Thank you for sharing your story in order to help other
girls who may have o face what you did. I love how scoliosis has given
you a positive outlook on life. Who would think that something so
difficult could turn out so positive but to your credit, you
perservered through it all.

On Sep 27, 12:40 pm, Sabrina Hayes <wavowarrio...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Here is my story. i hope it helps someone like other people have helped me
>
> Idiopathic Scoliosis
> Having a permanent physical disability like idiopathic scoliosis affected not
> only my school experience, but also my social life, more than most people
> understand. Having a disease like idiopathic scoliosis has made me have to give
> up certain things, wear back braces, and have surgeries just so I could maybe
> have a semi normal life. I tell people all time the time what scoliosis is and
> the main thing I hear is they have it to. It irritates me to hear that because I
> understand that people do have it, but not many people have it has severe as I
> do. I have what is called a double curvature which means I have two curves in my
> spine instead of having just one like most people.
>
> In my lifetime I have had to wear four different back braces. The doctors had me
> wear back braces to try and correct my curve, but what they didn’t know was that
> I had 2  curves and the brace would fix one curve but worsen the other. It was
> not easy having to wear the braces because when I was at the school the teachers
> would have to know how to put and take them off of me, if I needed to take the
> brace off for anything. If we had a substitute then one of my friends needed to
> do it for me or my parents had to come and do it. It wasn’t easy being the kid
> in school who was so different that you could see it. I had to live with that
> every day.
>
> I was diagnosed at age 5 with Idiopathic Scoliosis and the doctors predicted I
> would be in a wheel chair by 10. At 5 years old nothing really bothers you, but
> when you are told that you will be in a wheel chair at some point in your early
> life then you have to learn how to grow up a little faster than expected. My
> scoliosis caused a lot of health issues for me because it pretty much moved all
> of my organs around. The scoliosis practically cut off one of my lungs and so I
> have always had difficult time breathing. I have had to learn how to take it
> easy because if I do too much and I can’t catch my breath then I get these pains
> in my chest because of the scoliosis. I found it difficult to walk and talk
> without losing my breath. Here I am today 19 years old and not in a wheel chair.
> I have for the most part overcome my scoliosis.
> When I was 12 years old the doctors told me that the back braces would no longer
> help me with my scoliosis and the only other option would be to have surgery.
> The surgery consisted of placing a titanium rod along my spine to try and
> straighten it out. Most 12 years olds don’t have to make such a big decision
> like, but I did and I learned how to cope with my decision. It was hard because
> I missed two months of school and I had a lot taken away from me, but on the
> same note I gained a lot. The day after my surgery I tried to stand and I found
> I could barely sit, it hurt too much. I had to have help out of bed and I
> learned that from that point on I wasn’t going to be the same. Before the
> surgery I was very independent but then I had to have help just going to the
> bathroom. I didn’t like that feeling, but I learned to live with it because if I
> hadn’t then I would have hurt myself. My mom still to this day she had never
> been more proud of me than when I had stood up after having surgery.
>
> I played basketball when I was in fourth and fifth grade. I had to give that up
> because the back brace I was wearing made it difficult and the refs kept calling
> fouls on me. In basketball there is a lot of running and I would lose my breath
> easily and it was difficult to breath in the brace anyway. Then in sixth grade I
> was a cheerleader until the middle of seventh grade because I had to give that
> up because the movements were too difficult for me to do because of the
> scoliosis and the brace. Then when I was 12 and I had the surgery I had to give
> pretty much everything up. For the next few years I didn’t really do anything
> but go to school and home. Then when I was 15 I had to give everything up again
> because I had to have another surgery. The scoliosis had jumped the rod, so the
> doctors went in and placed another rod next to the first one to fix that.
>
> I think about my life in the past 14 years and I wonder how my life would have
> been had I not had scoliosis. Honestly I can say I don’t think I would be as
> happy because I wouldn’t know as much as I do about it. If I didn’t have
> scoliosis then I would not be able to help people like I have been. So even
> though the scoliosis has made me give a lot of stuff up, it has taught me to
> appreciate things no matter how big or small they are. When you least expect it,
> something good will come even if you are in a bad place in life. God doesn’t
> give us tasks that we can’t handle, it may be more difficult at times but in the
> end it’s worth it.
>
> ________________________________
> From: Sabrina Hayes <wavowarrio...@yahoo.com>
> To: curvy...@googlegroups.com
> Sent: Tue, September 21, 2010 11:49:50 PM
> Subject: Scoliosis
>
> My name is Sabrina Hayes and i want to join your support group for people who
> have Scoliosis. I was diagnosed at age 5 and ever since i have been living with
> it and when i was little i thought i was alone. Now whenever i tell some one
> what scoliosis is the first thing they usually say is that's what i have too...
> it gets annoying after a while... Please feel free to call me or email me here i
> would like to share more of my story so that it can maybe help someone... my
> number is 5176144897. Thank you so much

[scoliMoma]