What is it, actually?
Scoliosis
In simple terms: Scoliosis is a three-dimensional curvature of the spine. This curvature is accompanied by a lateral bending of at least 10 degrees. At the same time, there is deformation and twisting (torsion) of the vertebrae. In 80% of cases, the cause of scoliosis is unknown – as was the case with me. At the age of 4, my scoliosis was discovered. From that day on, I wore a brace intended to help prevent further worsening of the curvature during growth. The brace had to be adjusted approximately annually due to growth. I was cast, and a new brace was made from the cast, which I then wore 23 hours a day.
According to my parents, I handled it well outwardly – I laughed as always, ran around, and wore the brace faithfully. At night, however, I began wetting the bed until I was 7 years old. This was probably the beginning of my traumas, which later increased. More on that later. Physiotherapy (formerly called physical therapy) also became a regular part of my weekly routine. Did I like it? Well, not really. I was rather lax with "home exercises." Sometimes I would hide the brace under my bed at night if I didn’t want to sleep in it. The brace also ruined countless tops, leaving small holes in my T-shirts everywhere. And then the trend of wearing crop tops finally came around. Oh yes, it existed back then too, and one had a abs to show :-) But with the brace, it was only feasible to a limited extent.
Nevertheless, I took the positive from the situation: From then on, I was Superwoman with rock-hard abs.
Unfortunately, the scoliosis worsened, and at the age of 10, the first clinic wanted to operate on me. After seeking a second opinion, we changed clinics. It’s possible to estimate one’s future height based on an X-ray of the hand and the middle finger bone. Therefore, the second clinic wanted to wait a bit longer, even though from that day on, we had to travel over 600 km to the clinic.
At the age of 14, however, surgery became unavoidable. The degree of curvature was so severe that I could no longer sit upright sideways. Organs were also being compressed.
April 14, 1998. My spine was fused from TH4 to L4 (4th thoracic vertebra to 4th lumbar vertebra). How did the surgery go? How did the following year go? Did I have to wear a brace afterwards? How does it feel? I will write more about this in my blog. Later, in 2019, two cervical vertebrae were also fused. Was that a good decision? I don’t know. In the long term, fusing the vertebrae means that the few unfused vertebrae try to compensate. Thus, since my mid-to-late 30s, I have been experiencing early signs of herniated discs and arthritis.
But I’ll think about that tomorrow.