Hello

[Jen-jen]

no buses! yikes!! how on earth do u cope? lol just kiddin. I wud luv 2 visit New York!! it sounds soo... buzzin.
You're definitely gettin things moving quickly, only here 4 days and you'll already have an appointment! my next one is in December!
Yeh, i get pain wen i lie down too, i usually av 2 roll over evry coupla mins which can get very annoyin! on a day to day scale, the pain is just like a dull ache all the way down my right-hand side of my back. carryin all my science n maths folders round college leaves me feelin in slightly more pain and if i do a good ol bit of exercise then its usually time to crack open the paracteamols!! lol. It really gets to me tho cos i quit my dancin (which up until now was kinda like my second life) and i really wanna go bk but i cant. Grrr! i think im gonna investigate chiropractors - thers 1 on the road wher i walk in2 town so i mite pop in next time im free and see what they can fix me up for. Some poeple on here say they help, others say they dnt so i guess ill just av 2 find out myself n do sum snoopin.
I luv the way evry1 posts here - evry1 has a different story to tell and different bits of advice to give... it makes me feel not so alone. Like a little community. Now i feel warm and fuzzy all ova. lol. nah, scrap dat last bit of mush but i do stil find it easier to cope wen i know iv got this site and evry1 here to help each otha out.

x x

[Robbie]

Thanks, macky. I really appreciate everyone's opinion. I don't really see how you can say surgery doesn't correct scoliosis, coloradogirl. Why would they do it otherwise?

My aunt here goes to see a chiropractor every two weeks, and he seems to help her. One of my aunt's friends doesn't seem to think much of him, though. She hurt her leg badly at work (she works at an old people's nursing home, and had to help lift them in and out of bed) and when she went to see him, he was all, "Stop being a wuss and deal with it!" Turned out she needed an operation or she could have had to have her leg amputated!

I remember carrying around a huge, heavy backpack in school before I found out I had scoliosis. I couldn't understand why my back hurt, and people always used to comment that I leaned over to the side because I only carried it on one shoulder. Does anyone else lean over to the side when they carry something in just one hand, or on just one arm?

[Jen-jen]

omg how can he say that to ur aunt's friend?! thats just plain wrong! i av a GP like that - I had the tb jab but i had an allergic reaction to it n she just told me to stop bein a wuss!!! i think i def wil check out the chiropractor tho.

i dont no bout any1 else but i lean over to 1 side wen i carry sumthin... my bk curves to the rite so if i carry summat on my left arm i sumhow end up leanin ova even further?

x x

[macky]

Your post Robbie of leaning over carrying something with one arm bought back a really old memory.
My dear Grand father ,god rest his sole ,used to say that because i carried a really heavy school bag ,that could have been the cause of my crooked spine.
I have learnt since being on this forum that apparently a lot of people thought that.
Jen Jen I love reading your posts honey, but find it really hard with your shorthand way of writing them as they take me ages to read them, and try and work out what you are saying. Am I just getting old?

Macky

[Jen-jen]

Lol. Sorry Macky, I'll write things out in long-hand from now on. Nah, you're not getting old, teenagers are just getting lazier. Or illiterate! Honestly, youth of today eh? I carry my heavy school bag on one arm too. Is it proved that carrying a heavy school bag can add to your scoliosis or is it just a myth?? I know that it sure hurts more when I carry it but I don't know if that's just me looking for an excuse as to why I have this scoliosis or not. Do you know if a chiropractor helps or not?? I really want a solution for the pain instead of popping a paracetamol every time it hurts... I have a year to wait until my operation you see so I really could do with an alternative short-term solution until then. Any ideas?

x x

[Robbie]

When I was at school, people would always have a go at us for carrying our bags on just one shoulder saying that it would affect our backs. I'm not sure how true that is, though, since my friend carried a very, very heavy bag and his back is perfectly fine.

I kind of wish I could take pills for the pain sometimes - except I can't. I absolutely cannot swallow pills for some reason. When I was in England, I usually resorted to something like Calpol, lol. I'm a little bit old for it, but hey, it works.

Have you considered not using a bag, and just carrying your books around? Do they provide lockers at your college? That might help out with the pain if the bag really hurts to carry around.

[Jen-jen]

Hey! You're never too old for Calpol! lol. I used to have a problem with pills too. Thing is though, I don't know how long I can carry on taking them... i'll end up a hypochondriac!!
Unfortunately we don't have lockers at school and I have too many heavy books to carry around to consider that. (I do maths, biology and chemistry remember; the three hardest courses on offer!) Besides, I already tried it and by the end of the day I ended up shoving my books onto whoever would be kind (or gullible) enough to take them for me. If you lean over, can you feel it stretching or is that just me??
And I'm getting seriously ticked off because if it suddenly starts hurting when I'm out in town or something, I usually stretch or bend over to try and ease the pain out and people then look at me like I've got 2 heads. It's not like I suddenly jumped up and did the macarena and sang YMCA at the top of my voice so why stare?
I'm glad that it's becoming winter too because now I have to put more layers on so you can't see my curve as bad either. It was kinda awkward in summer when I wanted to be cool but short tops made my curve really accentuated and it got to me at times.Why do lasses have to be so vain?? It would make life a lot easier if I just went round in baggy tops every day! lol. Oh well, only 9 months to wait. Oh God. lol.

x x

x x

[macky]

Hi guys. Thanks Jen jen for the attitude youve got, I honestly thought you may be a little crabby with me for asking you to write long hand, what a sweety you are.
Nah, carrying school bags has absolutely nothing at all to do with scoliosis except probably your back aching a bit from carrying them. Everyone has a
totally different opinion on chiroprators but this little chicky reckons that in the long term it doesnt help a lot.

I love reading both your texts Robbie and Jen so keep it up, xx

Macky

[Jen-jen]

No problem! I find it funny that you thought I might be crabby - I actually felt a little guilty because I've got so used to writing in text form! lol. I appreciate your thoughts about chiropractors... I would go and see if they can do anything to help but the ironic thing is that its a long walk to the chiropractors which hurts my back even more. Typical! lol.

P.S i couldn't be crabby if I tried (I'm too lazy to hold a grudge!)

x x

[Robbie]

Isn't there a bus? lol.

You're studying my absolute worst courses. I was terrible at all three in school. I was much better at English and Business.

I'm not sure what you mean by feeling it stretching. Do you mean your spine? People where you live must have really boring lives if they find someone bending over strange..

[Jen-jen]

Lol. Funnily enough, there aren't actually any buses!

I nearly screamed at one of my teachers today - in biology, we have really hard, unforgiving chairs. So, what with me being this shape and all, I kept on moving and fidgeting (because it was seriously starting to hurt again) and the teacher noticed. I told her my back was sore and that I was trying to get comfy... and she told me to stop making excuses and concentrate more!!! I was furious! And then, to top it all off, she told me that AS levels aren't easy and that I'm gonna have to work hard to get good grades because the answers aren't going to "pop out of the page" at me. Well, duh! I got 9A*s and 2A's and I don't think you can get grades like that from the answers "popping out of the page" at you. I was gonna stay behind and tell her that I wasn't making it up because I do actually have a clinically diagnosed problem but I never got the chance. Typical... again.

I don't know how to define what I feel when I say it stretches, the best way I can describe it is to say that when I bnd over, I can feel my skin stretching over the curve and I also find that sometimes, as weird as it sounds, my hip is in the way. My curve bends to the right so when I bend over to my right, my ribcage seems to meet my hip which is kinda freaky (and painful!). Maybe the stretching though, is just unique to me? Do you get pain?? Does it feel anything like what I'm on about?
Yeah, people do lead incredibly boring lives round here. We have become a town of chavs and wannabe chavs. lol. I'm at a loose end here because this pain is getting to me and I don't want to have to take pills all the time or keep on stretching and getting weird looks but I don't know what else I can do. I don't mind people staring or having to take pills but they aren't a long term solution. Grrrr! Right, the rant and rave is now over. lol. Hows you??

x x

[Robbie]

Teachers are irritating at times.. okay, a LOT of the time. If she continues to ignores you, take a doctor's note in or something?

I'm not sure if I've ever felt anything like that. I'll see when I next stretch.. lol. I often find that my right hip sometimes feels to be in the way. It really irritates me.

My flight to England is today. It's an overnight flight. I love overnight flights.

[Jen-jen]

Doctors note? I hadn't thought of that! Oh my God how stupid can i get? I really am a blonde! lol. I really should do that because I don't think they have it down on their records. I'll see if that can give me some preference for a locker maybe?
Yeah, the whole hip thing, that is what I'm on about. Ah, I feel relieved it isn't just me!
You picked a great day to fly to England - guess what? It's raining! Typical! Welcome back Robbie! lol.

x x

[Christina_in_NC]

Hi, I've benefitted so much the past few weeks reading the messages on this forum. My daughter (13, about 1 year before first menses expected - lots of growing left) was diagnosed about 4 weeks ago - upper curve?, lower curve 29. The surgeon says just watch and wait. We are looking into other options, she has started PT and we are looking into Spinecor. Her attitude about it is great, and she really enjoys the SpineKids site.
Weighing possibilities between Montreal, Erie Shriners, and Dr. D, or Dr. Oellette in Georgia. Montreal said we could be fitted there and do follow ups elsewhere - anyone tried that?
Thanks,
Christina

[christine2]

Hi Christina in NC

We have not tried that , we go just to Montreal. It is a 7 hour trip for us one way. My daughter is only 6 yrs so I would assume that that trip will get old and we may do the same after a couple years. I did look at 2 different Docs after making our choice to go with spinecor and must say that we saved approx. $2500.00 going to Montreal vs another which was closer. There have also been issues reported in the proper placement of the brace. Dr Colliard in Montreal is the inventor. She and Dr. Rivard are awesome!! They are truely doing it for the kids.

As for the brace itself it is so easy to wear. I have not heard 1 complaint. They say a brace is only good if the kid is compliant. My daughter does everything in it including gymnastics. You can hardly notice she is wearing it.

One last thing. I have read some very sad things about waiting and watching. it seems that alot of them are tragic. Scoliosis is so unpredictable. curves can increase dramatically over a short period of time. If you could just hold it at 29 or even get a small correction your kid would be all set.

Good luck

Christine