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  • New, seeking information

    Hello everyone! I'm Sabby, and I'm new here (as well as just discovering I have scoliosis...)

    In October of last year (2004), I was hospitalized with a bilateral peripheral neuropathy (nutritional) and had x-rays, cat scans, MRI's, the works. Everything was normal, my spine was perfectly straight.

    Back in January, I began having some upper back pain (I have always had a touch of lower back pain due to my weight.) I didn't think much of it, it wasn't too severe (though for it to be noticed through the Morphine I was on for the neuropathy should have led me to suspect something...) I chalked it up to average weight-loss pains (I weighed 315 lbs last year, had a gastric bypass operation and have now lost down to 155 lbs. or so.)

    About a month and a half ago, I was looking in the mirror when I noticed my shoulders weren't even - it seemed my left shoulder dipped a slight bit farther than my right. Again, I never thought anything of it - I've never been a normal size in my life, and attributed it to the rapid weight loss.

    Last Friday, I went to see a chiropractor who was giving out free x-rays and initial exams. He spotted the irregularity straight away, gave me an x-ray, and low and behold, my spine has a nasty curve at the bottom and the top now! Needless to say, I was a bit shocked.

    After being given a few days to think it over (and remember the clues I mentioned earlier), I'm VERY concerned about the rate at which my spine seems to be curving. Is that normal scoliosis behavior? It seems 9 months (since my last normal x-ray) is an impressively short time to see as much degeneration as is apparent on the x-rays. My back is curved enough so that a child could tell it wasn't straight on them.

    I'm seeing my Chiropractor tomorrow, and will probably pay a visit to my doctor on Thursday when my husband gets paid.

    Any information, links, stories, ANYTHING that anyone can give me will be appreciated. This is still a shock to me, and I'm at a loss as to what I can/should be doing, other than the chiropractic treatments (3x a week, but I only get two weeks worth because they don't accept my insurance!)

    ~Sabby

  • #2
    Hi Sabby...

    You'll need to get to an orthopaedic doctor who specializes in scoliosis to really understand what is going on. There are a lot of possibilities. Your scoliosis could be functional (a temporary condition caused by your posture). It's possible that you've always had it, but that it didn't show up in any of your tests last year because scoliosis curves significantly straighten when one lies down.

    Your chiropractor may be able to help with your pain, but if your scoliosis is structural (what most of us here have), they can't stop the progression or correct the curves.

    You can find a list of scoliosis specialists here:

    http://www.srs.org/directory/directory.asp

    Good luck.

    Regards,
    Linda
    Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
    Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

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