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My CHEO Journey
Thursday 23rd AprHi friends!
I am running in May to raise money for CHEO. It is a great cause that I hits close to home..
For those who do not know, I have scoliosis, which is a curvature of the spine. I was diagnosed in 2005 by fluke, when my mom realized my hair was forever crooked. She would put it up from the back, and it was never straight in the front. At the time, we were told to watch the progression as I was at a 17-degree curve. One year later, my follow-up X-ray showed a curve of 34 degrees. I was told a brace would not be beneficial, and surgery was the best option. 9 months later, I was at a 54-degree curve and underwent spinal fusion surgery in Nov 2007. The surgery was a 12+ hr ordeal, requiring rods and screws implanted to straighten my spine, donor bone marrow fused, my mom donating blood for the weeks leading up to, a week in the hospital, learning how to walk and move around with zero mobility in 2/3 of my back, 12 months recovery with zero sports, a lot of physio and I was also homeschooled for a month. When I returned to school, I had to leave classes early to avoid being bumped in the halls, take the elevator, and sit out gym class for the rest of the year.
I still have some issues post surgery, like chronic knots and tension in some areas of my back, I do not have a lot of shock absorption in my spine, so if I take a hard hit playing sports, it takes me a bit longer to bounce back, and I still have a small curve affecting my hips/shoulders/back which has caused other minor injuries in my lower body.
I was very fortunate to have a fantastic team at CHEO that took great care of me, allowing me to live the extremely active lifestyle I have today including long distance running, playing soccer, hiking, weight lifting, snowboarding, skiing, and coaching youth soccer.
Now I am told the only crooked thing about me is my attitude 🙂
Any contributions go a long way 🙂
I am running in May to raise money for CHEO. It is a great cause that I hits close to home..
For those who do not know, I have scoliosis, which is a curvature of the spine. I was diagnosed in 2005 by fluke, when my mom realized my hair was forever crooked. She would put it up from the back, and it was never straight in the front. At the time, we were told to watch the progression as I was at a 17-degree curve. One year later, my follow-up X-ray showed a curve of 34 degrees. I was told a brace would not be beneficial, and surgery was the best option. 9 months later, I was at a 54-degree curve and underwent spinal fusion surgery in Nov 2007. The surgery was a 12+ hr ordeal, requiring rods and screws implanted to straighten my spine, donor bone marrow fused, my mom donating blood for the weeks leading up to, a week in the hospital, learning how to walk and move around with zero mobility in 2/3 of my back, 12 months recovery with zero sports, a lot of physio and I was also homeschooled for a month. When I returned to school, I had to leave classes early to avoid being bumped in the halls, take the elevator, and sit out gym class for the rest of the year.
I still have some issues post surgery, like chronic knots and tension in some areas of my back, I do not have a lot of shock absorption in my spine, so if I take a hard hit playing sports, it takes me a bit longer to bounce back, and I still have a small curve affecting my hips/shoulders/back which has caused other minor injuries in my lower body.
I was very fortunate to have a fantastic team at CHEO that took great care of me, allowing me to live the extremely active lifestyle I have today including long distance running, playing soccer, hiking, weight lifting, snowboarding, skiing, and coaching youth soccer.
Now I am told the only crooked thing about me is my attitude 🙂
Any contributions go a long way 🙂
