My Life with Scoliosis

One day I had just come home from school, when I told my mom that my back was hurting me. My mom had a look and said that she noticed a lump, so she phoned the doctors. They told her to bring me up straight away. When the doctor examined me she said that she would make me an appointment to go to the hospital. At which point I was very scared. All sorts were going through my head. When the appointment came through, the doctor explained that I had an illness known as SCOLIOSIS. I was frightened - I did not know what it was or where it had come from.

The doctor suspected that it had probably been passed down by either my moms' or dads' side of the family. It was then that I found out that my dads brother Basil, had got scoliosis also.

About a month later, we went back to the hospital. They said I had to have an x-ray. I was anxious because I had never had one before. I felt both angry and worried when they told me I had to take all my clothes off, except for my pants. When they looked at my x-ray, they didn't look happy, but wouldn't tell us anything. When my mom and I got home, all we did was cry.

A few weeks later, I started to fall over a lot, and get pain in my back. The next time I went to the hospital I had to have another x-ray. I wasn't as scared this time. The doctors asked my mom and I, if we wanted to see them - we said yes. When we did we saw a curve in my spine. The doctor explained that scoliosis was curvature of the spine. When I got home I went straight to my room, slammed the door and cried. I think my mom did the same, and then we cried together. The following day my mom explained to all my family what was going on.

As time went by, the curve got bigger and bigger. The doctors were trying to find out why I had got scoliosis. If it was genetic I would have had it from birth. This meant a lot of tests. The first one I remember was an MRI scan. This was to see if I had any tumours (cancerous cells) in my bones. I was very scared but my mom was always there with me, so that helped me a lot. I also had to have another scan of my whole body, to see if I had a blood disease called leukaemia. This was the worst. I had to have a blue dye injected into my arm, and left for a whole hour. I was then finally put into a scanning machine. When I got home I was in a lot of pain with my stomach. The doctor said I was suffering from an allergic reaction.

We were always back and forth to the hospital. Roughly two months later, I was transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital to see a bones specialist. There I had even more x-rays and scans. The scanning machines looked very scary - they were like tunnels. They said that this time they wanted to take pictures of my bones, and that it would make a lot of noise. They also said not to worry because it wouldn't hurt. I got to listen to the STEPS album so that I couldn't hear, but I still could. This scan also made me ill.

About a week later I was getting a lot more pain. I noticed that my shoulders were a bit uneven. I told my mom, she said they had been like it for some time. Ever since then I have been teased a lot and had to take a lot of time out of school.

Then I was referred to Birmingham Royal Orthopaedic to see a scoliosis specialist. I had even more x-rays and scans. But I didn't like these at all. I couldn't listen to any music, so I could hear everything that was going on, but I still managed to hold still. The doctor said that the medical term for my illness is ADOLESCENT IDIOPATHIC SCOLIOIS. It was very rare form as it had developed early, as I was only 8 years old at the time.

A few months later, I started having bladder problems. I would wet myself, and not even know that I needed the toilet in the first place. It got so bad that even wet the bed. So the doctors did more tests. They decided that I suffering from stress.

The curve in my back was getting we doctor worse. The doctor explained to us that he wanted me to wear a body brace as it may help with the pain, and reduce the curves progression rate. He said that if I wanted it to work I must wear it 23 hours a day. Wearing the brace was very uncomfortable, and it rubbed my back, under my arms and the tops of my legs. It did not work at night as I was awake due to being uncomfortable.