...

Wow.  It really has been a longggggggg time since I've even visited this blog.

Stuff that's happened since then?  The major one: I had my scoliosis surgery!!

On October 17th of this year, I'll be 2 years post-op!  My lumbar curve went from 62 degrees to 17 degrees, and my thoracic curve went from 28 to 13.  I'm really grateful to be able to have had this surgery.  I live with chronic pain now, but I think having the operation has really helped me grow as a person.

I've also been diagnosed with Joint Hypermobility Syndrome, have any of you heard of it?  It's a joint condition that's affected me since I was young ,but we never knew what it was until recently.

As always, if you have any questions about my surgery feel free to ask!  I'd be happy to help~

Celiac Disease

I know I said this blog would be about scoliosis, but I tend to get carried away.... My friend has celiac disease!  I don't mean that in a happy way, just SHOCKED.  I feel so sad... she's one of the people who actually understand scoliosis, even though she doesn't have it.  She also is one of the healthiest people I know.  She can't have gluten(wheat)!  I'm lactose intolerant, but no wheat..... I can't IMAGINE life without wheat!!

What is Scoliosis?

Okay. (I know this is kinda late, this should have been my first post.) So when I was first diagnosed with scoliosis I was like "What the poop is scoliosis?" Many of you might be wondering that too. Scoliosis is when a person's spine is overly curved.  Everybody has 4 natural curves in their spine.  It's bad to have a straight spine. But scoliosis is when your spine is too curved and shaped like an "S" or a "C".  Mine is shaped like an "S".  I have Adolescent Idiopathic scoliosis. Adolescent is when you get it from ages 10-14, and idiopathic is when the doctors don't know the reason.  There are no cures for scoliosis.  However, there are treatments.  If you are put in a brace, that means your curve is 25-45 degrees(curves are measured in degrees). You are still growing and the brace is to stop your curve from growing.  Think of it like a plant growing sideways and one of those rods supporting it so it grows straight.  If you get surgery, that means your curve is 45 degrees or more and bracing won't help.  I hope this clears some things up!

Rock Hard Abs!

So my friends and I were talking (love my friends, soooooo supportive!) and this guy sees me knocking on my brace.  He says "OMG!!! Where do you work out? I want your rock-hard abs!"  He was SO serious! So now my friend and I have convinced the guys on my bus that I ave rock-hard abs. They're jealous.

Bracing Clothes

I have a Boston Brace, and I had to go "brace shopping" for clothes that would fit over my clothes.  BTW, I'm in 8th grade.  But what should you wear over your brace? For tops, wear a cotton shirt underneath your clothes.  I wear Sugar Lips, but we all have different preferences.  Now that it's winter, I just wear over-sized sweatshirts.  But in the summer, I wear a regular tank top and then a ruffled top to go over and usually color coordinate the two.  On the bottom (this is really bad) I wear jeans.  They aren't very thick, so I wear my brace up to the point where it's extremely tight.  Otherwise, I wear jeggings, sweats just don't work for me. 

Hey!

Hey guys! So basically this blog will be about coping with scoliosis bracing, since that's what I'm experiencing right now.  Feel free to comment!! Oh and sorry for the link I said "scoiliosis" instead of scoliosis... I'm kind of a failure like that.....