the dreaded news....

7th grade - when all of us in that grade in jr. high are checked by nurses to see if we have scoleosis. We met in the auditorium and row by row went up on stage, we bend over to have our spines checked to see if they have that special curve or not. By luck of the draw - or not - I get the news - - "you need to see a dr. for scoleosis." Why me?? I asked that over and over. So over the next few years, I had weekly physical therapy and visits to the dr. At one point, I even had a lift put on one of my shoes - about 1 1/2 to 2 inch lift. That was because I was getting quite a limp and it needed some help. My physical therapy sessions were about 1/2 hour in a heated pool to stretch and do exercises then get out and endure more stretches and exercises with the help of a physical therapist. By the time I was 17, the dr. could do no more and saw no hope other than surgery. The plan was to get a rod in my back to correct the curve or at least keep it from curving even more. So the summer after graduation, Aunt Carol, grandma and I drove to Boise to St. Alphosnus hospital where the surgery was done. After about a week in bed, they finally got me up and I pretty much had to learn to walk all over again. I was also put in a cast from my neck down to my hips. Talk about awkward! During the next week, I remember grandma and Aunt Carol had to go home and they sent in reinforcements - family to visit me. My dad came, I don't remember everyone, but Aunt Ruth and Julie came at the end of my stay, got me released from the hospital, drove me to the airport, put me on a plane and sent me home. I had to be wheeled to and from the airplane into the airport. Lots of my family met me at the airport - very sweet :) I was so happy to be home! For the next 6 months, I lived with a cast and sat up taller than I knew was possible. My posture was terrific! Bathing was not! And getting in and out of bed was a new adventure...right before Christmas I went to Boise to have the cast sawed off - best Christmas gift ever! So I have a 6 inch rod in my lower back and the scar to prove it - it's a part of me now...literally. Wouldn't want to be without it :)