Scoliosis awareness month!

Hello guys :)

So I actually came on here to do my haul post but I can't get my pictures onto the laptop grrr! I'll try and do it when I can, meanwhile I'll do this post, I was planning to do it on Saturday as it's the last day of the month (I forgot to do it on the 1st) but ohhhh well i'll do it now! 

So this month is scoliosis awareness month which if you don't know it means a curved spine which is something I have/had.. It can curve in a C shape or S shape and can also twist therefore making you look wonky and obviously causing pain

My spine had 2 curves making an S shape with one curve bigger than the other, the bigger curve was around 46 degrees and obviously normal spines are dead straight. It's also a bit twisted which makes my ribs stick out a bit as if i'm breathing in. I also looked a little bit wonky, one side of my waist went in like it should but the other was straight, I didn't look as wonky as some people with scoliosis can as I had two curves and so it cancelled out a little bit!

My scoliosis was only discovered when I had joint pain and they realised one hip was higher and so did an xray which showed my spine was wonky bringing one hip up higher, at this point my back didn't actually hurt or anything, however the curve gradually got worse so causing  pain, eventually it got alot worse and was still curving and very quickly at that, and if it carried on part of my spine would have been sat in my pelvis and my organs would have got squashed sooo they decided they had to operate on it..

 This is my spine about a year before my operation but it did actually get worse than this, I don't have a more recent xray! Some people that have spinal fusion have posterior which means they are cut straight down the back and have it straightened and held there by rods and pins. However, I had anterior which means they went in through my side; they collapsed my lungs, took out one of my ribs and put pieces of it between my vertabrae because bone makes bone fuse.. (so the vertabrae they put it in is now fused as one bone) and held it in place with titanium rods and pins..

It was a major operation and had a small risk of paralysing or killing me but although higher risk than some other operations, still not a massive risk! And obviously it didn't happen to me :))

The operation took 5 hours and I was in intensive care for 24 hours and in hospital for 2 weeks, I had a tube in my chest for 5 days to drain out fluid and a catheter as I obviously couldn't get up straight away, after 5 days I sat up, then stood up, then took a few steps and gradually got more mobile so by the end of the two weeks I could walk to the toilet with a bit of help and my spinal brace.

I had to wear a spinal brace for 5 months which on the front was just canvas that went from under my boobs to the bottom of my stomach and the back of it was rock hard and went from my neck to the top of my bum, I actually liked wearing it cos I felt supported in it! I had to wear it all the time except I could take it off once in bed and put it on before getting up! It took a while to get back into things and for a year I have all these restrictions of no bending my back, no stretching, no twisting, no impact etc.. and it will take two years to fully fuse!

 This is my spine after the operation, allll straight :D it's like 9 degrees now so not perfectly straight but almost! It's also still twisted a bit as they can't correct that but it's not a big problem! If you look closely you can see where one of my ribs is cut off but I dunno how to explain where it is, on the left of the picture kind of in the middle haha! I think what they did is amazing, who on earth thought of this operation!!

I'm basically back to normal now apart from the restrictions and I still ache a bit but yeah basically normal! :)

Just me chillin in intensive care haha! Hello tomato face and TERRIBLE roots haha!! Oxygen tubes, 5 canulas, blood pressure monitor, heart monitor, pulse monitor, morphine button (yes I just had to press a button for shots of morphine ;)!!)

I went to Stanmore RNOH and I honestly think they are amazing! Best hospital I have ever been to and all the surgeons/doctors/specialists/nurses are just amazing! The play specialist Zoe even got rid of my needle phobia haha! All my nurses were so lovely, especially Emma and Carl my favourites hehe! I even got the nickname little miss sunshine cos I was always smiling hahah!!

Wellll, I hope this has raised awareness of at least one person! I was actually thinking about adding a page to my blog about scoliosis and also about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (seee my EDS awareness post) as I know it would have helped me to read other peoples stories about it and I also have a few stories to tell about hospital, what do you think? :)

Have any of you got scoliosis or know someone that does? I'd loveeee to know!! :)

Emily xxx