My story is crazy in I that I was told at 16 I had scoliosis and I would have trouble later in life.
Fast forward to 2 years ago (age 52) and had the shock of my life. I have led a very busy life ... two awesome children, hiked all over the US ,ran a half marathon at 50 and even pole danced for 3 years(lol wasn't great at it & we just had a moment of silence because we just sold it),and I've been a flight attendant for over 10 years. No one ever said you should get that spine checked out! I grew up with the pain so I just attributed bad days to over doing it. I'm very outgoing, lots of energy and tend to plan and do too much in a day.
Two years ago I saw an ortho doc thinking I had pulled a muscle at work. He walked in after seeing the X-rays and asked me what I did again and how did I exercise? I think I threw him off and once I saw the X-rays I knew why. I told him he had the wrong X-rays and that wasn't me.
So began my journey of looking for a surgeon. I was very fortunate in that I could fly around the country. Everyone I did see told me not to have the surgery until the pain became too much. After seeing a few doctors, we decided on an incredible ortho/neuro surgeon that only does scoliosis surgeries close to home. I will tell you each doctor told me I would have to have surgery or the way it was progressing I would have been in a wheel chair within 10 years.
So March 31, 2015 was a 5 hour surgery and April 2 was my 11 1/2 hour surgery. I had complications from the hospital care and ended up staying in the hospital for over 2 weeks and don't remember much of the first 3 months due to the recovery:)
I am beyond excited after 10 months of being off work to start work again as a flight attendant. The dogs & I walk at least 3 miles a day and I am up to a mile at a slow run. I just met with a yoga instructor and also planning on taking paddle board lessons soon. Thank you for letting me share my story!!
