Looking For Answers

I still have not figured out how to use the NSF Forums.  My account was also deactivated so I continue to look for new ways to communicate with fellow scoliosis patients.  Right now I'm just happy to 'pretend' I'm normal and carefree.  Since the surgery will take place in the summer, my focus is primarily on school and work right now.  There are times when I question my sanity throughout this mess.  I want answers.  I know most causes of scoliosis are unknown, as mine is.  I want desperately to know what causes it though. I wouldn't wish scoliosis upon anyone.  I've found that dealing with it is much more mentally and physically challenging than I ever would have thought.  Sometimes I wonder if we had caught my scoliosis just a year or two earlier if I would still have to have surgery. I know if I had been in sports it would have been spotted earlier.  Not needing a physical though I went three or four years straight without needing to see a doctor.   

Talking to my godmother, who has had many back surgeries in her time (none for scoliosis might I note), she told me not to have surgery if at all possible.  She knows better than anyone I know that any type of back surgery is no walk in the park.  I'm very blessed and thankful to have family such as my godmother to support me through whatever troubles me.  I feel guilty talking about it at times though.  Most don't understand what it's like or how to be supportive when they don't know how it feels or what exactly scoliosis means for my future, or present for that matter.  


With my appointment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester about two months away I've decided to better educate myself on scoliosis surgery.  I read two books on scoliosis that I would highly recommend to anyone with scoliosis or even family and friends of people who have scoliosis and want to know and better understand scoliosis and spinal fusion surgery.  Those books would be When Life Throws You A Curve by Elizabeth Golden and Scoliosis Surgery: The Definite Patient's Reference by David K. Wolpen.  While When Life Throws You A Curve is a personal story of the author's journey through scoliosis and surgery, the second is more an informative book on scoliosis surgery.  Both are great if you have scoliosis or you want to better understand it.