Scoliosis stories: What changes did you notice in your body after the surgery?

Making the choice to go ahead with scoliosis surgery is a big decision. These teens share what changes they noticed in their bodies after having scoliosis surgery.

This video is provided for general information only. It does not replace a diagnosis or medical advice from a healthcare professional who has examined your child and understands their unique needs. Please speak with your doctor to check if the content is suitable for your situation.

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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

After this surgery I felt crooked, even though I was straight, because when I was crooked. No. Okay. I felt straight when I was crooked and then when I was straight I felt crooked. You were crooked when you were straight and you were straight when you were crooked. Even though I was straight, I felt crooked because I was so used to being crooked that I felt straight. Um I felt crooked, but I really was straight so that was really weird. I felt lopsided. That feeling lasted for about a couple weeks and till I actually had to like think and it was like more of a like a mental thing to realize that, oh like my body's actually straight, so I had to think about it first before I could actually like feel it. So it's kind of more of a mental thing in my head that I had to get over.

There was a pair of them at each level so there are six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve screws and some hooks above. She dings when she goes through security. Really? Yeah. Everything was different with my body. It was really weird, like I would stand up and I didn't feel like me like. Cause I grew like two inches and it just it's so weird when you're higher up you know. And um. Yeah. I was straighter and like everything and she had. She has a collar bone now. Yeah and my back is, yeah. And it's like. She didn't before. Yeah cause it was all crooked and yeah. Um, those are all the discs that have been taken out there alright. And that allows this, that section, which was your big curve, to come out a lot straighter like that. And then you can see all of the levels that you've got. The fixation from the from the back and so we've started down there and actually leveled that one the way that we the way that we want. You've got your lumbar spine nicely controlled with these with these screws all the way up and then we've got your thoracic spine held in position with those hooks.

After my surgery I found that my body was a lot different. Um, I felt more less straight. I didn't feel like I was leaning to one side. I find that when it rains I feel the pain like drastically. Like I can feel. It's almost like I can predict that it's gonna rain almost because the pain in my back. The numbness that I find after my surgery that I had, it's all over. I find that it's like closer to my neck, like on the top of my spine, right around where I got the ribs taken out . That. There's a lot of numbness there as well so it's a little off-balance I guess you could say. I still have numbness to this very day. Like once in a while, like I have my days. I am a runner, and before my surgery it'd be hard for me at times to run long distances because my ribs were closing in because of the curvature in the spine. But after my surgery, I'm able to do a lot more running. I'm able to do everything that I once did before the surgery, but a lot more successful now.

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