Scoliosis Chronicles: Part 2

Things have been a bit tough around here, and when that happens I don't much feel like writing. I'm back now, though, with the promised second installment :)

Alright, so I ended up going to the orthopedic surgeon where they did these really awesome, full torso x-rays. Have you ever seen an x-ray of your whole torso? Because I have, several times in fact. I wish I had one to post on here, but, alas, it is not to be :). Using the x-rays they could see my curve and gauge how severe it was. Not only was my curve a double (one at the top and one at the bottom so my spine somewhat resembled an "S") which was uncommon, but my curve started to the left (really, like an "S"). Something like 95% of all scoliosis curves start to the right which is pretty bizarre, if you think about it. How can an anomaly have such a pronounced trend? Anyway, apparently this was some cause for concern; sometimes left curves are caused by some other abnormality such as a cyst. So I had an MRI. Yes, I had my first MRI when I was twelve years old. Well, much to my dismay, there was no cyst; I really just defied "normal" in every way.

There are different types of treatment for scoliosis depending on the severity of the curve. Some people have slight curves and never have to do anything for them except a little posture correction. Moderate curves are corrected using a back brace and severe curves are corrected using Harrington rods. The rods are placed on the sides of the spine through surgery, and are the most effective correction, but may limit movement and activities. A brace is almost always tried before surgery. My curve was moderate and increasing so it was decided that a back brace was necessary. Again, I don't have a picture of MY brace, but here's a generic one so you can get the idea. This one is pretty similar to the one I wore.

Yeah, it's awesome... not.

According to howstuffworks.com:

The brace works by exerting pressure on the back and ribs to push the spine in a straighter position. The brace usually fits snugly around the torso and can come in many styles. In a child who is still growing, bracing is usually recommended to help slow the progression of the curve. The brace is usually worn full-time until the growth of the bones has stopped.

I was to wear it 18-20 hours a day, every day, until my "growth plates closed" whatever that means.

TWO YEARS!!!! Two years is what it meant. Two years of wearing this beast. It was the bane of my existence. As if middle school isn't traumatic enough, what with identity crises, trying to fit in, etc. I had to add a stupid back brace on top of it all. Luckily, I'm pretty resilient and didn't care so much about what people thought of me. In fact, most of the time, people didn't even know I was wearing a brace; it was only the girls that I had gym with, who saw me change, that knew. Well, and my friends, of course. I look back on it and think "oh, it wasn't so bad." But you could never ever get me to do it again.

I had two braces. The first was small, because I was small, and had a print of elephants, giraffes and hippos on it. It was cute. The second was bigger and clear. A new type of plastic had been developed and it was, supposedly, softer, but couldn't have anything printed on it. Not cute.

I think the most interesting part of the experience was the making of the brace. They laid me down on this table that was made of plastic with a bunch of holes drilled in it. Each hole was about 1/2 inch in diameter; the purpose of the holes, as I was quick to learn, was for rods that would hold my spine in a straighter position while they made a cast of my body. I put on a tube-sock-esque thing that covered me from arm-pits to mid-thighs. They, almost literally, paper mache'd me, though I'm pretty sure the goop was not flour and water, and the strips were cloth, not news paper. This happened on the front and the back using, in total, two tube-socks and about 2 hours. I remember it being fun, though we all know memories can be a bit skewed :).

Anyway, that's the brace. Now you know a bunch of, probably, useless things about treatment of scoliosis through a back brace.

Next: Part 3: After the brace (I really don't know what else to call it, hahaha)

Promises

I shouldn't make promises like "I'll give you... this... tomorrow." Because they never come to fruition. I'm sorry readers for making empty promises. I will try to post Scoliosis Chronicles: Part 2 either tomorrow or the next day. Love you all :)

Scoliosis Chronicles: Part 1

So I know this story pretty well, but I’d thought I’d share it for those who don’t know. Or for those who do, it’s fun to see things from a different perspective.

In sixth grade my whole class was screened for scoliosis. Scoliosis is curvature of the spine, may or may not be inherited, and can range in severity. We had been screened for other things in the past, like bad eyesight; I’m not sure if the school just thought our parents weren’t responsible or what, but they had decided to take it upon themselves to determine the various maladies of elementary school students. I had heard of scoliosis because one of the kids in my class had it. Also, the teachers had explained it to us so that we wouldn’t think they were crazy for looking at our backs. Anyway, we were all rounded up and herded into the auditorium.

My teacher told us that this was just to make sure that everyone in the school was ok and that, most likely, nothing would be wrong with us. I’m sure this was said because of the fairly low occurrence of scoliosis in the United States, about 4%. It didn’t even occur to me to think that I could possibly have a curved spine. I would feel that, right?

The screeners were just doing cursory checks on most people: make sure shoulders and hips were even and check for visible curves. If there was a question about a certain child, they would go see the Head Screener, a fairly intimidating woman who, I guess, had the final say.

Finally, it was my turn. Like I said, it hadn’t even crossed my mind that I would have anything less than a straight spine. The screener did his initial scan, checking my shoulders and hips, etc. It didn’t seem like my screening was any different than anyone else’s, but it slowly dawned on me that he was taking a long time. He had already checked my shoulders twice! And now he was doing it again! I started to get worried. I don’t remember what he said to me, but I was taken over to the Head Screener.

Words were exchanged between the two screeners and the woman made me bend over so she could check my spine. She said “Oh yeah, there’s a definite curve.” She ended up making a lesson out of me for the other screener, showing him how it was easy to tell that I had a curved spine from this and this and this. And while I’m sure he appreciated it, I certainly did not. My world had just been turned upside down! I had scoliosis?? How could this be? They were being so insensitive to my little 12 year old self.

I ended up going to see a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, because I guess they deal with this kind of stuff. But not before my mom had had a friend look at my back at my sister’s indoor soccer game, how embarrassing J.

Well, that’s the diagnosis. Tomorrow I’ll share what came after: the brace!!

How long do you have to be reading someone's blog before you can call them your "friend?"

Seriously, is it ok to refer to "my friend's blog" if I've never met them?

I do that sometimes. Because it sounds kinda weird when I want to talk about a blog of someone that I don't know....

I dunno, does anyone else feel this way? Or am I the only one?

Blog stalking is one of my favorite past times. I think I might like it better than facebook stalking...

(I know I just did this)

Yet again, another excellent song. I don't know what it is about music, but it always says what I can't put into words :)

Funny

I read this over at iammommy.com and it made me laugh pretty hard. So I though I'd share. Side note: the woman who does this blog also does another blog called iambaker.com; this woman is amazing, not only is she a mother of four and an incredible baker, but she also finds time to blog about it, TWICE!!

All of them are at least a little bit true; number 4 is the one that made me really laugh :)

Random Thoughts of the Day

1. More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.

5. Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

6. There is a great need for sarcasm font.

7. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

8. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

9. Was learning cursive really necessary?

10. Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say."

11. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

12. Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

13. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

14. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent an aggressive driver from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

15. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

16. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

17. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

18. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

19. Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do.

20. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from; this shouldn't be a problem....

21. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

22. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

23. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

24. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

25 When I meet a new person, I'm terrified of mentioning something they haven’t already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

26. I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

27. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

28. It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

29. I wonder if cops ever get annoyed at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

30 Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

Good song; actually, it's a great song. I'm not sure why it's been subtitled in Portuguese... or why the quality is so low, but it's the only "music video" that I could find. Anyway, it's the music that's important :)

The Best Thing I Ever Ate

What's your favorite food? Favorite side dish? Dessert?

Imagine your perfect meal, with all of your favorite dishes, prepared by the best person (be that your mom or a world-renowned chef), eaten with the best of company.

It's all laid out on the table on the best china, all ready to eat. It smells wonderful! Your chef has been working all day to make this the best thing you've ever eaten.

You're called in to eat. You sit down. You look at your perfect meal, surrounded by your perfect company.

You decide that you'd rather go outside and play.

What are you? INSANE???? This is possibly the best thing you will ever eat in your whole life!!! And you want to go... play?

Well, I hope that you know what you are doing.

End Of Semester (again)

The semester ends in exactly 8 (school) days. Here is my list of things to complete:

1. Take a physics test, finish 3 physics labs and 3 physics homework assignments
2. Write an instrumental analysis lab independent project paper
3. Write a "spelunking" paper (that actually has nothing to do with cave-diving but is about "getting underneath the surface" of Islam)
4. Fix and better my atrocious matrix row-reduction skills
5. Complete my chemistry portfolio (to absolutely no advantage as I'm pretty sure no one will ever see it)
6. Write a paper on research that I haven't really completed :)
7. One last math homework assignment

Number 4 will probably have to wait until reading days, but the rest....

Pray for me!

Spring is in the Air

My neighbor is fertilizing his lawn with one of those push fertilizers. There's a chunk of snow stuck between the wheels, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him.

There's a bird that's landed somewhere in the vicinity of the front door and it is now singing it's little lungs out. I like it, but I'm afraid Hansen might be a bit annoyed as he is still trying to sleep (His room is right by the front door).

I think I may wear a skirt today. And boots. It's not summer yet :)

Neodymium

Ok, you may have already read about this on my most recent facebook status update... but I really am totally shocked. How can I, being a chemist of at least 5 years (and really longer, it just took me a bit to figure it out), have been saying an element name wrong my whole life????

Neodymium.... not neodinium.

I guess it's not too unreasonable because we usually use the symbols instead of the whole names. Especially when that name is as long as neodymium.

I really cannot express my disbelief.

It's gonna take me a bit to get over this. I kind of feel like a fraud.

ACS Conference

So, you'd think that since my major is chemistry, I'd talk about it all the time. Honestly, I thought so too; that's why I snagged the blogger domain name that I did. But I find that it's not often a topic of my posts. I think it is because, in my experience, as soon as I start talking about chemistry, people tune out. Not because they don't want to listen, but because they can't. It's really just that boring to them. And then it makes me sad because I'm so enthused about it. So I've learned to just not really talk about it unless I'm with my chemistry nerd friends, hahaha.

Well this last week I attended the American Chemical Society national conference in Anaheim, CA. It was a lot of fun and I learned a bunch. A group of people from BYU all went together, so I got to spend 6 days with people who share my interest and enthusiasm. I was in heaven... for a few days.

The problem with scientists is this: we've learned so much that we think we know everything! So, of course, how could we ever be wrong about anything? Oh, the ego of a scientist. It's nice to be back among "normal" people.

I guess the moral of this story is this: it's good to surround yourself with a variety of people; there's less arguing that way.