I was born with a severe and rare form of scoliosis. Throughout my life, I was told I would need surgery to fix it. However, because of my many other medical problems, no surgeon wanted to touch me. Finding someone who would help was a long and tiring process. It felt like a useless endeavor.
When I was in ninth grade, I went to the orthopedist for a checkup, and they told me I needed surgery. They sent me for an MRI and made a three dimensional model of my spine to see how to fix it. I was told they could not do it and to look for other options.
With no guidance at all, my parents and I set out to find a new and better surgeon. We went to the Hospital for Special Surgery. The surgeon said the risks would not outweigh the benefits, and he did not think I needed surgery yet. We continued seeing him for a couple of years as my curve became progressively worse. For a short time, it stayed the same, so he told me to enjoy college and come back after graduation.
A couple of years later, my back caused extreme pain whenever I was even slightly active. It was one reason I chose to study online. The commute was painful, and sitting in college chairs often became excruciating. I tried to schedule another appointment, but the hospital told me it had been too long since I was last there. They were the ones who told me to come back in a few years. What the hell did they mean it had been too long? Once again, we looked elsewhere.
Then COVID hit, and we went into lockdown. I was still in pain, but it was not as bad because I was not doing much. We did not want to risk me getting sick because of my other medical complications, so we waited until COVID had cleared and I had been vaccinated. I went to a physiatrist to manage the pain. He gave me trigger point injections, which actually helped for the first time.
He also connected me with a very skilled surgeon who he believed would help. After so much defeat and wanting to give up, my determination finally seemed to pay off. I was also given medical marijuana, which was the biggest help in reducing my pain out of anything I had tried before.
I was amazed because we are conditioned to view marijuana in such a negative light throughout our lives, yet it became one of the most positive revelations of mine.
I went to see the new surgeon, and he said he could do it. I was so happy to hear those words, yet still skeptical because it had happened before. He seemed knowledgeable and had a unique plan that reduced the risks. I went through a lot of testing over the next few months, and my surgery got a date. This was finally going to happen. Or was it?
Two weeks before surgery, I was required to get a COVID test. It came back positive. They delayed the surgery another month. I was defeated again. My stress levels were at an all time high. I was worried because so many people had told me they would not do this surgery. I used medical marijuana for stress, anxiety, and pain.
I focused on gaming to avoid negative thoughts and enjoy myself before the upcoming surgery, which I knew would be brutal. We will get into that in my next post.