Florida

My hobbies include reading, hiking, puzzles, learning about different animals, and playing video games of all sorts. My journey started when I was 12 and was diagnosed during my annual well visit. This was just before Covid hit and everything shut down. I was told to do PT and to wait and see. I did PT twice a day for the entire pandemic. I went for a checkup early 2022 and was told to see an Orthopedic. When my appointment finally came, they said my curves were too large and I’d need surgery. I have three curves, and was set to be fused from T4-L4. At the last minute they chose to just correct my lower two instead in hopes the top one would straighten out some on its own. I was fused from T10-L4 during a 7 hour surgery. My surgeon is very new age and instead of going to ICU, like most fusion patients, I went to a regular room, and I was up and walking just hours after my surgery! No morphine pain pump and sitting in bed for days, and I was discharged just 24 hours after my surgery. It was a really hard recovery, much harder than I expected, but a year later I’m back to my old self enjoying life without worry!

I want to be a group leader to help other girls who are also going through scoliosis. My sister was recently diagnosed and I’d love to give her even more support than I received. Going through something really hard is worth it when you get to use that experience to help ease other people’s worry.