So excited!!
Hey everyone! I am so excited about this community. I’ve never found anything like this and it’s so nice to be able to share my experience with people who get it.
My name is Bethany and I am 27 years old. I was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 8 and by the time I was 13, I had progressed to a triple curve with my largest measuring at 68 degrees. I underwent spinal fusion surgery in 2011 and am fused from T2 to L3. What I hate the most about this is when I tell people my story, the automatic reaction is “Oh, you had surgery so you’re good now right?” when that’s very much not the case. Yes, there’s not a chance that my spine will paralyze me anymore, yay! But I live in constant pain that effects my daily life and have had to give up what I love most, dance.
I danced in a studio from 11-18 and then joined a few hip hop teams as an adult. I ultimately had to quit due to the pain I was experiencing in my already tight muscles. To this day, I’m so saddened at who I could’ve been as a dancer if I didn’t have scoliosis.
Now, I’m struggling with how to stay active. Running has always hurt my lower back, so that’s a no. I thoroughly enjoy workout classes, but I hate talking to the instructor beforehand to explain my situation and then not being able to execute all of the movement. I’ve always felt so much shame around my diagnosis and surgery. I’m hoping this community will help me change that. So happy to meet you all!!
I loved reading this so much because it is so similar to my story! I was diagnosed at 11, and it was caught a little too late so i had the fusion at 12, last year. I also am a dancer and go to a dance middle school which was difficult because half of my grade was dance, but i couldn’t do it for so long, so i rushed back into it a month after the surgery and got injured and now i am out again until January. i also was fused from t2-l3