Ruby's Story
At 11 years old I was diagnosed with Scoliosis. I had no idea what it was or what to do. My parents and I were so confused as to what the next steps were going to be, but after consulting with my doctor, we decided to take on the night brace. I had many follow up appointments every 4 months. These appointments became so emotionally draining because every day leading up to them, that was all I could think about, and you never know what news you're going to get. After almost every appointment I cry because of either disappointment or relief. So my mom and I made it a tradition to get Chick-Fil-A after every appointment. This gave me something to look forward to each time.
I wore the night brace for about 3 years, but by the end it stopped working and my spine got worse by 10 degrees. My doctor told us to start thinking about surgery and prepare ourselves. That day when we came home we were all so disappointed because after everything I just went through with the brace it came down to surgery. Everything about surgery scared me, the recovery, having to quit my favorite sport wrestling, and undergoing all of the pain that goes with it.
My parents and I did all of the research we could and found something called tethering. It’s more of a flexible cord instead of a titanium rod, and it is a lot less invasive than the fusion. We talked to my doctor about it and he said the best thing to do is to get a second opinion. We ended up driving to Chicago to see a doctor who specializes in tethering, and he said I wasn’t a good candidate. After hearing that devastating news, we took it upon ourselves to try the brace out one more time. This time we got a day brace. I wore the day brace for about 6 months and decided I was done with it. It hurt, I had sports, and it was ultimately too much for me.
My decision to stop wearing the brace came after two consecutive doctors appointments where we got the great news that my curve was not getting worse. My spine has a 48 and 54 degree S lumbar curve. Also, after a hard conversion with my family, I have opted to not have surgery, at least for now. If one day I choose to go the surgery route, I’m 100 percent confident that it will all turn out just fine. As for now, I consider myself very lucky.
“If this is my one thing I have that's wrong with me, being curvy ain't so bad”