Case Study: Idiopathic Scoliosis In Female Adolescents

On August 17, 2014, I was diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis, a spinal deformity most common in female adolescents. Before meeting with my orthopedist who officially diagnosed me, I had noticed my torso doing abnormal things. My shoulders weren’t squared, my waist was uneven, my left rib stuck out and my hips were asymmetrical. When the doctor told me I may be an advocate for scoliosis and suggested getting x-rays, I wasn’t surprised. I had been talking about potentially having a spinal deformity for weeks beforehand. The next month, I had an appointment with orthopedist Dr.Kurz. I met with him every three months, taking new x-rays every visit. He monitored the curves in my spine for the next six months. He told me if the curves continued to get worse I would need to get my spine surgically corrected. Lo and behold, it progressed, and I was scheduled for a consultation with a surgeon. My surgeon, Dr.Zaltz, gave my mother and I a lot of information about my scoliosis and why surgery was needed. At first, I wasn’t fond of the idea. Five days in the hospital, many months of not being able to bend, lift or twist. It didn’t sound like my idea of fun. After some thought, I knew getting the surgery done as soon as possible would be the best option. I didn’t want to worry about the curves getting worse than they already were, and I knew I would have an …show more content…
Between all six of them, including the surgeon, I was explained the procedure of the surgery at least 10 times. I had a feeling it was making my parents more nervous than it was me. I asked them more than once if they were okay, even though it probably should have been the other way around. They said they were fine, but the second we were told I was heading into the back for surgery, they both burst into tears. I told myself I wasn’t going to cry, but how can you not cry when your parents are