signore scoliosis

i'm a scoliosis patient. scoliosis? its a condition that causes abnormal curvature of the spine. some curves in the spine is normal but there are people, like me, who have large curves from side to side in the shape of the letter "C" or "S".
note: picture on the left is a healthy spine. picture on the right is a scoliotic spine.

mine is the latter. it was detected when i was ten during the annual school health service checkup. i was diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis which was a curve developed for unknown reasons. it wasn't a health risk until i was fourteen when via x-rays, the orthopaedic doctor found that the "S" was curving with an increasing degree each year. then, i didn't know much about what it was until the doctor said that it's best that i go for a surgery as he foresee that it's going to become worse since i'm still undergoing puberty. if i had not gone for the surgery, i will be the hunchback of singapore and i will experience breathing difficulties. scared? nope! excited? oui!

before the surgery, i had to go through several medical procedures such as autologus blood transfusion (a transfusion of blood taken from me to be stored till the surgery, to be used if i had lost any blood), blood tests, x-rays etc.

i was warded the day before the surgery at national university hospital and i was very excited. as i was under sixteen then, i was allocated the children's ward. it was quite fascinating as you have glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling to sleep with you. meals were kiddy and little for a big boy like me. blood pressure was taken and it was high (readings were between 130/80 - 160/90 range, norm is 120/80). pre-op jitters? nope! pre-op adrenaline rush? oui! i couldn't sleep much the whole night as i was quite exicited. at six in the morning, i had to stripped naked wearing just the surgery gown. it was very cold and at times, my teeth were shivering. then they wheeled me into the operating theatre. i had to wait for some time as there was someone being operated in the theatre that i was going to use. how did i know? i was all alone then so i got up and look around and there i saw the surgeons putting their hands in and out of the patient and talking loudly. the room was so cold and i was shivering away. when the patient was wheeled out, i entered. it was amazing to see in real life how an operating theatre looks like. the anasthetist then tried to poke a needle into an artery on my left wrist as it will give an accurate reading of my blood pressure. he failed to find the correct spot and tried for four times, all the time i was wide awake. it was painful but i thought i was supposed to bear with it. when he had inserted into the artery, the machine beep like mad, my blood pressure was 220/90. all were stunned and i was like "you try poking yourself for four times when you are awake and shivering and see if your heart can still beat at a normal rate!" i wasn't given the general anasthetic before the anasthetist did the poking. he only injected me with the general anasthetic after he poke me. then, the orthopedic surgeon came in and was shocked to see such a high blood pressure. after discussing with the other surgeons, he decided to postpone the surgery. i was quite agitated then as i was sleepy already and they still want to postpone it as it was a risk for them to continue with the surgery. it felt like i've wasted my time. i was pushed out of the theatre and wheeled to the ward. i slept as the anasthetic took effect. i was "famous" among the doctors and nurses in the ward as the boy with a blood pressure of 220/90. they didn't know the story behind it so they thought it was because i was scared. i was discharged and my surgery was postpone to a week's time.

i had to undergo a series of cardio test to find out the cause of the high blood pressure. i had a twenty-four hour blood pressure monitoring machine on me which just vibrate every hour. i also had to do an ecg of my heart. tests showed that i was perfect so they diagnosed me with white-coat syndrome - seeing a doctor will cause my blood pressure to go high.

i was warded the day before my surgery. this time, on the day of my surgery, i had to take some medicine to help me to relax. i changed into the surgery gown and was wheeled to the operating theatre. immediately in the theatre, the anasthetist gave me the oxygen mask. i took three deep breaths and the next thing i know was someone waking me up and said the op was done. i tried opening my eyes and could only see blurry image,but soon fell back to sleep due to the anasthetic. the operation was successfully done with two titanium 'harrington' rods inserted with my spine in between. they fuse the spine to the rods so that my spine will not grow anymore. the rods help to prevent the spine from curving more. it's like you have fractured your leg in the jungle, and your friend put two wooden plank on the left and right of your fractured leg to prevent it from moving too much.

after the anasthetic wore off, i woke up and felt my back was heavy which was due to the plaster. every now and then, i felt pain. there is this button which i could press to help inject morphine into my body to numb the pain. however the side effect was that i will feel nauseous. in the middle of the night, i vomitted onto the bed. it was terrible as in order to change the bedsheet that i was lying on, the nurses had to move me from side to side. it was such a painful experience that i cried as it felt as though my spine was breaking. i felt so useless as though i was paralyse.

a couple of days in the intensive care unit and i was back to the normal ward. i was feeling very restless as i could only lie in bed. the doctor came and i told him i would like to get out of bed. he approved and a physiotherapist came to help me to move from a lying position to a sitting-up position which i've learnt how to do it as i went for a physiotherapy class before my surgery. it was hard to get up as i do not have much strength to make myself sit up. when i did, i could see stars circling around my head. this was due to the three days three nights i was lying on the bed. determined, i stood up and i was walking like a robot. i was afraid that too much movements might aggrevate the wound and was afraid that the screws in my back will loosen. however, the feeling of walking felt good. six days after my surgery, i was discharged. i felt sad as i had wanted to stay a couple more days as i would like to experience christmas in hospital.

life is back to normal for me after the operation. i would say that through this experience, i'm stronger mentally. every now and then, memories flow in my mind when i look at the thirty-three centimetre long scar. pain is nothing now after what i have gone through.

i'm writing this scoliosis story for scoliosis patients anywhere in this world who happened to chance upon my blog while searching for scoliosis. for your information, my spine was curved till about thirty-five to forty degrees. it seems that my operation was a nightmare experience but actually, i enjoyed it, except for the part where the anasthetist who poke me four times. don't be afraid.