Continued story

Once I finished school in Moose Jaw, I had decided to move to Calgary (where I still live today) since I figured my chances of getting a job in my field would be better there. Living in a bigger city, I thought I could get better access to people who were already working on new ways to deal with scoliosis. It took a while to get a regular doctor and in the meantime, I got x-rays done again and found that my curve had shifted again (for the worse). For some reason that I'm sure I'll never understand, every time I get a new doctor (with the exception of my newest one), they never retrieve my previous medical files to follow the progress of my scoliosis. It is by far my number one health problem and most of my previous doctors have all but ignored it.

In any case, based on recommendations from my first regular and now previous doctor in Calgary, I went to physiotherapy again to learn exercises to help me out on a daily basis. As previously mentioned, this is not something I'm good at keeping up with on my own so I figured I could buy the gym pass they offered and do the exercises at the clinic instead. However, without a vehicle, this became too difficult to manage time-wise. Regardless of my lack of commitment, the final straw for abandoning physiotherapy this time around was due to something that the head physiotherapist said to me once. She informed me quite abruptly after seeing my curve for the first time that I would definitely need surgery and sooner rather than later. This was the absolute first time anyone had ever said that to me and I was now around 22 or 23 having been diagnosed with scoliosis approximately 9 years earlier. It really upset me to think that surgery was my only option at that point.

Since then, I've tried various exercise programs such as yoga and pilates to help ease some of the daily stiffness as well as pain when it decides to strike. Again, being the lazy person that I can be, I have not kept up with them. I know that the biggest reason for my increased curves and subsequent pain is my lack of commitment to a beneficial exercise program. I would like to add however, that without the support of a doctor who has extensive knowledge of scoliosis or the foresight to obtain my previous medical records, it becomes difficult to convince myself that I need the help.

I haven't had x-rays done in a few years now and really have no idea how bad my curves really are. I don't know the angles whatsoever or whether my internal organs are being crushed by my misplaced back (although it certainly feels that way sometimes). So, with renewed commitment, I have decided that if my scoliosis is going to get better without drastic measures, then I must take it upon myself to find the cure, so to speak.

In so doing, I go to acupuncture every two months or so to help keep the pain away and I visit a chiropractor for active release therapy every few months. Active release therapy is wonderful for loosening my tight muscles (for me, at the base of my neck and in my shoulders is where it gets tightest) and reminding them of their proper function. Basically, it's a replacement for massage and much cheaper (although massages are great too, especially for the whole body).

My final plan is to design my own yoga program based on a great book I came across a couple of years ago. The book is "Back Care Basics: A Doctor's Gentle Yoga Program for Back and Neck Pain Relief" by Mary Pullig Schatz, M.D. There is an entire chapter devoted to scoliosis and how to adapt the exercises to your own particular needs. I'm just in the process of figuring out which exercises I will need to do and how often. I will keep my blog updated with my progress throughout this process.