Same old thing

Today was a follow up appointment with the back doctor.

Dancer Girl was nervous about the unknown - would he make her wear the brace more often, how much longer will she have to wear it, what if her back is getting worse...


Before the appointment we talked through the possibilities: needing to wear it more often, keep it going as is, wearing it for fewer hours each day or only at night, not needing it anymore...

In the end he told her to keep doing what she is doing.

They didn't do an x-ray because he doesn't like to do them too often for kids & teens - every other time unless something unexpected comes up.  Since the external measurements were holding steady and she is not in any additional pain and the brace still fits he opted for no x-ray today and told her to just keep wearing it as much as she can each day.

She will go back in about 4 months for the x-ray out of brace to compare it to pre-brace.  The hope is that it will be good news and she will be able to reduce her hours in the brace, eventually being able to get out of it completely within 4-5 months following that December appointment.

Time will tell, but for now she is relieved that it isn't getting worse.  So are we... relived and thankful. We will keep praying that things continue to progress as planned over the next few months.

Helpful Hints for the Brace

We thought we would post a few of the blogs we have stumbled across over the past few months in our scoliosis journey.  Some have been found through searches and others have come our way from friends.  Still others found us and commented on our posts so we checked out their blog in return.

In the end, they are all helpful in some way - fashion, daily life, sleeping tips, support groups, etc.  We hope you find them helpful too.  (Most of these are found along the side bar on our main page but we thought we would compile a few favorites here as well).

http://scoliosis-fashion-help.blogspot.com/

http://lifewiththecurve.weebly.com/

http://cingcurvesdifferently.blogspot.com/

http://scoliosisstories.webs.com/fashioncorner.htm

100 Reasons to love your brace

http://www.curvygirlsscoliosis.com/

Rough nights

Last night was hard.

For some reason Dancer Girl couldn't sleep.  She couldn't get comfortable.  She just couldn't sleep in the brace.

She has been doing so well lately but last night was frustrating & painful, and there were tears.

Lots of emotions were voiced...

         "I hate this thing"

                        "I wish I didn't have to wear it anymore"

                                                 "I wish my back was normal"

                                                                  "I wish I could have a real good night's sleep for once"


But, we were able to move on to the realization that going through this will make her a better person.

She will have a better understanding of what it is like to live with pain.

                   She can be truly empathetic and understanding as a result.

                                   She can be a better friend to others.
                             
She can learn that her friends and family love her no matter what, even when she is angry & frustrated & upset, and she can learn to give the same grace to others in return.

She can learn that others are praying for her, and she can do the same for them.

It is difficult in the midst of it all to truly grasp all these lessons but it was a good beginning for this sort of conversation.

My prayer is that the lessons learned will stick with her, but also that the rest of us will learn them and apply them too.

Flying with the brace

We recently returned from a wonderful trip to visit family.  We had great fun reconnecting with aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, grandparents, and friends.

This was our first time flying with the brace.

The plan was to have Dancer Girl take it off to go through security so there would be no embarrassing beeps and possible searches or questioning.

Then she was going to put it back on to board the flight and wear it on the plane.

That didn't last long.

The seats are too uncomfortable, the aisles too narrow, the maneuvering in and out of spots too difficult. Being quite tall she is already lacking extra comfort space on an airplane, especially if the person in front of her reclines their seat.

Off it came and it was stowed in a bag in the overhead compartment.

We had two fairly short flights plus customs so she would have had to take it on & off multiple times for security and getting on & off planes.  Perhaps on a longer flight she could have figured out how to make it work but the thought of changing in and out of it in short succession was daunting.  In the end we opted to have her not wear it on the plane and to wear it when she arrived, but after the initial hugs and hellos.

I think the hardest part about having it along on vacation was the unpredictable schedule - sudden outdoor activities like a beach day or two, horseback riding, playgrounds, etc. that are not brace friendly were quite common.

She did wear it every night and whenever we weren't out so in the end she got a good number of hours in every day.

Now we are back home and can relax until things gear up for the fall so she can get back into a regular routine for the brace.