Sometimes things actually work!

My day started off by going to get a second opinion on my surgery. Honestly, I've heard it all before, which I suppose is good because I didn't get any contradictory information. He seemed much more lax about the surgery than Dr. Tribus and told me that he would rather Dr. Tribus be my surgeon because he is the best. So, I liked the honesty.

My husband and I have been trying to purchase our first home (a condo) for some time now and all of a sudden today was the day where the "real estate world" moved really quickly and by 10:30am (1/2 hour after my surgeon appointment) my husband was signing papers to reserve the condo for 30 days in order to place an offer. Now, no one else can bid on it right now. We feel we made the right decision and I'm so excited to move. We're going to have a fireplace for the winter and central air for the summers (yes, that matters a lot in Wisconsin), plus all the appliances are going to be new. The condo will be ready in March (fingers crossed) and that way we can move before surgery and I can paint and be an interior decorating diva!!! Also the complex has new fitness equipment and a pool and hot tub. I think it will help my PT eventually when I can really start strengthening myself after surgery.

Finally, I got midterm evaluations back from my students today and they were WAY better than I expected. My students this term are difficult to read, but apparently they really like the class.

So, today is one of those days where things worked out for the best. We've got to recognize those days and be thankful for them!!!

My Crazy Idea

I'm an academic. Conferences are therefore part of my life . . . so I had this crazy idea . . .

Why isn't there a national (perhaps international) conference for scoliosis patients and researchers?? These are my ideas:

It would be a place for scoliosis patients pre- and post-op to talk about their experiences with each other and get information.
We could have key-note speakers from scoliosis researchers, surgeons, doctors, Elise Browning Miller (yoga for scoliosis teacher) and also workshops to learn exercises, etc.
The money for registration fees would go toward research for scoliosis. We could all feel like we were contributing to the ongoing improvements in scoliosis surgery, non-surgical treatment etc.
There could be sessions specifically dealing with teenage patients (and their parents), adult patients, surgical revision patients, etc. . .

Ok, so maybe I'm crazy, but I thought I would throw out these ideas to my fellow bloggers. I'm not saying that I have the time to organize a national conference, and I certainly don't know where grants/funding would come from. Just a thought (a very ambitious one) . . . what do you think?

Go me!

I went to physical therapy today and they measured my strength in my legs again and apparently I've improved quite a bit! I felt like I was getting stronger, but it is nice to know from someone else. Go me!! Woo hoo. Of course getting my legs stronger does not mean reducing my pain necessarily, but I'm determined to get as strong as possible for recovery.

I have been doing pretty well about keeping a positive attitude in regards to my back and surgery lately, but the last couple of days I've been a tad blue. I don't have a good reason. I'm still trying to keep focused on my work and on getting stronger, but I've just felt a little sad and scared lately. Hopefully it will pass.

Love your body day

So apparently this coming Wednesday is "Love Your Body Day." Just thought I'd share . . . Not that this is really a well-celebrated holiday in the US, but it says a lot about our culture. . .I won't get on my soap box about that right now.

I do have to say though that I spent my teenage years hating my body. I didn't hate it because of "normal" teenage reasons, but because of my scoliosis. My junior year of high school my doctor made me stop dancing, which is something I had done since I was four, and I remember crying in my bedroom all weekend. (I did manage to take up some dancing in college again). I don't hate my body anymore, and I actually think all of this contemplating surgery has made me come to appreciate my body more and more. I certainly don't like scoliosis and wish I didn't have it, but I do and that is that. Scoliosis has taught me a lot about life, but I think I'll save that for another blog as well. It is getting late.

Anyway, as my husband says, "Honey, you're the curviest woman I know!" Ok, my curves aren't all in the RIGHT places, but what the heck - all of us scolio women (and men) should celebrate "Love Your Body Day." We've got more curves than the rest of them (and hopefully more curves in the right places post-op!!!)

What's that in the sky??

Reality check . . . Today is October 11th. This is supposed to be Fall, right? Ok, then why are there snow flurries falling from the sky? Note - this is the earliest I've ever seen snow. Granted, I'm not originally from Wisconsin. As much as I like snow, I have to be in the right mood and I'm certainly not in the mood for snow quite yet. My goodness, I still have to get my pumpkin! I'm going to go pick everything in my garden before it dies in tonight's frost!! Poor tomatoes! :)

2 more weeks before I go get a 2nd opinion on my surgery. I'm not getting nervous yet. . .

Fall in Wisconsin!

I love Fall! It is my favorite season. The colors are AMAZING right now. Of course, this year I know what lies ahead in Wisconsin - WINTER! Last year, I had not experienced a Wisconsin winter before, but now I know . . . actually, I like winter. People think I'm crazy, but I can't think of a better night than sitting by a fireplace, drinking hot chocolate, and watching snow fall. Ok, I don't have a fireplace, but wouldn't it be nice . . .
The only thing about winter is that my back tends to act up more because it gets so cold. On really really cold days though I sometimes wear one of those thermacare heating pads on my lower back and my muscles don't tense up as much. This might be my last year to go skiing for a while if I do surgery. Yes, there are downhill ski places in Wisconsin, but they have to dig out the hills - ha ha. I'm serious!

Wow - that's special!

Growing up I never had any "normal" problems like a broken bone or sprained ankle (knock on wood). Instead I got weird aliments that doctors never really could figure out. For example, "hmm . . . I don't know why you have scoliosis. That's why it is called IDIOPATHIC. Hmm - I don't know why that lump grew on your thyroid and is now slightly smaller than a golf ball. . . that's odd, I don't know why your heart is skipping beats" . . and it keeps going.

So last week I noticed that I had a large chip on my very back left bottom tooth that was causing pain. I have absolutely NO recollection of doing anything to my tooth. I went to the dentist this morning, only to hear, "Wow, I've never seen anything like it. I have no idea what happened to you." Naturally!! My father asked me, "honey, why do you have to be so special?"

Anyway, after a quick shot of novocaine (sp?) and a filling, it was over. Honestly, fillings are no big deal. I don't know why people get so scared about them. Perhaps I've already been through a lot medically and obviously have a lot ahead of me too. The dentist finshed and I turned to him and said, "that's it?" Wow - that was a piece of cake. I was more pissed off that they didn't want me going directly to the gym because I'm still VERY numb, so I went shopping instead. :) I needed new socks.

That's enough of weird things happening to my body. I hope I'm done now!