Scoliosis: my success story
Holly Carlile
Discovery of scoliosis
It was a morning like any other during the school holidays. My father and I were staying at my sister's house in Harrow, doing the tourist trail around London. As usual I woke up earlier than everyone else. Even at age 13, before the words make-up or tweezers had crossed my mind (I even had a mono-brow to prove it), I always took light years to get ready on a morning. Coming down the carpeted spiral staircase, brushing the sleep away from my eyes, I stumbled, grabbing onto the banister to steady myself. I instantly felt a twinge in my back, but still managed to hobble into the shower. As I lathered up, something seized up in my back muscles and it suddenly became almost impossible to move. Little did I know that that impromptu slip on the stairs was about to change the next few years of my life.
The pain I was feeling then turned out to be nothing more than a muscle strain, but the x-rays showed up something irregular: a curvature of my spine. Somewhat in shock on hearing this news, I vividly remember bursting through the hospital doors to my sister and father and blurting out to the whole waiting room (a little too loudly, I might add) "I'm deformed!" Whilst rather comical at the time, this deformity was to create many difficulties for me. In fact over the next two years I began to suffer more and more from severe back ache, stomach problems and body image issues that gradually worsened as time passed. I would only wear baggy t-shirts and jumpers and I would try to avoid bending over where possible, so people couldn't see the extent of the "hump". It wasn't until I met Professor Dickson that I realised there was another option: surgery. As things got worse, it became clear that surgery was the only way to stop the pain, discomfort and the continuous curving and twisting of my spine. I also knew it was the only way I would be able to feel normal again.
How the surgery went
Before going into hospital I was extremely nervous. For weeks, I felt that butterfly feeling in my stomach, like the one you get before you make a speech in front of people or before you perform at a school concert, or before an interview. And of course, it was a difficult time and not the most enjoyable summer I have ever spent. But it was probably the most important and life-changing. The operations themselves were a complete success. Professor Dickson and his team were able to correct the curve and stop the scoliosis in its tracks, and the aftercare team on the HDU unit of St. James's Hospital in Leeds were excellent, I felt very safe there and well cared for. There was also another girl, who was just a year older than me and having the same operations at the same time. I think having someone else there who really understood what the other was feeling helped both of us through a tough time. Naturally our families were extremely supportive throughout the whole process, even bringing us Chinese take-away when we really couldn't face another hospital dinner!
How it changed my life
The surgery truly did turn my life around. After the convalescence period, which I coped with mainly thanks to encouragement from my friends and family, I began to feel far more confident about my body. And most importantly, I am no longer deformed! I have a straight spine and I don't need to lie down regularly because I have backache. Not to mention the fact that as the scoliosis was getting worse my spine was not just curving but also rotating. It had started to affect my eating and would have affected my breathing before too long. Since surgery my back has obviously remained a weak spot for me but the occasional discomfort that I may experience from time to time is nothing like before, it's just like the average person's aches and pains. Plus with the metalwork I now have in my spine (8 rods and 15 nuts and bolts to be precise!), I am better supported than ever. People even compliment me on my posture!
What I am doing now
Having graduated in Modern Foreign Languages (French and Italian) from Durham University in 2008, I am now working in Milan for an American law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, as a translator and assistant. So far it's been an extremely useful experience for me starting out in the world of translation and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I particularly love living in Italy and am starting to feel very settled here, having recently moved into my own apartment (very grown up and independent, I'm not quite used to it yet!). It's certainly a far cry from that summer in hospital, 8 years ago, and so much more than I ever dreamed of back then. Sometimes it was difficult to see the big picture through all the doctors' appointments, operations, pain, scars, convalescence, frustration and tears, but looking back now, I know it was the best decision I could have made. In fact, I probably wouldn't be where I am now otherwise. So thank you Professor Dickson, for knowing without a doubt what was best for me, and for "setting me straight"