For All my Twisted Sisters...

I just received a letter from a reader who had been touched by "Tales from a Dog Catcher" in a way that was very different from the usual reader email I get.

This reader touched my heart because she understood firsthand the chapter "Odd Blessings" which is the only chapter in the book that mentions and explains the background of my scoliosis. I included it because it played such an important role in my life in myriad ways - many very positive.

For those of you who read the book, or know me personally, you know I had scoliosis surgery as a teenager and went through braces and casts and all the other exciting adventures one had to go through in the late 70's to treat it. Thankfully there are now amazing newer treatments and surgical options that allow someone with the need for scoliosis spinal fusions with instrumentation to be able to keep their ability to twist and move normally. These improvements also prevent the problems that resulted down the road for those of us with the original Harrington rod surgeries when we began to hit the 30 year mark post surgery.

I realized today that I hadn't mentioned any of this in my blog and that some of my readers who aren't my usual readers, animal lovers or people who enjoy heartfelt stories - but perhaps people who have also traveled the the same road that I have in reference to scoliosis, may need this information.  So this blog entry isn't too funny or profound, but necessary. I hope that there are others who can benefit from feeling that they weren't alone during that time. There are indeed many of us from that era - and I want to thank you Ana, for letting me know how much that chapter meant to you...from our shared experiences from youth to now...we really do truly live parallel lives!

I feel an explanation as to why this blog hasn't been updated as it should ...it also may help others who share my story, or at least get me out of trouble with those who think I've been lazy or irresponsible...although the jury's still out on those last two reasons as well!

In October I had another spinal surgery to fuse the rest of my spine and repair some of the damage caused by the initial 1978 procedure. No one could see that down the road the state of the art surgery for scoliosis in the 1970's would create further problems in the future. At that time it was a miracle that I'll always be grateful for. With that said; I've been "oddly blessed" again by an amazing team - a neurosurgeon and orthopedic surgeon who work together to take on the complicated spine problems us "scoli's" develop as we age when many other major hospitals and orthopedic surgeons are resistant to take the chance.

I am forever grateful to Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Seth Neubardt M.D. and Neurosurgeon Dr. Jack Stern M.D., PhD. of Brain & Spine Surgeons of NY, for being able to not only repair the immediate damage but also halt the progression of my flat-back syndrome which would've resulted in an additional incredibly dangerous and invasive surgery down the road. I went for many consultations and by the time I found them I had lost the ability to walk any further than a few feet. I was using a wheelchair. No doctor would take this on without two separate invasive surgeries that would've resulted in a year-long recuperation with a questionable success rate for someone my age.

Instead - I had surgery in October and was back at work full-time in January back in the classroom!

Thank you Dr. Neubardt and Dr. Stern and the entire staff at the Brain & Spine Surgeons of NY. For anyone on the east coast with similar issues - I highly recommend them. They're not only incredibly talented, but professional and accessible. During Hurricane Sandy, Dr. Neubardt had no power for two weeks, yet he still found the time, during the height of the storm, to check up on me at home from his cell phone.

On a side note - I found a scoliosis Barbie online! I could've really used that as a kid. How cool is that?!
Or creepy...
I think I'll go with cool.

photo courtesy of me :)