Oh, sweet spine of mine

{not my x-ray}

This morning I had my most dreaded dr.'s appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. When I was 14, I was diagnosed with scoliosis. Basically, my spine is in the shape of a backwards "S". They caught it too late and it was already bad. Normally, you can wear a brace for a year (fun!) and it will re-correct itself, but mine had already gone too far and was told that I would most likely need to move forward with the surgery. The surgery being a Harrington implant (aka, rod in my back). Just the thought of going under the knife to have a stainless steel rod implanted in my back completely freaks me out. Not to mention all of the risks that come along with it. I have seen a few other spine doctors since I moved here. I actually saw one of the first surgeons to operate with the rod and he basically said that my spine was balanced and he didn't think it was necessary to do the surgery yet. I went back 3 years later and it had progressed a little but was still told to wait. My curves were in the upper 40's - I believe the top was 47 and the bottom was around 48-49 degrees. I was on the verge of having 50 degree curves and I knew what that meant. I was terrified each time I would go in because I didn't want to hear the dreaded words "We need to move forward to the next step" kind of thing. I scheduled my appointment last week after having some pretty intense pains in my foot while running. My left foot would fall asleep around 2 miles and it was almost unbearable. It tingled and hurt at the same time. Now, I know this is common with runners, shoes being too tight, but I was worried it was coming from a nerve in my back or a problem with one of my discs. Plus, it had been a good 3-5 years since my last back appointment so I figured this would be a good time to get in. I was fine until I had to sit in the waiting room for what felt like forever! I took a million x-rays and then played the waiting game. My lovely husband came along with me to this appointment. He knew how insanely scared I was so he decided to take the morning off to be my support. We prayed about it and I kept saying mini prayers as I was waiting. Boy, was I glad he was there! I almost had a melt down when he said he was going to have to leave. He had a doctor's appointment scheduled this morning too and it was time for him to go. Right before he was about to walk out the Dr. came in. Whew! He first walks in and says "Sooo, looks like we've got some scoliosis here." Reeeeaaallly? Docs and their humor! He then put my x-rays up and showed us the damage. It looked pretty much the same to me. I was waiting to hear the numbers and was almost sure it would be in the 50's, when he said "Your top curve is 36 and lower curve is 38." WHAT!!! That was what it had been on my very first appointment 11 years ago! How could that be?!? I asked him if it was possible for the curve to lessen - I was seriously speechless! It's amazing what the Lord can do. That's the only way I can sum it up. I know it was not something I did. Over the past 11 years, it has progressively gotten worse and today it was back to what it was when I was first diagnosed. You have no idea how happy I was! I know I can trust God and that He has all the answers and knows what's best for me, but it's so hard not to get worked up and scared over situations like this. I have to keep telling myself to have faith and He just proved it in my appointment today! I feel so very blessed!! I was told to come back in another 3 years and he would check me again. He said he thinks I'm fine. No worries and definitely no surgery. He even said he doubts it will get much worse. All morning I was fearing the worst and had no idea I would be leaving my appointment with a huge smile on my face! Now, that my friends, is the power of prayer!!