{18}

On the 18th of April, this Monday, my parents and I had a meeting with my orthopedist (bone doctor) to discuss the possibility of me having surgery to correct my rather severe case of scoliosis. Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine, so basically in my case, my back-bone looks like a backwards, upside-down S. It's gotten worse over the past 2 years (even though it wasn't expected to, because I was done growing by the time I was diagnosed), and over the past 6 months I've had some aches and discomforts from it every now and then.
So, it looks like I'm most likely going to have surgery. They'll straighten out my spine and hold it in place with little rods and screws. There are many advantages to having the surgery: a) I'll have a straight backbone and won't have long-term pain from scoliosis; b) since I'll have metal in my back, metal detectors will go off when I'm going through security and I've been told that that's pretty awesome; c) I will be 1-1 1/2 inches taller. Because a straight backbone will make me taller than having a curved backbone, which is the case at present. Other advantages to having surgery are attention/hospital visits for the 4-5 days I'm there recovering, and an opportunity to trust God to help me through the recovery process. :)