Physical Therapy Case Studies

At the ripe age of 7 I was diagnosed with scoliosis. Scoliosis is essentially a curvature of the spine. This chronic condition is typically left undiagnosed until a child reaches puberty; however, this was not the case for me. Sitting in my pediatrician’s office I was told that I would how to begin undergoing physical therapy in order to stop the curvature from progressing. In my first grader mind this sounded completely awful. I cried throughout the doctor’s office, the car ride home, and the rest of the evening.
Unfortunately, my tears could not put off the therapy. I soon began waking up 2 hours earlier each morning to go to yet another doctor’s office and perform physical tasks that were supposed to stop the oncoming scoliosis. Meanwhile, every few months my family and I would drive to Shriner’s Hospital in Tampa, Florida to
Yet the curvature continuously progressed. More crying occurred, more fears emerged from the depths of my mind, and more self-pity surfaced every day. After countless trips to Tampa spanning a 2-year time period I was told that the scoliosis could begin to affect my organs. My lungs and heart could have been crushed by the pressure the curved spine was putting on my body. This meant that surgery would have to be performed. Scoliosis surgery is a 7-hour long procedure that involves two titanium rods and multiple screws being forced into a patient’s back. During this procedure the spine is fused together using a bone graft so that the newly corrected curvature can’t move any more. Looking up pictures on the internet, which is exactly what I did, gives a very vivid picture of how physically demanding the surgery is. When I received this diagnosis I knew that my life would never be the same. I knew that I couldn’t do this. In my mind, the surgery would be the end of things as I knew it. I blamed anyone and everyone for my condition, and I tried to pretend it didn’t