The Story Of My Life

Hello! This is Allie!

This post is my first post on this blog, the rest my mom has done. So I am going to talk a little bit about me.

As stated in the beginning, my name is Allie and I am 14 years old.I never really thought I would be known all over the world. I am pretty much a ordinary girl living a normal life, but with just a little secret that not a whole lot of people know about, so for those of you internationally who have seen this blog, thank you so much for your love and support!! I love you all a WHOLE bunch!! The night before my surgery, my mom came in my room, while I was doing FaceTime with my little brother and his friends, with a sticky note. I asked her what it was and she just handed it to me. It was a list of 10 countries who have seen my blog. After that, I pretty much broke down in tears. It was a HUGE surprise to see this list.

So after surgery, it was pretty painful. I almost passed out the next morning because they had me stand up and I wasn't used to the "new normal". I also felt pretty nauseous because of all of the medications I was on. It was really rough, especially being a teenager in middle school, going through something this big at such a young age.

As my escape from everything that was going on, I listened to music. I started listening to One Direction a LOT more and I started listening to 5 Seconds Of Summer. My best friend told me how AMAZING they were, so I eventually saw them on YouTube and that's when I fell in love with them. After the first week or so of listening to them on YouTube and Pandora, I started singing their songs throughout the day. I hope that one day I will be able to meet them in person.

Because of them, I love to sing in front of people. I really hope that i will become a famous singer. I have had a lot of hope and dreams since surgery (I will put a picture of both bands at the bottom).

Thank you again for being really supportive of me throughout this whole journey.

Follow me on Instagram: @alliethompson_official
Or shoot me an email of you have any questions or just want to talk to me: curvygirlallie@gmail.com

                                               

Dispatch Article

Thanks to Allison Ward at the Columbus Dispatch for this great article that appeared in the Tuesday, September 24, 2013, edition. As a result of the article, 3 ladies attended our meeting on Friday and shared their scoliosis experiences. One was diagnosed prior to 1950 and wore a brace for 5 years. One was diagnosed at the end of 1955 and had surgery very early in 1956 and told of her months of treatment including traction, a body cast and surgery. The third had surgery at the age of 25 in 1985. Another lady wrote a letter to the group of her experiences. It was so good to have their words of encouragement and to learn of their stories.

The Good Life | Girls who have been there back others with scoliosis

Less than eight weeks after spinal surgery to correct her scoliosis, Allie Thompson was experiencing many of the usual side effects.

The eighth-grader relied on friends to carry her books at Worthingway Middle School.

 To sit more comfortably, she propped up a pillow on the back of her desk chair. She itched because of pain medications.

“A friend asked me, ‘How is ... (your shoulder) numb and hurting at the same time?'" Thompson, 14, said at the August meeting of the Columbus chapter of the Curvy Girls Scoliosis Support Group. “ I told her, ‘If you were me, you’d understand.'"

Lakeitha Baker and Alyse Dorton understood: Both had had similar surgeries to install metal rods to correct curved spines — Dorton in June 2011 and Baker a year later.

Eight months ago, the two Columbus Alternative High School seniors started the support group to give girls such as Thompson a place to discuss uncomfortable back braces, calm fears about surgery and educate the community about scoliosis.

Eight girls, ages 12 to 17, attend the monthly meetings.

From 2 to 3 percent of the population has a spinal curve of 10 degrees or more, said Allan Beebe, a pediatric surgeon at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Teenage girls who have a curve with no identifiable cause outnumber boys with the condition 10-to-1.

Few patients progress to a 50-degree curve, the point at which Beebe begins talking about surgery as a treatment.

The support group, he said, gives him another resource to offer families confronting the disorder.

“I can tell them it’s going to hurt, but what does that mean?” Beebe said. “They can ask someone who has been through it, and it can allay some of their anxieties.”

Dorton and her mother, Sandy, were overwhelmed when the diagnosis of scoliosis was made in sixth grade.

Doctors recommended that she wear a back brace for 23 hours a day.

The brace made Dorton feel different.

“We’ll not talk about the times I snuck out of it,” Dorton said of hiding it under her bed or in her locker.

“You get creative.”

Baker, whose ailment was diagnosed in seventh grade, “locked the brace away in her closet” when she started high school.

Their spinal curves had worsened to the point that they required surgery despite the braces.

Without surgery, a curve could eventually limit physical activities or cause breathing problems.

After her surgery at Children’s, Dorton wasn’t allowed to lift anything heavier than 5 pounds for almost a year.

The 15-inch scar on her back attracted the attention of Baker, who realized, along with Dorton, they had a “common bond.”

Dorton supported Baker through her surgery, after which they discovered Curvy Girls, an organization founded in 2006 that has almost 50 chapters nationwide.

Although the first meeting drew just one girl and her family, Baker’s mother, Shauron Kelsor, saw the potential.

“That family was so confused, so scared,” Kelsor said. “I could see the ministry of it.”

Thompson had surgery in July.

“My friends at school have never heard of scoliosis, have never had surgery like this,” she said. “It’s a blessing to know that there are people like me and I can ask questions.”

News

At our last Curvy Girl meeting the Columbus Dispatch was there to take pictures and interview our leaders, Alyse and Kiki.  Allie was also interviewed. the article is due to be published in the September 24 edition of the paper.

On October 9, Curvy Girls will be participating in a health fair at Worthington Park Elementary school. They will be doing their first fund-raiser and will be selling friendship bracelets made available through the Threads of Hope mission. The bracelets are made by Filipino women and children. The Curvy Girl fund-raiser will not only support the efforts in scoliosis awareness, but a portion of the sales will go back to Threads of Hope to further support the mission. we are very excited about this opportunity.

Determination

Allie has always been an independent and determined girl. Before she was 4 months old, she was determined that she was going to sit up. One day she managed to throw herself forward in her bouncy seat to a sitting position.

Last week she pulled out that determination. The first two weeks of school were rough. She was physically hurting. But also she had some concerns about what others were thinking of her. Over the long Labor Day weekend, something changed. On Monday evening as we talked about the schedule plans for the week Allies said that she would go a part day on Tuesday, but the rest of the week she was going full days. And that is exactly what she did! She did say that there were times when she felt that she should call us to come home. But that determined spirit took over and she stayed the full day.

The pictures below are another Before and After look. The picture on the right was taken on August 17, 2012, at Mandi and Josh's wedding. The picture on the left was taken just a couple of weeks ago.

Back to School!

The first week of 8th grade is now history! Allie did ok, making it about 5 hours the first 3 days. We are trying to figure out that balance of what she can and can't do as far as carrying things. By Thursday, she was getting sore, particularly the right shoulder. So, she'll get some rest this weekend and try it again next week. The staff at school are very supportive and her friends have been great so far!

Allie also had another follow-up this past Monday and Jill, the APN, is very please with her progress. Allie can carry up to five pounds. The big activity is walking, but she can go into a pool as long as she doesn't swim. If she wants to ride a stationary bike she has to wait until October or November. It is all slow but steady progress!

Follow-up appointment

Today was a follow-up appointment from last week of the fluid collection. I am happy to report that it is now completely gone and Dr. Beebe is very pleased with Allie's progress.

Many have asked questions about the instrumentation and whether she will have physical therapy. Dr. Beebe laughed at us when we asked if he stopped at the hardware store and picked up some rebar and deck screws. This picture is from the Medtronics website and I assume this is what is in Allie's back now.






As for physical activity, she is still very limited. She is not allowed to lift anything and cannot even do arm exercises/strength training for her shoulders and upper back. Dr. Beebe explained that in order to access her spine he had to cut through the trapezius muscle. It was then sewn back together. This will take time to heal. Allie will have to be cautious that she isn't straining this muscle and causing separation before it is completely healed.


Her incision (which is pretty much the length of her back) looks great but it still has some scabs on it. She will not be able to go in a pool or even have her back to the shower until the scabs are gone. Once the scabs are gone, she will still have to wait until Dr. Beebe clears her to do any type of swimming--she will be able to get in the water but will be limited to what she does with her arms and upper body.

School starts 4 weeks from today. She has a note to go back for part days--she may not need it. She will not be in gym class until Dr. Beebe clears it. She cannot carry her books and will be excused from her classes early (with a friend who will carry her books) to navigate the hall with the least amount of being run into. Hmm, I wonder if she will have any volunteers to help her...

Straight Ahead!

Allie is doing fantastic! Last Monday, less than a week after surgery, she took herself off the prescription pain meds. Thursday seemed to be a turning point. She started eating better. Friday night she started getting better sleep. She went to LifeGroup Friday night and got to spend time with her friends. She went to church Sunday morning.

Yesterday was her first post-op visit with Dr. Beebe and his nurse practitioner, Jill. The bandages came off and the wound looks fairly good. There is a collection of fluid (seroma) in the soft tissue. This is slowly draining. Dr. Beebe said that if it does not improve by next Monday she may have to have a drain placed. We are praying that the fluid will either spontaneously drained or be reabsorbed by her body.

She also had another x-ray taken. Pre-surgery her curves measured 50 degrees on the thoracic/upper curve and 60 degrees on the thoracolumbar/lower curve. We were told to expect no more than 50% reduction--so after surgery we might see 25 and 30 degrees respectively. Here is what she looks like now.

The thoracic/upper curve measures about 20 degrees and the thoracolumbar/lower curve is now around 13 degrees.