It Takes a Village

There's nothing better than having an amazing support system to keep you motivated and on track. And since I started this process and the more I've shared what's going on, the larger the support network has grown. And it's growing bigger than just being about me! This is what its really about. Inspiration lies somewhere in between realising this and taking action beyond your wildest dreams..

And I am so inspired and grateful for my friends and family who are there for me every step of the way. Rebel has gathered a group of friends and started a running team called 'The Running Backs' who are running in the LA marathon next March to raise money for my treatment! There are now eleven people running and three of which are flying over from Australia (including my dear friend Kirsty from high school)!

Rebel, Patty and Mo have created blogs to document their journey, training for the marathon and help raise money for my treatment over the next year:

- Rebel's blog is http://www.the-running-backs.blogspot.com/. Some of the money will also go towards creating a scholarship with the Clear Institute for a girl who is need of the two week intensive treatment or go towards purchasing a scoliosis traction chair.

Mo's blog is http://www.race2presence.blogspot.com/ and she is also raising money for me and for her Soccer charity.

Patty announced her blog last week and her goal is to raise $30,000 to cover my treatment. Patty's blog is http://www.gijanebootcamp.blogspot.com/.

I cannot thank everyone enough for their support which helps me get over myself when I feel frustrated, gets me up at 6 every morning and reminds me why I am doing this. You guys are the best and I love you all dearly and I offer my full support for anything you need for your marathon training. Just shout out and let me know x

My Target Spine

The xray on the right was taken front on, while I was sitting on the scoliosis traction chair you see here.

I sit on this chair twice a day for 30 minutes while it vibrates. The two straps are pulled tight by tightening the ratchetts on either side to pull my curves straight. The vibration causes the muscles of my spine to contract at a higher frequency than normal, accelerating healing. It's a daily reminder of how close I can get my spine to be straight and an awesome opportunity to catch up on some TV.

This is the goal for my spine, and during the next year, with exercises and constant use of the chair, it should start to hold in this position.

It's quite simple really. The more I use the chair, the more flexible my spine becomes, and the straighter my spine becomes while sitting on the chair. The more diligent I am with my exercises, the stronger my muscles get, to hold my spine into place when I'm out of the chair.

The muscles, bones and ligaments are working together. Every piece of the treatment needs to work together to reach the desired outcome.

I've realigned my back....now I'm realigning my environment

First day back home, back to work, and first day in 2 weeks without being adjusted. I feel little tingly sensations throughout my body like I'm being slightly reprogrammed.

It feels so much easier to stand up straight....and for the first time in my life I actually want to.

Now it's onto the next phase of the program - daily exercises and the use of the traction chair as well as visiting my LA chiropractor twice a week to maintain the results I received in Minnesota. My scoliosis traction chair arrives today!

I spent the first day realigning my environment to fit with my realigned spine...

- I created an exercise area in my apartment where I can keep my equipment and make it workabout with DVD player, music and a nice view.
- I changed my workspace at home to be 'erganomic' and bought a wireless mouse and keyboard so that I can sit properly at my desk.

After all, a healthy spine needs a healthy environment, and I can either have the reasons why this is not going to work or I can make it work. It's that simple.

I feel such a sense of power and I'm very inspired to keep up my treatment. It doesn't feel like something I 'have to do' anymore, I just do it. And I've shifted the way I relate to it from being a curse to a blessing. I can feel that this was meant for something - to help others who also have scoliosis and inspire a sense of community among people. And it seems to be doing that already.

There are almost 10 people running in the LA Marathon next March, and people travelling as far as Australia to join in the cause and raise money for my treatment. It would be my dream to raise enough money to also sponsor a young girl to receive the 2 week treatment.

~ Onward and upward....literally!

The results!....

Today I had a re-examination after my two weeks and got some AMAZING results (see xray)! This xray is looking straight at my back (if you were standing directly behind me taking a photo).

My top angle decreased from 34 to 15 degrees!
My lower angle decreased from 57 to 39 degrees!

I am soooo relieved that all the hard work is starting to pay off and this totally motivates me to keep going to get those angles down to close to 0.

My center of balance also improved (see % of weight proportion on this image).

What at great day. I am so inspired by the Clear Institute!

Scoliosis network....

I came up with a great idea to start a network of patients who have purchased the Scoliosis Traction Chair so that people can connect with others, and when they are traveling they dont have to take it with them. They can just contact a patient who participates in the network.

I'm hoping it gives alot of people more flexibility to go where they want, and not feel restricted by their treatment.

The doctor's here loved the idea and are going to take it to the Board next week!!

Getting some answers....

Today Dr Woggon taped the entire procedure including the adjustment and exercises to send to my chiroprator in LA. They really are dedicated to making sure they get it right.

I read an article written by him today about the spine as it grows and how important it is to maintain the natural curves of the neck in our daily activities and when we sleep. When we are in the womb we do not fully have those curves developed because we are not dealing with gravity. As soon as we are born, we need the curves to develop resistance against gravity and so the development of the proper spinal curves occur. I realised that crawling is an important part of the process and then remembered that I never did crawl which could mean I missed out on a vital part of the process of my spines development. The chiropractor mentioned that alot of scoliosis patients say they didn't crawl.

I also now realise just how important it is to get the right amount of sleep. When I went to bed last night I couldn't see the changes from yesterday until I woke up this morning. And now I realise its because during sleep, the nervous system has time to do what it needs to do to and it kicks in to do the healing that it doesnt have time to do when you are awake. This is when the cells regenerate and its why it is so important to get enough hours in (especially during the 2 week process). And twice as important to maintain the curves in the neck while doing so by sleeping on the back with proper neck and back support. Sleeping on the back is the most comforting to the nervous system.

i feel like I'm fitting together the pieces about how and why my spine is the way that it is, and I now feel like this is a gift, to learn more than I new before, wherever that takes me.

Week two

The most important part of the treatment of scoliosis is to restore the nature curves of the spine because scoliosis occurs when patients lose the natural curves in the neck and lower back. The spine has to compensate for losing those curves, so it curves sideways instead.

So alot of time is spent on different machines like the 'spinalator' that works the muscles up and down the spine, neck traction machines and using head weights to bring my head back into alignment. I had a great win today with a new Xray that showed that the curve in my neck corrected to the proper angle of 45 degrees with a head weight on...after using the head weight for 90 days it should remain in this position without the weight and cause positive changes down the length of my spine.

I'm actually noticing slight changes in my body everyday...my balance feels better, my hips seem more in alignment and strange things like sense of smell and hearing feel like they are improving.

My follow up and final exam will be friday...the day before I leave.

One week down....

Fourteen hours of exercises and twenty five hours of appointment time down. This week has gone surprisingly fast but I still can't believe I have one week to go.

A couple of good wins this week:
- the flexibility the doctors see in my spine is going to serve me well and its allowing them to push my spine where they want it to go
- follow up xrays show that I've already had a huge improvement in my curves at the top of my spine. The attached images shows that I had curves of 14 and 25 - they have now decreased to 4 and 8! A curve under 10 degrees is not considered to be scoliosis.
- when I sit in the traction chair it decrease my curves from 37 and 57 to 8 and 18 which shows that the chair is working and my spine is very flexible

more results to follow this week....

Two Weeks Intensive Scoliosis Treatment

I started treatment today at the center in St Cloud. I've never seen a practise that is entirely dedicated to Scoliosis. It makes me excited and uneasy at the same time. The first thing they did was take lots of tests - standard Xrays, digital motion xrays (me moving at the same time - totally weird!), height, muscle tests, balance tests, history of habits etc etc.

The verdict is on the photo attached - a 57 degree cobb angle to the right and 37 degrees back to the left. Apparently I'm a 'complex' case and the challenge seems exciting to them. I have a stress fracture from when I fell when I was younger and my left hip is 1.1 cm higher than the other when I sit, and 2.1 cms higher than the other when I stand (caused by the scoliosis curve).

I'm what's considered an 'opposite' because I curve the opposite way to most people (90% of cases curve to the left - I'm not sure why) and I'm an 'S' curve not a 'C' which is pretty obvious by the xray. Today was a big day and seeing all this right in front of me meant that I couldn't deny it anymore and it was going to take alot of commitment by me to make this work.

Dr Woggon who started the Clear Institute 10 years ago is the most knowledgeable person I have ever met when it comes to scoliosis. His other patients agree, and the results prove it. The hardest part is giving all my trust to someone I have hardly met.