This is an x-ray of my 12 year-old daughter's spine. The only reason I can now appreciate the beauty in this imperfection, is that the pediatric orthopedic told me she is fine (no surgery required) and that she will live a completely normal life with this slight curve. When I first saw the x-ray, I was absolutely terrified. It came as a total shock for me as I had no idea anything was amiss. I have since learned that the majority of scoliosis cases are discovered in females, in puberty, for that is when they experience the biggest growth spurt and this anomaly becomes noticeable.
Because I appreciate humor, I have to add that the doctor made me laugh by walking into the room and immediately upon seeing the x-ray said, "That's not impressive. And believe me, you want to have an orthopedic surgeon say they are NOT impressed with your x-ray!" I wanted to jump up and hug the woman! She was very cool and pretty much made my day!
It is amazing what we take for granted in life. We assume our children will be born healthy, have no health crises during infancy and childhood, and that they will make it safely into adulthood, living long, healthy lives. This way of thinking may sound like I am living in a fairy tale, but then again, I really don't think anyone undertakes the journey of having children thinking of all the possible horrors life can throw at you. In fact, NOT thinking about all that can go wrong, is probably the only way we should raise our kids, which is optimistically. And, of course, there are no guarantees for a healthy life, but all we can do is take one day at a time and deal with whatever comes our way the best we can, with love and acceptance being our guides.
I have three daughters who have their imperfections (thankfully they are minor ones), but they are also three, very smart girls and each bring their own personalities and talents to this world. I am blessed to have the privilege to raise these precious souls. My job is to nurture them and love them with all my heart so that they can grow into their full potential for their life's journey.
Embracing My Journey One Discovery at a Time,
Me
Motivational Moment:
Today's Moment is one of my Life’s Little LaughablesTM:
We were ordering food at a drive-thru for lunch the other day and the parking lot is right by an intersection. I was busy with ordering and was only paying attention to the drive-thru. My 9 year-old all of a sudden asked the question: "Hey, aren't they L-walking??" I had no idea what she was talking about. And then my 12 year-old said: "You mean Jaywalking?" It made me laugh out loud because I certainly missed the connection to the appropriate saying. When I looked, there indeed was a family walking across the street, far away from the cross-walk. And after all, "J" is only two letters away from "L"; she was close to naming the occurrence correctly, so who can blame the kid? ;-)
May you experience many laughs today!
Hugs and Love, SG
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