My name is Adrian Kyle Thomas, the first. I am currently 16 years old.
I'm in grade ten right now. After I graduate, get my OSSD, I think I want to go
to the University of Toronto and perhaps study psychology. How did I feel when I
first had scoliosis? Honestly I thought I was cursed.
I thought someone just didn't like me. And I thought this was punishment for
being a bad person. But then I thought to myself now I'm thinking too much into it.
Because I was twelve and, you know, twelve they're overreacting, you know, extra. I was, you know,
at the time I didn't think it was that big of a thing, so I'm like okay,
you know, it's okay. When I found out that I had to had surgery, yeah that's when I
was really convinced someone just doesn't like me. Then I thought to myself,
you know what, this could be a good thing. It'd be a good experience. I'll have surgery.
It'd be something I could tell my children and their children, you know, and
it'd be something I could like always look back and remember on my childhood.
I got a bit excited actually.Well what was the deciding factor? It was when I started
getting shorter than almost everyone in my class. And then I realized, okay if the
surgery is going to help me get taller again and make my ribs the same way they
were before, because my ribs were like disfigured. So one would be out like this
and I physically didn't like that. And if it meant that I never had to wear
the back brace again then hey, let's go for it! I think honesty
the main reason I had to have surgery was because I didn't like the brace very
much.So I really didn't wear it so that probably made the curve get bigger and
bigger, so the surgery may have been avoided if I had just been a bit more
responsible. But the brace was just that
annoying. There'd be some periods when I would wear it. Some periods where I
wouldn't, like especially during the summer when it was just too hot to wear
it because whoo. So I remember when I first got the brace I wore it like a lot,
but then after my ribs started hurting I started feeling suffocated I just.
My mother? What was her reaction? She was paranoid. She tried to convince me not to
go through with it because she had a fear that something would happen. Like I
wouldn't survive. I would get paralyzed, you know, all the mother's stuff. I said
don't worry, Dr. Howard's a professional. But you know she had her motherly doubts.
But you're kind of annoying but, you know, good for her.To speak with the child and
get their decision Just don't make a decision on your own. If they said that
it's important for them to have the surgery, then go ahead with it and just
pray and believe that everything is gonna be okay. Since Adrian was he was
anxious to have the surgery because that would make it much taller, so I said he's
the one who needs the surgery and if he decides that it's very important for him
to have the surgery then it's okay. Then I'll just have to do my part by
praying leaving everything into the Lord, because we believe in prayer, and I know
the Lord will take care of him. As a mother, we most of the time, we worry for
nothing. Like we just have to trust someone.
Like either a group support or family or you know just try to be calm. But like it's
kind of difficult when it's your child that's in the operating room. It's not
very easy for us to be calm, it's difficult. If I could go back in time, I
would tell my younger self "If you don't go through at the surgery, you'll regret
it so much that you'll want to go back in time and tell yourself to do it." And
that will create a time paradox. So just do it.
It's the right thing and you'll enjoy it so much,
especially the maids and the butlers.
Are you taller than me know? I've always been taller.
And those are all the disks that have been
taken out there all right, and that allows this that section, which was your
big curve, to come out a lot straighter like that. And then you can see all of
the levels that you've got the fixation from the from the back and so we've
started down there and actually leveled that one the way that we the way that we
want. That's your lumbar spine nicely controlled with these with these screws
all the way up. And then we've got your thoracic spine held in position with
those hooks. When we went home, I was like really sensitive, because I remember I
was laying on a pen once and it felt like someone was stabbing me. So I had to
roll over. But I was really stiff at the time so I couldn't really move, so I
would need help just getting off the bed. So I would have to like, we had to
maneuver to get off the bed, so to go lift, lift, lift, okay grab your leg, grab
your leg, grab your legs. Oh no you fell over. Okay, start again
lift, lift and then to do that. It would take that much
effort just to get off the bed. And then to walk, I would have to wobble like a
baby. One step. Two step. I think that wore off about a week later.
Then I started to feel a bit more normal. Like my endurance went up. At that time, I
could only be on a computer for like an hour at a time and then I would get
tired. And then I would fall asleep but that gradually increased and then
everything went back to normal.