Patient Stories

Hi, I’m Veronica! I was diagnosed with mild scoliosis at the age of 11.

It was an average wellness check, and like all the previous ones, they had me bend over to ensure my spine wasn’t curved. Scoliosis was never something my family and I even thought about. It was one of those things where I would think “Surely that wouldn’t happen to me.” But I was proved wrong at that appointment. Expecting the usual, hearing there’s nothing wrong with my spine, I noticed the doctor hesitate. “You have mild scoliosis”, they told me. I was confused. What even was scoliosis and why did I have it? Should I be doing something to correct it? My thoughts were cut off by the doctor stating it wasn’t an issue, that it was so mild I didn’t even need to braced. “I guess it isn’t that serious,” I thought.

But the story doesn’t end there.

Throughout middle school I forgot about my scoliosis diagnosis. It wasn’t thoroughly checked during appointments nor was it ever getting in the way of my life. I went on with my daily activities like ballet, gymnastics, and hiphop.

Meanwhile, in 8th grade, my spine began curving at an alarming rate. I didn’t notice it until one day when I was looking in the mirror during a ballet class and realized my waist did not look like everyone else’s. Everyone was straight up and down. And I was… lopsided? The right side of my waist was caving in and my left side was sticking out. A few weeks went by and I continued looking at it in the mirror, insecure and confused. I left it alone, blaming it on growth spurts and whatnot.

Soon it was summer, and I was at a theater camp asking one of my friends to zip me up in my costume. As she looked at my back, she paused. “Do you have scoliosis?” No one had ever asked me that question. It wasn’t noticeable at all before 8th grade… not even I saw it! I replied yes and began connecting all the situations with my back; I was diagnosed when I was 11, and it had an ability to progress. My waist was entirely lopsided and I felt different from everyone else. Someone, for the first time, noticed that my spine was curved.
There was definitely something going on.

My parents scooped me up and took me to the doctors, and that was where I got my first spinal X-ray and was officially diagnosed with severe idiopathic scoliosis. It turned out that I had an S curve, where the biggest curve was in my lumbar spine at 53 degrees. We had a bit of time to debrief and understand it, and later that month I had a follow up at my local orthopedic doctor. They told me that since I was 14 and almost fully grown there was no temporary correction like bracing that we could do.

If I didn’t want a 100 degree curve by the time I’m in my 40s, the only solution was spinal fusion, the 2nd most painful surgery in the world. Now that was scary. However, me and my parents both instantly agreed that this surgery would be worth it, no matter the restrictions it may impose. We began planning the surgery as I spent my freshman year in high school.

At first I was worried about the restrictions afterwards. I would have to permanently quit activities like gymnastics. I wouldn’t be able to bend my back. I wouldn’t be able to twist my back. But as my curve progressed more and more, the pros of surgery outweighed the cons by far. I started to get immense back pain at school, my posture got worse and worse, and my clothes became ill-fitting. When we finally planned my surgery date, July 3rd, 2026, I was more than ready to get into that operating room.

Before I knew it, I was in the hospital, wiping myself off with medical-grade sanitizer and getting into my gown. The feeling was surreal. I was excited yet numb to the fact I was about to go through my first (non-oral) surgery. I had pulled an all nighter earlier and was ready to fall asleep with my anesthesia. I have a vivid memory of being wheeled to the operating room, hair braided, IV in my wrist… then watching my surgeons greet me, and dozing off at the click of a button.

When I woke up, the first thing I was met with was a nurse offering me goldfish crackers. I always laugh at the fact that it was my first memory since surgery. I was rolled back to my room where I met my parents with a puffy face and a weak voice. I spent 4 days in the hospital, regaining my appetite, learning to use the bathroom, and practicing walking. Those 4 days felt slow and fast at the same time.

A few boring weeks of healing went by when one of my friends invited me to join the Miss Thurston County and Miss Capitol City’s Teen pageant (Preliminaries to Miss America’s Teen). I immediately said yes and jumped at the opportunity to raise scoliosis awareness through the program.

Now I am participating in pageants to raise awareness to a general audience, planning on volunteering for Setting Scoliosis Straight to help others with the diagnosis, and competing in the National Speech & Debate Association with an informative speech to explain scoliosis and its treatments to local parents and judges.

At 3 months post operation in October of 2026, I am slowly regaining my physical abilities and am so excited to take the world by storm with my titanium spine.

Every family’s scoliosis journey is unique. To hear Veronica’s parents share their experience in their own words, click the button below to visit their personal story page.