A Scoliosis Warrior - Trinity's Story
When my daughter, Trinity, was 5 yrs old, we took her in to our family physician for a normal school physical. The doctor did a Scoliosis check on her and suggested that we have some X-rays done as more of a precaution than anything. To this point, Trinity had never complained of any pain, we had never seen any signs of something wrong...
After her X-rays they showed them to me, and I almost collapsed at the picture. It was literally an “S”. We were blessed to find our orthopedic surgeon. He measured her the 1st time, and both of curves came out to about 50 degrees each. We tried having custom braces made, but none helped. On Valentine’s Day, 2012, at the age of 6 yrs old, Trinity had her 1st surgery. The doctor put rods in her back. Her curves had measured 62 degrees each. She was so upset about missing her first school Valentine’s Day party that she asked if she could have pink hair, and all the nurses & doctors loved it!
Over the years, Trinity has had 4 adjustment surgeries. She never let that stop her!! She was a cheerleader, was on a competitive swim team, and has won several art & other school awards. Last summer, when she was 12 yrs old, she had her rods replaced with new “magic” rods. The technology allows the doctor to adjust the rods in his office with a magnet instead of having another surgery!! Our local newspaper actually wrote a piece on this new treatment, and featured her on the cover!!
Trinity undergoes a treatment with a magnet to adjust rods that will relieve her scoliosis
We became connected with Higgy Bears, and ever since, Trinity does everything she can to help Lauren out with Higgy Bears! She talks to other kids about Scoliosis, answers questions, offers tips & a listening ear. Something she didn’t have through all this. She was also featured in ISU’s The Vidette newspaper, both of which can still be read in full online, and did a school presentation on Scoliosis.
She is now 13 years old, and we have a big fundraiser planned for Scoliosis Awareness Month on June 25th at our local McAlisters Deli in Bloomington, IL from 5-8 pm. A portion of their food sales will be donated to Higgy Bears, as well as 100% of all raffle tickets (we’ve been blessed by many local businesses with wonderful donations) and Scoliosis T-shirt sales. We will pass out Scoliosis & Higgy Bear brochures with every order, passing on information & thanks for their donation.
Trinity and I started a Facebook page called Eternally Bent, something she came up with all on her own. We encourage everyone to “like” it, it has Trinity’s story as well as tips & info about Scoliosis, and details of an online fundraiser we are doing for those unable to attend our hometown fundraiser! She very much wants to start a foundation for Scoliosis Warriors. Next summer, Trinity will hopefully be having her final fusion surgery. She still never complains of pain or about surgeries... she is such a warrior! I hope this story finds at least 1 person that needs motivation or that extra push to know they’re not alone in this journey, and they will make it!!