It's me again, Cloudy83. Do you ever wonder why
some things just happen? They just happen, right out
of the blue. I do.
Don't you ever just sit and
daydream and wonder why some things just seem to drop
off the face of the earth? Or are you one of those
people who just have no time to wonder? You just
accept things as they are? You never wonder what
things would be like if certain things hadn't
happened?
I am not one of those people. I spend my
spare time sometimes just thinking and wondering. I
remember I did a lot of that when my brother was
diagnosed.
My little
brother Jake was like all pesky little brothers. When I was doing
my homework he'd come over and just stand over my
shoulder until it made me so nervous I'd yell at him
and he'd go tell mom and he'd get me in trouble for
something I never did! It made me sooo mad! I wished
Jake had never been born sometimes. I never thought
I'd learn anything from him at all.
When my brother was 5, we took him in for a
ordinary check-up. The doctor told my mom that he
noticed something was wrong with my brother's spine.
He wasn't sure what it was, but he gave us the names of
a few doctors we could go to.
My mom called all of
them and we brought my brother in to all of them. The
doctors didn't understand. We wanted to know what was
wrong, but no doctor could give us an answer. Finally
one of the doctors gave us the name of a specialist.
Let's call her Dr.Smith.
Well, Dr. Smith found what was wrong. My brother Jake
was diagnosed with Scoliosis. I have no idea how to
spell it, but it is pronounced "skull-e-osis". This
disease is EXTREMELY rare in younger children. It is
mostly found in teenagers around the ages of 14-16.
My brother has to wear a large heavy brace to try and
correct it until he is old enough to have the surgery.
His spine is in the shape of an S. Most
of you will know that a normal spine should be a
straight line. That is how bad this disease is....
I often think about how Jake's life would be
without this disease in his way. Without this brace
tight around his back.
I've realized I DID learn something from
Jake. He never complains about the bulky brace. He is
a brave little boy. Sometimes I wish I could be like
him....
This is dedicated to you, Jake. I love you forever.
Even when you are a pest!
This is Cloudy83 signing off...
Editor's Note: For more information on scoliosis,
check out www.scoliosis.org
and www.srs.org.
