About me
Hello everyone! My name is Lauren, I am currently 24 years old, and I am the creator of BackTalk. I am going to briefly give you some background information about myself and my scoliosis journey. I will be providing more details about my diagnosis, bracing, and surgeries in specific blog posts!
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I was diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 9 with an S shaped curve. At this time, I believe the curves were in the 20's and 30's. I wore a Milwaukee back brace for a year and a half which helped slow the progression of my curve.
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Around the age of 10, I started having symptoms of a tethered spinal cord including incontinence; however, the tethered spinal cord was not showing up on MRI/CT scans. I will go into more detail about this experience on a later post but long story short, I had a tethered spinal cord release surgery a few months later.
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6 months later, due to further curve progression, I had spinal fusion surgery. I was fused from T2-L3 with 2 16 in rods, 16 screws, and 2 connectors.
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At age 17, I had to undergo a third surgery (second spinal correction surgery) due to complications with the rods and some of the spinal fusion not taking hold.
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Fast forward many years later to now: I have a bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sport Science and I am currently in my last semester of Occupational Therapy school to receive my doctorate in Occupational Therapy.
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Scoliosis has been a big part of my life and I started this support group to help others going through similar experiences because I know how hard it can be. I will be providing more details about my scoliosis journey and I hope I can help at least one person. Thank you for visiting this site and I hope you will return!
About BackTalk
In 2011, I created BackTalk Scoliosis Support Group, an online support group for those with scoliosis. I started on Twitter and Facebook and I was able to connect with people of all ages all over the world. I loved being able to share my experience and help those going through similar experiences. 10 years later, I have decided to expand the support group and create a brand new website. Throughout this website, you will find blog posts about topics such as diagnosis, bracing, surgery and more. You will also find a forum where I hope those with scoliosis or their caregivers can come together and find others that they can communicate with who understand their story. Finally, you will find curated exercises and stretches geared toward scoliosis. My goal with this blog and support group is to reach as many people as possible, those with scoliosis and their caregivers or spouse, and provide encouragement, support, and a welcoming community.
