Hi, my name Kara! I'm 18 years old and I live
in Ukiah, CA. I'm going to college in my hometown. I'm a Special
Olympics athlete. I compete in swimming, my favorite sport
by the way, basketball and bowling. When I'm not doing sports
I'm doing research on two countries which are India and England.
I'm really into the US Presidents and US history. In my free
time I like to read. My scoliosis story began on March 23, 2005
during the 7th grade. I never would have thought I even had
scoliosis. But I was wrong; I had scoliosis and a curve of 43
degrees! I was told that I would need a Boston brace which I got
from Shriners Hospital. With the exception of PE class, I wore
that brace all the time for the next 13 months. I was like
really happy every time I had to take it off for PE class. So on
May 25, 2006, when I was taken out of the brace for good, I was
super happy because I didn't have to deal with that brace
anymore. However, as my curve approached 50 degrees, I had
surgery. On March 10, 2011, Dr Gupta at Shriners in Sacramento
performed a posterior spinal fusion from T4 to L2 that lasted 8
hours. I was fused from T4 to L2 and I have an incision along my
back that runs from the bottom of my neck to the bottom of my
back. Now my curves are 20 degrees and 17 degrees. It’s been
almost a year since my surgery with no regrets and now I would
like to support other girls that are going through this. When
they need someone to talk to, I’m here to help!
Kara Awaiting Exam
