The Lifescan Story
My family and I have lived in Spain for two years. My eldest daughter, Hannah, was at the poolside one day when I noticed that she was slouched. She was 12 years of age and I asked her, as mothers do, to stand up straight. 'I am straight!’ she replied indignantly. This sent alarm bells off in my head because she was most definitely wonky. We thought, at first, this could be due to heavy school bags, posture, etc. To find out exactly what was going on we made an appointment with the local doctor. To our horror she was diagnosed as having ‘tremendous Scoliosis’ (the doctor’s words).
There are two types of Scoliosis 1) Idiopathic (no known cause) and 2) Syndromic (part of a recognised disease pattern such as Marfan’s syndrome).
Hannah had ‘idiopathic scoliosis’ which accounts for most spinal curvatures and they may either be of ‘early onset’, which occurs before the age of seven, or ‘late onset’, which occurs after 7 and usually during adolescence. There is apparently a definite genetic connection for this condition but unfortunately we have yet to find the aunt with the stoop!
Hannah had two bends in her spine, a ‘double curvature’, causing her to be S-shaped although this wasn’t noticeable when she was dressed. She appeared quite straight because the two curves counteracted each other. Nearly a teenager, she dressed in the privacy of her own room and washed in the privacy of the bathroom which made it impossible for anyone to identify her condition until she donned her bikini and played by our new Spanish pool!
80% of ‘adolescent idiopathic scoliosis’ will appear in girls, with 80% of these having their ribs prominent on one side. Hannah to a tee.
We were told by specialists that Hannah would have to undergo corrective surgery as her lungs and heart were being compromised by the curvature, a procedure we agreed to with trepidation. A specialist surgeon was booked from Madrid and the date set for February 19th 2007, one year after we had arrived in Spain.
While we waited for the date of the surgery we decided to adjust Hannah’s diet to prepare her physically for the corrective procedure she was set to endure. We included more fresh fruit and vegetables and increased her water intake whilst supplementing her diet with multivitamins. These adjustments would also assist in the healing process once the surgery had been completed. Understandably, Hannah was now taking painkillers every four hours as she was in great discomfort from the curvature. She had trouble sleeping and her breathing was becoming affected.
Finally, the day arrived and she was admitted to the ‘Hospital Materno-Infantil de Malaga’ and underwent major corrective surgery with the insertion of (permanent) metal rods in her back (please see attached photographs).
Her recovery was painful and agonising but she was mentally determined and physically sound, with no previous illness, ailments or allergies to hinder her progress. Only one week after leaving intensive care and fitted with a rigid, oppressive corset (affectionately known as ‘Spud Muggins’), Hannah incredibly walked from the ward to the car-park and we drove home!
To this day I am astonished and amazed as her courage, her strength of character and her amazing ability to overcome any obstacle.
From the initial consultations we were advised that Han would have to be in a wheelchair for at least two weeks after the operation. Her walk to the car-park dispelled this theory.
We were also told that she would be in hospital for at least two weeks. She walked out of the doors after just nine days.
Two weeks after returning to school she joined the girls’ football team with ‘Spud Muggins’!
February 2008 marked the one year anniversary of Hannah’s operation. At nearly fourteen years of age she stands head and shoulders above the rest of her classmates (she has amazing posture with the rods in her back!), she is calm, funny, intelligent and of course beautiful.
Convinced that the adjustments to Hannah’s diet aided her recovery I decided to study the subject of nutrition and food intolerances in greater detail and this in turn has led to the concept of ‘life:scan’.
Food has an understated yet enormous impact on all our lives. It can make us happy; it can make us sad. It has the ability to make us healthy yet the tendency to make us ill. With life:scan we are able to identify the brains responses to each food item as it enters the body thus allowing the body to follow a truly balanced diet, one unique to ourselves.
Hannah continues to adjust and vary her diet as she passes through adolescence with the help of the EDS system. The smallest changes make the biggest differences.
Find out more from their website www.lifescanspain.com