story by Katie Donnellan

What surgeries and allergies do you have?

I have scoliosis and I had an experimental spinal surgery in 2012. It was the tethering procedure. It was on my main curve, I had three curves in my spine. The biggest one was 55 degrees and that was the one I had surgery on. They put screws into my spine and then tether and then as I grow my spine would self correct. The surgery was in San Diego California in 2012. I was in sixth grade and I missed a month of school. I wasn’t allowed to bend my back, twist my back, run, jump, or carry anything heavier than a notebook for sixth months after. For the first three months of the sixth months I had to wear a full spine brace from my shoulders to my tailbone. I have pretty bad allergies. I am allergic to ragweed and other seasonal allergies. I have low pulmonary functions which is the same symptoms as asthma because my spine moved into my lungs so it affected how my lungs worked. The average person has 100 percent to 120 percent and I have 75 percent capacity. I am intolerant to gluten and dairy.

Talk about your sports participation.

I run cross country and I swim and I run track. I run triathlons in the summer.

What WIN for KC award did you win? Why did you win it?

In eighth grade I won the Resiliency Award for WIN for KC because I was able to push past the barriers of my scoliosis and my surgery and continue in sports. There is a video on DNO.  People nominated me and then WIN for KC went through the nominations and chose me as the winner.

What is your daily routine? How has scoliosis affected your daily life? What do you do to deal with this and allergies?

I live a pretty normal life. I often forget that I have scoliosis. The only time I kinda remember is when I am looking in the mirror and I see my left shoulder is higher than my right shoulder because my spine is still curved. I still have scoliosis but it is not bad enough to have another surgery for it. I am vitamin D deficient. I have to take lots of medications so I take my Advair and my Singulair for allergies. I take my rescue inhaler before I exercise. I take multivitamin and I also have chronic sinus infections and I have also had surgery my summer going into freshman year. I have to take nasal sprays. I eat healthy.

photos by Gabby Ayala

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