Having scoliosis has never been easy for me. After about three years of pain, I was willing to try anything.
[call-out]
I’d gone to an orthopedist but he didn’t seem to care about what was best for me. He told me I was too old for bracing and I felt like he saw that as the only option for dealing with my scoliosis. He never mentioned surgery, which I was prepared to agree to, and it just seemed as though he didn’t really know what he was talking about.
I assumed Dr. Antonacci would be similar to him. I was very, very wrong. From the second he walked in the door, I could tell that he was unlike any doctor I’d ever dealt with. He is extremely knowledgeable and to the point. He knows exactly what he’s talking about and he doesn’t try to avoid tough decisions like surgery. Dr. Antonacci was always upfront about what options I had, surgery being pretty much the only one. He’s only interested in what’s best for you and I’ve never had a doctor like that before. He always gave me the impression that he’s seen plenty of other cases just like mine so I never felt out of place there. He put my mind at ease about having the surgery and he’s the only doctor I would have ever trusted to perform such an intense operation. I never felt nervous or scared about having the surgery because I knew Dr. Antonacci had everything under control. I guess you can say I literally trusted him with my life and I would never have felt comfortable with anyone else doing the surgery.
Surgery was an easy decision for me, thanks to Dr. Antonacci, but the outcome was much harder to deal with than I had anticipated. Surgery is nothing to laugh at. It’s extremely painful and the first few days feel like the worst days of your life. I felt helpless and frustrated that even the simple tasks of walking, eating, rolling over, getting out of bed, or going to the bathroom were nearly impossible. But I’ve never made a more rewarding decision in my entire life.
I have no regrets. It’s worth the pain and recovery, which is very speedy I might add, to have my freedom back. I can go through a day now without feeling any pain in my back. I feel like the pain no longer controls me and I don’t have to take ibuprofren everyday now for my back pain. You can’t look at me anymore and see that I had scoliosis or surgery. I’ve gotten control of my life and body back and there’s nothing more rewarding than that. So I thank Dr. Antonacci for being the caring and wonderful doctor that he is and for helping me get back a life I never thought I would ever have again.