Jacobe

Can you tell us about when your scoliosis was first discovered?

When I was younger and pretty much my entire life until I went to college, I was a dancer and I was always big into ballet. I was a full-time ballerina. I was always in a leotard and tights, which is super tight fitting. When I was in seventh grade, my mom noticed a little shoulder asymmetry and she was like, "Oh, Jacobe, that's weird. I've never seen that before. We should probably get that checked out when we go see your pediatrician." So long story short, I got some x-rays and they realized I had pretty severe scoliosis that somehow we'd missed before. So that was the start of my scoliosis journey. It started with the asymmetry that my mom noticed.

Once I was diagnosed with scoliosis, then it really progressed pretty quickly from there. I was a super late bloomer, had a ton of growing to do so my growth plates were wide open and it kept progressing is the moral of the story.

How did you first hear about Dr. Geck?

I have a mutual friend that I went to high school with, and she actually had spinal fusion surgery a year or two before I did. My mom got in touch with her mom and they had the most amazing things to say about Dr. Geck. So going into this, my parents and I very much knew who we wanted as my doctor and who we wanted to do the surgery, once I found out that I needed the surgery, and it was Dr. Geck.

Do you remember your first appointment with Dr. Geck?

I actually do remember my first visit with Dr. Geck. I remember I was very impressed with how smart he was, and he was so nice and so funny. I was so nervous. I don't know, you're meeting your doctor, and I didn't really know what was going on or what was going to happen regarding my back and my scoliosis and my treatment. But he really made me laugh, which was a nice change compared to how I'd been feeling before. That's what stuck with me.

I braced for a year and a half before it was decided that I would need the surgery. It was so many years ago now that I don't remember a ton of specifics, but what I do remember is I understood it. As a seventh grader, or I guess at the point when I needed surgery, I was going into my freshman year of high school, he talked about what was going on in a way that was very easy for me to understand and made me feel like I also had a say in what was happening. He made surgery sound like it was super logical, which it was, especially given my circumstances, and he made it seem a lot less scary.

And I remember leaving and thinking, I'm so glad that this is the doctor that's going to be fixing the problem that I have, because I totally trusted him and totally trusted his judgment. So I felt like he did a really good job of assessing all of my symptoms and laying it out in a way that was comprehensible for my parents when we were overwhelmed with information at the time.

What were your biggest concerns going into surgery?

I was really scared. I had never had any major surgery before and I was a big dancer. I had danced my whole life, so my biggest concern going into spinal fusion surgery was, will I still be able to dance and will I still be able to dance the same? Because flexibility is super important. Body mobility is super important as a dancer or just as an active person in general.

I was worried that I would be restricted in my movements or I wouldn't dance the same. That was my biggest fear going into things.

How did your recovery go?

It was definitely hard to be restricted in terms of what you can and can't do post-op. And I feel like, I don't know if this is a problem other patients have, but I was so excited and once I'd gotten over the hump of the first month or so of where your body is really recovering from having a major procedure, I was so ready to start moving again and get back into things and start dancing. My mom was like, "No, slow down. You have restrictions. You can't do all of that yet." For me, I just wanted to do more than I was allowed to at the time.

Disclaimer, it was very much worth the wait to wait as long as your doctor tells you, because I didn't tweak anything that shouldn't have been tweaked. But I started feeling good a lot quicker than I was expecting, so I felt like I should be back to normal and had to take it slow and be gentle on my body.

How are you doing now in terms of your activity level?

I am very active now. Aside from doing schoolwork, I do have a really hard time sitting still. I love to run. I run five times a week, sometimes six. I try and give myself one or two rest days, not necessarily by choice, but because I don't want to be too hard on my body.

But I'm very active. I love being outside. I like to run far. Love to walk with my friends. My friends are pretty active too, so it's a social thing too, which is fun. But I am very active and I have no issues in terms of how I move now post op at all.

What would you say to other young people facing a similar diagnosis?

For other people with a similar diagnosis. I feel like there's a lot I could say and a lot that I would've wanted to hear back when I was first getting the news that I was diagnosed with scoliosis, and needed to be braced for a few years, and then the brace didn't work and I needed surgery. It's a lot all at once, especially when you're young, or at any age though, really. But the biggest thing I think that I would've liked to hear is that getting the surgery was so worth it.

And now where I am now, if I had to do it all over again, I would 100% do everything the exact same. I would get the surgery, I would have Dr. Geck as my surgeon. I wouldn't change anything about it because I'm fixed, and my problems are solved, and I don't have any pain, and my spine is straight, and I'm not restricted in how I move or anything that I do.

And I just felt so taken care of by Dr. Geck. I'm just really thankful! It was scary, but it was totally worth it. I was in the best hands, so I would do it all again. And I would say to someone needing similar treatment that it's okay and there's no one else better out there, better suited to care for you and, to fix things.

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