A Bit of My History
by
, 01-07-2012 at 03:05 AM (10070 Views)
My reply on Looking for Others. I thought it was a good explination of what I've gone through so I figured why not repost it here?
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My hernia was repaired when I was an hour or so old. I have a gortex patch, and part of my stomach was used to create the non-existent sphincter. Because of the CDH, I was born with severe scoliosis and 1.5 lungs. In eleventh grade I had reconstructive back surgery in NYC, but not after the scoliosis has wreaked havoc on my "good" lung (the upper curve was pressing into my lung, and my spinning rib cage was twisting it around). All my life I've suffered with shortness of breath. In 8th grade I was put on 24/7 oxygen (it went away after my surgery in 11th grade). In 9th grade I was diagnosed with Carbon Dioxide Retention, (the doctor estimated it had been going on for almost 7 years) - apparently I breath so shallow when I sleep that I hold in the carbon dioxide that my body produces. Now I sleep on a non-invasive ventilator. Though I am able to go about my life without oxygen, I do know that part of it is because of my light weight (my body refuses to gain weight over 84 lbs), and as it is I know I push myself.