Can you ride a camel, travel the world, sing in an opera, and fall down on stage after scoliosis surgery? Emily says yes!

My PA Brittany received a nice email from Emily, one of our adolescent idiopathic scoliosis post-surgery guests, who had surgery with us a couple years ago.

She gave her permission to share her email and photos with all of you!

Hope you are all doing well.

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
http://www.heyclinic.com


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On Jan 3, 2011, at 11:36 PM, Emily  wrote:

Dr. Hey,

Yes, absolutely.  Feel free to share whatever you want; I give you full permission.

And thanks again for everything you've done.  You have no idea how much my story has meant to other people; it's truly amazing.

Emily

------ Forwarded Message
From: Emily <>
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2010 19:53:00 -0500
Subject: Pictures and a question

Hi!

You may not remember me; I had spinal fusion surgery in June 2008, and I've had a couple of questions since then, but I haven't been back to the clinic since summer of 2009.  I have one quick question, and then I thought I'd send you all a couple of pictures from what I've been doing the past couple of years.  My question is: would a far infrared sauna negatively affect me in any way (i.e. would the metal in my back react to it somehow)?  Given that the only thing I've noticed about my back is that it gets colder much more quickly, I wasn't sure if heat would affect it the same way.

I emailed back in February, I think, about some sciatic pain I was having.  Thankfully, that's gone after working with a chiropractor and therapist and lots of patience.  I'm about to go into my last semester at Illinois Wesleyan University, which is hard to believe in itself, and I have two auditions for graduate programs in vocal performance at the end of January.  Since my surgery, I've been so blessed in what I've been able to do and see.  I spent a semester abroad in Granada, Spain (photo of the Alhambra attached), and traveled all over southern Spain as well as to Morocco, Paris, and London.  I gave a joint voice recital back in April (picture attached), and I have another one coming up this spring.  I've had roles in three operas at school, including one world premiere and one in which I played a 15-year-old boy falling down all over the stage.  And it's little triumphs like that that make me eternally grateful.  There was a time when I thought I'd never be able to play such a physical part, slipping and sliding while attempting to sing, and yet I have.  I took modern dance this past semester.  It's the first dance class I'd ever taken in my life, and I loved it.  And I did learn my limitations, but I was so thrilled by how much I was actually able to do.  It's hard to believe that two and a half years ago, I was learning how to walk again, and yet I will never forget how far I've come.

Thank you so much for everything you've done for me and my family.  I couldn't be more grateful.  And please share this with Dr. Hey, if you can.

And yes, that is me on a camel. :)

Emily