About the author
Hello! My name is Turtle.
Well, not really. It’s a pen name! I decided that since I’m sharing a lot of my personal medical information to the masses, I’d do it anonymously. I absolutely love turtles, so it feels fitting.
I’m a 31-year-old female living in the United States. I was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 13, and in the same year I had major spinal fusion surgery to correct it. That was in 2009, and since then I’ve had off and on pain in my shoulder and neck that we think is caused from how long my fusion is (it’s longer than most).
It’s been a long way to try and find solutions to my pain. We still aren’t sure if it’s just my body remembering my once-curved spine, or if it’s from a different condition all together. Once I entered my 30s, doctors were a lot more willing to refer me to different specialists to figure it out.
So that’s what we’re doing! But it’s felt pretty isolating going about this by myself. I know I’m not the only person in the world dealing with chronic pain, or spine issues before 50. This blog was created to build a community of people feeling alone, and hopefully help you feel less alone 🙂
With much love, Turtle
About the blog
How It All Started
For years now I’ve been on support forums for scoliosis and chronic pain. I’ve always taken a moment to respond to someone who needs support from the isolation of these conditions. After talking to a few people in my life, they mentioned creating a space to tell my story for others to read.
For some reason, even though most everyone goes to the doctor, we don’t really talk about it. It’s not something “we should share” (queue eye rolls). I want to change that! Here’s my story, and hopefully you’ll get something from it.
The name Turtanium comes from two things: my love for turtles, and the titanium rods in my spine. It probably sounds a bit random, but it makes me smile!