35,000

I went to an orthopaedic today, it was kinda a cheapskate mentality that ahh, since insurance covrs that, why not? I knew i hav scoliosis all these while, but its just that our family doctor in Ipoh has more than once assured my mom its not something to worry since i past puberty n things r pretty much "in placea", cant get better cant get worse.. So it was like a see wat the pro has to say expectation.. in fact i was expecting it to be comforting n reassuring..

But well, I guess life is always interesting because u cant expect everything to go ur way..

After a 150 bucks x-ray, (in fact come to think of it the radiographer looked at the film, then came to feel my back and kinda had a "yea, no wonder" expression) the doctor was showing me the shot. Even a layman like me can tell, it looks bad. The doctor was really kind.. he didnt use that word until i promtpted him from his reaction..

Basically, the backbone has this part that's curved at about 67 degree. Normal is zero. And surgery is recommended for those abouve the range of 50-60. Which means I fall outside the "ambiguous" range, I need one. Because of it worsen to like above 70, it seems that its gonna affect my heart or lung. But the doctor just said he didn't want to straight away recommend surgery although that's pretty much the only remedy. He has shown me the powerpoint of current surgery developement where it is possible to recover from like 54 degree to 17, from an example. But for my case, it is probably estimated at 50% recovery only. Cause for one thing, i am pretty much grown.

At this point, i was kinda worry... but since there is still a chance to recover it don't sound so bad. So i asked how much it's gonna cost. n yup... around SGD35,000. A bomb as the doctor calls it...

It was quite fortunate that all these years our family despite having financial problems, it was not so much of life threatening or dead urgent. Thus, i know we r not rich, but neither hav we been in a situation that we need money badly. But this time... I am a little worry... Prob more...

***

Probably something positive is maybe I will grow taller if i really get to do the surgery. Cause the curve looked really bad and if it gets straighten it means i gain height right? Furthermore, when i ask the doctor if i can gym, he kinda say no weight training, it will make u "shorter" ... Thanks Doc... So the reverse apply i guess?

If i really get the money...