BREELON BULLOCK – SCOLIOSIS
I’m a 16-year-old athlete in high school so I’m not the typical patient for an orthopedic surgeon. My case is different as I was born with scoliosis that progressed rapidly enough to affect my life.
I was playing Football at school and when I was playing I noticed shortness of breath and I would feel pain in my chest and I felt like something was wrong, something not normal. I didn’t want to tell anybody because I felt like something bad would happen, like I wouldn’t be able to play football anymore. My parents initially thought I was just experiencing growing pains, with the reason being that I’m too young to have back problems.
I was diagnosed with scoliosis that I inherited, it started out at 30-32% curvature and when I got ready to have surgery it was at 59% so it was rapidly increasing. After finding that out, it really put me on pins and needles. I was hesitant to give my full effort into a sport worried that I might get hurt pretty bad.
On the day of surgery, Dr. Kushwaha told me what was going to happen, what they would be doing and what to expect afterwards. He was very professional and I felt like he was going to get in there, fix the problem and get me healed. I had no doubt in him and I wasn’t scared. Afterwards, my friends were allowed to come visit me. I had so many that the nurse’s named them my fan club!
Afterwards, I started physical therapy and I was cleared from that after two days. Then, Dr. Kushwaha recommended a machine to me that will stimulate bone growth and help the healing process, so I’ve been doing that along with getting up and taking walks. I’m not fully released to begin doing high impact activities yet but I’m hoping this season I’ll be playing basketball with no holding back.
Eventually I want to go to college to become a personal trainer. I’m still trying to figure it out but I know all things are possible. I enjoy being around people and being physically active. I also heard that you have to get a job that’s fun to you; if it’s not fun you’re not going to want to do it. So, I feel like becoming a personal trainer is everything I want. To be active, to work out and be around people.
I don’t have any fear about me anymore, like not being able to breathe right, because I feel so much better after having my scoliosis fixed. Dr. Kushwaha is a great doctor. He did a great job fixing my back and giving me my confidence so I can get back to what I love to do.
Breelon’s mother, Rochelle also spoke about their experience with Dr. Kushwaha.
One time, when he was playing he got hit and was on the ground, and I literally wanted to jump off the stands and run out there to make sure he was okay. I didn’t do it but, his coach and team made sure he was fine. Just the chance that he could be hurt really put it in perspective for me of how serious a spine condition could be.
As his mother, when I found out that he had scoliosis. I started to tell when it was getting worse. I started thinking something could happen to him out on the field and that kept me up worrying about him. He comes first and the sport comes last to me, but I understand how important it was to him, so it became important to us to find a solution.
In 2012, our doctor referred us to Dr. Kushwaha. My first impression of him was that he was a very personable guy, the appointment process was very simple and the office staff was very friendly. Everything about his office is professional. I even researched Dr. Kushwaha and watched his videos online and saw that he is a sought after Doctor with a lot of respect in the medical community. Having to put my child on the operating table is something I take very serious, so I made sure we had the right Doctor.
When I saw my son come out of surgery, he came into the room singing a song he leads at church. I couldn’t believe he was singing right after going through a procedure! Every fear I had, every concern I had, was just out the window. That felt like a sign to me, I was so relieved that he went though with it and just so happy that he’s better. I guess with him being so young, he is healing very well and recovering quickly, so even though I worry that he’s doing too much too soon. I’m glad he is being himself again.
Coming from his mother, I have no complaints. Honestly, if I had a problem we wouldn’t be here and we’ve been coming to Kushwaha since 2012. I will recommend him to anyone who needs him because he put my mind at ease and did the best job he could do for my son and I couldn’t be happier about that.