Samantha Jones shares about the suffering she endured for years because she couldn’t get proper treatment for her kyphosis and scoliosis.

Samantha was diagnosed when she was 12 and given a brace. Her family worked in the military and as they traveled overseas, it was broken by the airline and unable to be replaced in her new country.

Samantha went through life without treatment, unsure if her scoliosis would affect her. When she turned 30 she began to rapidly decline and felt constant pain. She struggled to lose weight and to get together with friends.

“The information you could find in the community was about people suffering,” she said. She explained that her primary providers were telling her that she could not have surgery, but she could not find information to be able to question what they said.

Patient and provider education are important to helping prevent future suffering and allows patients to make their own choices for their care. Shared decision making is also important because once the patient is educated on their options, they can decide on the care that is best for them and get the treatment they need.