Personal view: why athletics is important to me

My name is Sarah Guidry and I am an 8th grader at Dobie Jr. High.                                                                                          I joined athletics because I missed out on half of P/E last year and that was because I was diagnosed with a disease known as  scoliosis and had to get spinal fusion surgery over Christmas break.

If you don’t know what scoliosis is, it is a curvature of the spine. I missed out on a lot of fun activities, but I was very determined that once I healed I was going to join an athletic group.

At first I was really excited.The surgery took about four to five hours.I stayed in the hospital with around five IVs and a breathing tube.I was already uncomfortable enough, but one day the nurse forgot to give me my medicine.I was crying and trying my best to get the nurse I was in so much pain I would have rather been dead.She came in and finally gave it to me.

After surgery I couldn’t really move, so most of the time I was laying around.Then when I tried moving around we discovered I had a spinal leak which  was from my surgery and my spine was leaking fluids which was causing migraines when I stood up as well as vomiting.

The doctor told me my two choices were to lay down flat for twenty four hours or attempt another surgery to seal the leak. I chose to try laying down it was very uncomfortable and boring, it didn’t work, but I kept trying. I ended up laying flat for about a week  I was finally better.

I was finally ready to go back to school. I would have to go to the nurse to lay down a lot due to back pain, neck pains, and headaches. I was unable to do a lot of things, due to how stiff my back was. My surgery was late december 2017 but I have gotten a lot better sense though I am not fully healed Im making it through and concerning new challenges every day.  

When I joined athletics my dad wanted me to have a pass saying that I needed to take it easy, but I didn’t want to be treated any different than other people. I wanted to do everything that was required. I didn’t want to miss out on anything.

So far it has been fun to reach goals that I didn’t think I could. It can be difficult at times,but I think i’m doing pretty good. I hope to reach a lot more goals by the end of this year.

The reason I wanted to join athletics is so I could get more in shape as well as just meeting goals that I  have been wanting to meet.I hope that by the end of the year I can run a mile in seven minutes or less. A quote from my dad is ‘what’s the point of doing something if you aren’t trying your very best .

Athletics should be a fun journey. I hope to have a lot of fun.