SVETLANA BUSAREVA

fourth degree scoliosis

When I was 6, I was diagnosed with a severe curvature of my spine, so I had to spend all my school years in a special boarding school.

At 12, the doctors told my parents that an operation was necessary, since there was no other way to cure me. My spine was stretched out and fixed with a titanium rod, so that the curvature arc became smaller. After the surgery the whole structure began to shift, and two years later I began to have heart pain and stopped feeling my leg. Eventually all this construction was cut out of my back, and my state deteriorated, because the spine became even more curved than earlier. The doctors told us not to come anymore: they did all they could. So, the real problems started after the surgery.

That’s why now I am harshly against braces and surgery for scoliosis. I believe that only your own muscle corset can save you from such problems, and it is quite real to strengthen it with the exercises.

As I was leaving my boarding school, the orthopedist said, with a tragic glance, that all girls are allowed to have one child, except me — I could have none. I stood there looking at her, and thought: “Yeah, but who’s going to ask you… I’m going to have at least three!” Half my life I’ve listened to people speaking about my limitations. You can’t exercise, you can’t walk a lot, you should be careful.

I have always been stubborn, and words like “you cannot” and “it is impossible” made me want to prove that “Yes, I can!” My mom used to say: “Who will marry you with such a bad temper?”

So, I got married at 18 and had my first child at 19. Later I had two more.

And at the maternity clinic they sent me for an abortion right away. So, my husband and I attended a home birth preparation club. But they also insisted on a planned cesarean. We went to Israel to the city of Eilat and I gave birth there in the Red Sea. Without doctors. Later, my sons were born at home in a bathtub.

When my friends asked “What, are you planning to climb Mount Elbrus?”, all my stubbornness kicked in. Although my lung capacity is less than necessary for life, let alone climbing the highest mountain in Europe. At the same time, I realized that words like “conquer the mountain”, “test myself” and other slogans did not give me comfort. What I really wanted was to enjoy the climbing, to watch the sunrise on the mountain and remember it as a moment of true happiness.

I went through all the necessary preparations. I stayed at the foot of the mountain for almost three weeks in order to acclimate and not get altitude sickness. I was lucky both with the guide and the weather, so I got everything that I wanted from Elbrus Region, leaving a piece of this euphoria and beauty of the moment in me forever.

I truly believe that all restrictions, in fact, are only in our head. It’s always possible to live life to the fullest, if you let yourself do it and approach it wisely.

Today, I work as a massage specialist in a kinesiotherapy center and run my own blog. I want to educate people, talk about the price they have to pay if they rely only on surgery and medicines. People go to the surgeon to change their knees and hip joints, even if it is completely unnecessary, while many health problems can be solved by physical exercise without any risk to life.