Real Girl: Amanda

Age: 13 Grade: 9 Sign: Sagittarius

Favourites: My favourite food is spaghetti, my favourite colours are blue and purple, summer is my favourite season and my favourite holiday is Christmas. I love to play the guitar, read, and watch my favourite TV show, ‘Coronation Street’. Right now my favourite band is Paramore, I love the book series The Princess Diaries, and Lurlene McDaniel is my favourite author.

Hobbies: I like to play guitar, read, be on Facebook, and walk my 2 dogs Chichi (a Jack Russell/Boston Terrier mix) and Roxy (a black Lab/Retriever mix). I also like going horseback riding, running, and going to the mall and movies with my best friend.

School and Stuff: I like school. My favourite subject is ‘Foods’ (cooking), and last year I got the ‘Misty Award’ for most improvement. I’m not in any sports activities because of my back, but I am on the Youth Council in my town. Grade 9 was hard at fir st, trying to find classes, but now that I’ve figured it out it’s fine.

Personality: My friends and family would say I’m funny, hyper, outgoing and organized. I would agree to all but the organized part. At the beginning of the year I have everything organized and by the middle of the year my locker and room get messy very easily because I run out of time!

Life Challenge: When I was 12, I went to visit my doctor about back troubles and he sent me for X-rays. When they came back we found out I had something called Scoliosis and I had to go to the hospital for an operation. Scoliosis is where I had too much of a curvature in my spine and a brace wouldn’t be enough to fix it so I needed it operated on. They had to open up my back and fuse a couple of rods to my spine to keep it straight. At the beginning I was really, really scared about the operation, and then I got more comfortable about it. The morning I went into the hospital I was fine until I was wheeled into the operating room and that’s where I got really scared. I hate needles so they gave me a mask that helped put me to sleep so I didn’t have to get the needle until I was sleeping. The whole operation took about 8 hours. My mom and dad waited the whole time. Afterward I stayed in the hospital for a week and then I was home for two and a half months before I went back to school. When I did go back I couldn’t do gym or play sports. It’s been almost a year now. For exercise I like to run, but I have to do it a bit at a time... jog a bit then walk a bit, and so on. Now I have to go back for yearly medical visits until I’m 18 or 19 then I won’t have to go back anymore. The rods will always be in my back. They go from the top of my back almost to the bottom and I can bend because they are flexible. I’ll be able to be more active as time goes on. When I came back to school my friends wanted to feel my back and see it. They helped me a lot and carried my backpack for me. My BFF thought it wasn’t fair that I was now even more tall than her than I was before. Mom and Dad used to think I had bad posture but I actually couldn’t sit up straight because it really hurt. Now I have perfect posture because of the rods. I can’t be too active now, but in the future there isn’t anything I won’t be able to do. My message to others going for an operation is, don’t be scared. You'll feel so much better when it’s over. And if you’re scared of needles ask for a mask so you don’t have to feel the needle.

Proud of: I am proud of my family for being supportive and my friends for getting good grades and not skipping classes. Also of myself for getting the Misty Award last year.
So Amanda: Always chewing gum, waking up early but not being able to stay up late, listening to my iPod, texting ALL the time, always being happy and always saying “hehe” are sooo me!

Cool fact about Amanda: After my operation and getting the 2 rods in my back, I was taller by 2 .5 inches.

Future: Some day I want to be a doctor or do something else in the medical field to help other people with Scoliosis.

Pet peeves: When people tap their nails on things non-stop, and when I’m trying to work and people are talking.

Photography by Gillian Gillespie
Amanda’s cover photography by Gillian Gillespie
Hair and Makeup by Angela Gina Pirrera, Melissa Villa, Stephanie Senater, Julia Hofer, Daniella Villa

Comment

kit kat

love your look

Amazed

I think Amanda is such a strong brave person. That operation and all the recovery time and stuff must have been painful, and she is still happy and counts her blessings. And she can still ride! Wow! We can all learn from Amanda!

John

That operation sounds so scary and crazy. After reading this, I think about how so many of us take our health for granted. Because I love sports so much, I'd go crazy if someone told me I can't compete in tournaments for 2 years because of an operation. Amanda is an amazing person. Stronger than anyone I know.

Jen/ J.MO

This girl Amanda is amasing