Life with Scoliosis

Lockdown Diaries: Week 3

Posted on April 13, 2020December 29, 2020 by Louise

We have just finished week 3 in lockdown, so I thought I'd document some of the highlights of what I got up to, so I can remember years from now. Plus, writing is therapeutic to me and helps me to cope during a pretty unnerving time. During lockdown, I'm lucky enough to be able to work from, which I do in the daytime Monday - Friday. So most of my activities below I do in the evening after work -...Read More

Yoga for Scoliosis

Posted on April 13, 2020October 23, 2020 by Louise

Yoga for Scoliosis: Benefits Since my scoliosis surgery, Yoga is something I have been afraid of and in the past, actively avoided. Because I have scoliosis and a fused spine, I automatically thought "I'm not bendy enough" and dismissed it. I have been to the odd Yoga class here and there but struggled with some of the moves, which initially put me off. However, since I have gotten into running, and more specifically, started marathon training, I have found Yoga...Read More

Lockdown Diaries: Weeks 1-2

Posted on April 8, 2020December 29, 2020 by Louise

As we enter week 3 of "Lockdown" in the UK, I thought I would write down my thoughts as it helps with my anxiety and stress, but also I thought it might be interesting to look back on years from now. So this post may be a bit jumbled and there may not be much point to it, but I just needed to get all my thoughts down somewhere. At the moment we have had two full weeks of lockdown,...Read More

10 Tips for New Runners

Posted on April 5, 2020December 29, 2020 by Louise

As this unprecedented crisis has led to a surge of people no doubt new to running, I thought I'd write a post with my top tips for new runners. One positive about the current lock-down in the UK, is that we can still get outside in the fresh air for one bit of exercise each day. This has led to an increase in people running outside, especially as the gyms are now closed and the weather is getting better. I...Read More

5 ways to look after your mental health during lock-down

Posted on April 3, 2020January 29, 2021 by Louise

We are coming to the end of the first two weeks in lock-down in the UK and honestly, at times it can be hard. I know that other people have it worse than me. I know that key workers are having to go into work whilst I can work safely from home. I know that millions are home schooling their children, whilst attempting to work full time, whilst I don't have kids. I know I'm probably one of the lucky...Read More

Hello April

Posted on April 1, 2020April 13, 2020 by Louise

Well, March, what a strange month you've been!!! At the beginning of the month, I was in the midst (and extreme pain!) of marathon training ready for the Manchester Marathon, which was meant to happen this weekend. On the 7th of March, it was my birthday, and I celebrated with my run club friends with a trip to Zielgelwiese parkrun in Germany to get the Z in our parkrun alphabet challenge. That feels like A LONG time ago now and...Read More

Exciting Blog Update: Domain change

Posted on March 29, 2020December 29, 2020 by Louise

Hi, I hope everyone is staying safe and well. Just a quick update to let you know that (as of today) the blog's website address has now been updated from helpformyscoliosis.com to lifewithscoliosis.com :-) Although both addresses now point to this blog, lifewithscoliosis.com will be my main website address going forwards. I feel that the new website address fits better with the direction I'd like to take this blog and it is part of many exciting changes over the coming...Read More

5 positives we can take from lock-down

Posted on March 28, 2020December 1, 2020 by Louise

It's a scary and difficult time for us all at the moment amidst the Coronavirus outbreak. The UK is now in lock-down. As of 23rd March, we can only leave the house for essential supermarket visits or to exercise. If we go outside, we need to stay 2m away from others and we are not allowed to meet friends or family. This is something I don't think any of us ever imagined would happen in our lifetimes and it felt...Read More

Sigh…Corona

Posted on March 21, 2020April 13, 2020 by Louise

There's not really much purpose to this post, other than the fact that I needed to get my thoughts down. It's been a difficult and scary time for everyone amidst the Corona-virus outbreak and at the moment, I feel like I'm in a film that I'm not particularly enjoying. Everything just seems highly surreal. Last week, I was upset that the marathon I had trained for months for, had been postponed. This week, I feel that there are bigger things...Read More

Manchester Marathon: Postponed

Posted on March 14, 2020December 29, 2020 by Louise

So yesterday, the inevitable happened. In the midst of the corona virus craze, the Manchester Marathon, for which I have been training for months, was postponed. At the moment we don't know when it will be postponed to and I'm not sure if I'll even be able to run it, as I'm worried it may clash with my planned trip to Machu Picchu later this year. To say I'm gutted is an understatement. The marathon training has taken over months...Read More

Parkrun Alphabet Challenge: Z for Ziegelwiese Parkrun!

Posted on March 9, 2020December 29, 2020 by Louise

So last year, I started getting involved in the Parkrun Alphabet Challenge, with the aim of completing a different Parkrun for every letter of the alphabet. This year, the alphabet challenge has taken a bit of a back seat, due to marathon training. However so far this year, I have still managed to fit in Nobles Parkrun (Isle of Mann) in January and, most recently, Ziegelwiese Parkrun in Germany. I have now completed 68 Parkruns in 21 locations, including 15...Read More

Marathon Training: 10 Essential Items you need during training

Posted on March 1, 2020July 29, 2020 by Louise

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Training for a marathon can be hard work, but there are some things that can make the gruelling training schedule a little easier. There are several items that have helped me during training for my first marathon, so I thought I'd share them below: 1. AfterShokz Headphones These are a recent purchase of mine but my AfterShokz headphones are an absolute life-saver on long marathon training runs. I think, after my Garmin watch (see below),...Read More

Preparing for Scoliosis Surgery: From a Caretakers Perspective

Posted on February 23, 2020July 28, 2020 by Louise

If someone close to you is about to undergo scoliosis surgery, as someone on the “other side” it can be just as daunting to know how best to prepare and what to expect. For this special blog post, I have teamed up with Sanna – she has recently been in the caretaker role for her sister, who underwent scoliosis surgery Summer of 2018. She can offer invaluable advice, from a caretaker’s point of view on how to best prepare for...Read More

My 2020 Challenges: Manchester Marathon & Machu Picchu

Posted on February 5, 2020February 20, 2021 by Louise

This year marks 10 years since I had life-changing surgery on my spine to correct my scoliosis. I had scoliosis surgery on July 29th 2010. I’m fused T3 to L3, which basically means that pretty much my whole spine is fused apart from 3 discs at the bottom. Following my surgery, it took me over a year to fully recover and I had to learn the basics again such as walking and getting out of bed. It was a very painful...Read More

My 2020 Goals

Posted on January 8, 2020April 13, 2020 by Louise

Happy New Year all! I wanted to reflect back on my 2019 goals and share where I'm at for 2020 (wow!) I'm really proud of everything I achieved in 2019, I managed to run four half marathons, including the Great North Run, which was definitely a highlight of the year. In one of those I got a PB of 2.02, so although I didn't achieve my goal of sub 2, I was pretty close and very proud of that. In...Read More