From Back Pain to Backstroke: A Swimmer’s Resilient Story

Dr. Rita Roy: Hi everyone. I’m Dr. Rita Roy, CEO of the National Spine Health Foundation, and I’m your host for the Get Back Toit podcast. Here we share real stories of healing and recovery from people who overcame spine problems and returned to the lives they love. These success stories are powerful, inspiring, and sometimes unbelievable.

Let’s dive in. At the Get Back Toit podcast, our goal is to tell stories of spinal champions who’ve been able to achieve a better quality of life through spinal healthcare. Today’s guest is Maeve, a 14-year-old athlete from Chicago, Illinois. A fierce, competitive swimmer and social teenager. Double scoliosis suddenly put her life on hold and her future athletic dreams in jeopardy after going through an intense process.

Overcame her pain and was able to get back to being a full-time athlete. Listen to how getting back on the diving board is truly possible.

At a young age may have experienced spinal complications. 

Maeve Danaher: During my yearly physical in October, 2023, I was diagnosed with scoliosis. In the following months, I was sent to Larry’s Children’s Hospital in Chicago to take a closer look at my x-ray scans. At the hospital, I met Dr. Brett Lulu, who informed me that I would need a spinal fusion to correct my severe scoliosis.

I learned that I had a double. Scoliosis with my first curve at 70 degrees and my second curve at 60 degrees 

Dr. Rita Roy: At just 13, Maeve was facing a daunting 10 hour surgery, taking a heavy mental toll 

Maeve Danaher: after meeting with Dr. Brett, my surgery date was set for March 27th, 2024. However, even before getting to the operating room, I was scared of the road ahead.

Every month I was required to get MRI imaging and. Blood work. I had to let teachers, coaches, and friends know about the life-changing surgery. It was a mental challenge being constantly reminded of the surgery while still having to keep up with schoolwork and extracurriculars. However, Mav was scared of one thing the most I knew.

The one thing I would miss the most was swimming. Being a competitive swimmer almost all my life, I loved the sport, my coaches and my friends. It was hard saying goodbye to the people I loved, but I knew that we would see each other again 

Dr. Rita Roy: before she knew it. Her surgery date was just a few short days away 

Maeve Danaher: with my surgery date being scheduled during spring break.

I envied my friends who were on vacation being 13. I was constantly overthinking the surgery and dread filled my thoughts. How would the surgery. I changed my life on the day of the surgery. I held back tears because I didn’t want everyone else to know how scared I was. Meeting all the different people that would be in the operating room made me further bathed.

I found myself shaking each time someone came in the room. I finally broke into tears when being wheeled away from my parents. As I was taken into the, or finally leaving my parents behind and unsure of what life would look like after surgery. Awakening of anxiety hit me. As I wheeled into the, or leaving my parents behind and unsure of what life would look like after surgery, 

Dr. Rita Roy: despite having fear before her surgery, Mae was relieved after her surgery 

Maeve Danaher: coming out of the operating room, I did not remember much.

I was given heavy medication, but the thing that made my experience positive were the encouraging nurses and doctors, my surgeon, Dr. Lulu and the nursing. F made a traumatic surgery full of laughter and giggles 

Dr. Rita Roy: even after surgery. Recovery brought new struggles to light. 

Maeve Danaher: When I left the hospital, it was almost Easter being back at home.

I felt more relaxed and at ease. However, I faced a new relationship dynamic with my parents barely being able to climb the stairs. I lost some independence. I learned to be patient with myself and depend on my parents’ support. They also. Made an effort to do everything they could to help me around two weeks after surgery brought another challenge, nerve pain, while my spine was straight after surgery.

I also woke up with my entire left eye numb due to nerve damage from positioning on the surgical table. Because of this complication, I would get lightning flashes of pain in my left eye. These intense episodes of pain would often leave me in tears in my parents not knowing what to do. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Eventually, however, the pain started.

Receding 

Maeve Danaher: around April 20th, the pain decreased and I was able to get back up on my feet. I started hanging out with my friends and going on walks with family to keep my back from going stiff. After weeks of sitting on my bed and seeing my friends and family continue their lives, I was so grateful and happy to be able to move my body.

At the end of April, I went back to school. My friends and teacher welcomed me back wholeheartedly helping me catch up on schoolwork while no one understood the. Emotion or physical pain. I went through their support, made the transition much, much easier. I felt so blessed to have friends and teachers that helped me through every second of the recovery process.

Dr. Rita Roy: The final hurdle of May’s recovery came just before summer. 

Maeve Danaher: June 7th was my three month post-op appointment date. This appointment meant so much to me because it would decide how my summer would go. If the doctors thought I needed more rest, I would miss out on hanging out. With friends and traveling.

Luckily, I was cleared for flying on airplanes, going on trains, going to summer camp, and swimming at pool. With this good news, I lived my summer to the fullest. I was able to go to summer camp, hang out with my friends, and even go on airplanes even though I felt some pain. I was grateful to be able to move my body and enjoy summer activities with 

Dr. Rita Roy: almost all of her spinal pain.

Relieved Maeve was able to return to being an athlete 

Maeve Danaher: in October 20. 24, I got cleared to start competitive swimming again. Being able to return to the diving board and my team was the best thing that could ever happen to me. 

Dr. Rita Roy: After a long and painful journey, young Mae is living her life to the fullest.

Maeve Danaher: Here I am one year post-op, and I feel amazing. Even though the recovery process took perseverance and dedication, I learned the message of patience. Success does not come to you when you want it, but when you earn it after trying the. Hardest I could in my recovery process and struggling through pain. I earned my scoliosis success story and I’m living my life as best as I can.

Dr. Rita Roy: Wow. Ma, your story showcases your bright personality, your resilience, and especially at your young age. Um, you know. Your, your dedication through that, that painful recovery really shows that being committed and dedicated and focused on what you’ve gotta get through is something that I think you learn from being an athlete.

From having to do all that training and all that focus and all that dedication and, um, you know, be being, being a, a competitive swimmer. Oh my goodness. That takes a lot of dedication. I, I would say, you know, to my first question just to ask you is, you know, as you’re going through that, um, what, what really stood out to you during that, that recovery process that, um, that, that you felt really.

You were able to, to call upon what you knew as an athlete to get you through that? 

Maeve Danaher: I would say like more people who stood out to me, I would say my parents, because it was kind of like blind going into them for this, not even like me. They kind of had to go with the flow on everything and it was hard just like.

Trying to do the right thing for me, even though they didn’t know what the right thing was. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. And I think that’s one of the hardest things when you get a diagnosis and, um, you know what, no matter what age you’re at, your family is there around you. You’re so lucky to have had the support and the care and the guidance and all the love and all the good things, um, with your family close by.

That’s one of the things that we are here to do is to give people tools, knowledge, information, connection, to even know what questions to ask. Right. I mean, I think that’s, that can be hard. Um, ma tell, tell us a little bit about, you know, what that was like. You were just, just about to turn 13 and you were told you had a very severe scoliosis.

Did it feel like it came outta nowhere 

Maeve Danaher: for 

Dr. Rita Roy: you? 

Maeve Danaher: It definitely did feel like it came like. Out of nowhere because this was the first time that they’ve ever noticed it. And for it being that bad, like it was just like, where did this all of a sudden come from and like, how did no one notice it? 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah, and maybe it’s because you were such a dedicated athlete for so long that you’re, you’re kind of able to, your body is compensating and holding itself together and, and, um, you know, doing all the things that it’s supposed to do to keep you moving and keep you doing that.

What was it, was it pain that you first felt or what, what was it that led you to that diagnosis? Do you remember what that was like? 

Maeve Danaher: The diagnosis was more like I had broken my collarbone I think a year prior to finding out, and my shoulders were super uneven. Okay. So I think at the doctors, that was kind of like the first thing they noticed was like me just standing super uneven.

Mm-hmm. And we all like brushed it off because that’s just how we thought I healed. Yeah. But it was actually fun. 

Dr. Rita Roy: My 

Maeve Danaher: top 

Dr. Rita Roy: curve. The, the curvature. Yeah. Yeah. That’s, that’s incredible. I think that’s just so remarkable. And again, um, you know, so much of what we educate about is doing core strength and doing movement, and you do all of those things laying, you are a swimmer for sure, as an athlete, and also you’re young.

Mm-hmm. So, you know, your body’s changing and it’s dynamic and there’s a lot happening and you can. You’re more flexible. Like there’s just a lot of ability to, to have fault tolerance that I just think it’s just so surprising that you had such, such a severe curve and it just hadn’t been noticed at all.

Um, and so what, what was, what were some of the things that you and your family did? Did you turn to the internet to find information or how did you go about getting, getting informed? 

Maeve Danaher: Yeah, we, I feel like I definitely turned toward the internet more. Because I didn’t really have anyone that like I knew Yeah.

That I could go and talk to about this. It was kind of just like, it felt like I had to deal with it by myself. Mm. And I definitely turned to my, my doctors and my nurses, and I asked for like anything I had in mind. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Were they able to connect you to other people your age that had gone through something similar?

Was there, were you able to find a community in that way? 

Maeve Danaher: Yeah, I was definitely able to talk to my surgeon, like about past experiences like he’s had with athlete athletes. Mm-hmm. And like girls my age. Yeah. What was it like when you told your friends what was going on with you? It was definitely surprising.

I knew I had this appointment like set and they knew like I was already nervous for it. Yeah. And that was just probably like the worst possible case that like I could have told them. Yeah. So it was definitely surprising. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. Um, what was it like talking about your diagnosis and your treatment plan with your coach?

Maeve Danaher: My, it was sad 

Dr. Rita Roy: Uhhuh 

Maeve Danaher: because I knew I had to leave the sport that like I loved. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Did you feel like you were gonna have to leave forever? 

Maeve Danaher: It definitely felt like in the moment I wasn’t like going back. But that’s just because like you’re at the earliest stage of recovery. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. 

Maeve Danaher: But through the time, like I knew I was gonna be able to be, go back.

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. So when you talked about it with your surgeon, um, was he sort of setting an expectation that you would, you would heal? Not, not, not giving a timeframe on that, but generally that you would heal and that you would be able to swim again. Was that something that was the expectation for you to go into your surgery?

Maeve Danaher: Yeah, it was definitely the biggest expectation for me because he was also a swimmer. Oh. When he was younger. Wow. Which is very ironic. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. So you can really relate to him. That’s good. Yeah. Were you concerned about, um, missing training time and falling behind in your age group or mm-hmm. Any considerations like that?

Tell me what that was like. 

Maeve Danaher: It was definitely sad, like seeing people excel when I kind of felt like I was dropping below. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. 

Maeve Danaher: But through time, like watching myself, like excel on my own was definitely like the biggest accomplishment for me. Yeah. 

Dr. Rita Roy: When you took the break from the team, was it some period of time before the spring break or were you able to continue practicing really up until the time of surgery?

What was that time like? 

Maeve Danaher: Um, our season ended around February. Like end of February. Yeah. So I kind of had to sit that month of March out. Okay. And to get 

Dr. Rita Roy: and to get ready for surgery. Yeah. And did it feel like that was sort of okay, because do some people take a break at the end of the season? Mm-hmm. So that didn’t feel too weird at that time.

Maeve Danaher: Yeah. I didn’t feel horrible about it because I knew I had something big coming up. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. 

Maeve Danaher: And I didn’t wanna like stress myself out. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. Did your friends have lots of questions for you about what was going 

Maeve Danaher: on? And Definitely I feel like. So many questions were asked that like, I just couldn’t answer, but they got their answers, like when I went through it, so, 

Dr. Rita Roy: yeah.

Maeve Danaher: Yeah. 

Dr. Rita Roy: And you don’t know anybody else in your either school or anyone else that had been through it, that I think that’s one of the hardest things. And again, that’s why we’re here, right? That’s, that’s why we’re doing this because yeah, there are lots of people out there. They might not be in your town or in your community, um, but they’re, they’re out here.

We’re here to tell these stories and share these stories. So Maeve, how did you find us and how did you find this podcast? 

Maeve Danaher: I found it on Instagram through like my teammate’s story from like her friend and I clicked on it and I just kind of went through your website. I went through some of the podcasts you did, and I definitely thought it would be like a cool idea to like share my story because I’ve always like wanted to.

Share what I’ve been through. Yeah. 

Dr. Rita Roy: We’re so glad you found us and we’re so glad you’re sharing because this is what it’s all about, is giving other people insight and hope, sharing your story so other people can feel less afraid and less alone in the journey. Yeah. Just so glad. Thank you so much for doing that.

Of course. Out to us. Um. I guess let’s talk a little bit about, uh, you mentioned that you know, you, you were so grateful to have your parents there to help you with the recovery and you had a little bit of a sense of a loss of independence and I think, um. I’m so impressed by your ability to articulate that because at 14, you know, one of the things that parents want is for the, your children to be feel very independent.

And one of the things that kids want is to really begin to feel independent and, uh, like young adults. And that was a little bit of a step back for you. Can you explain mm-hmm. What that was like for you and share those feelings with us? 

Maeve Danaher: It was definitely a very hard mental challenge knowing, because I. I would classify myself as like a very independent person.

Like I do a lot of things by myself, and so just like not even being able to like get out of bed by myself, it definitely took a toll on me because I needed like my parents’ help for everything for the first three to four weeks. But when I started getting that independence back, like I felt like more myself again.

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. 

Maeve Danaher: And it was a huge accomplishment. 

Dr. Rita Roy: That’s amazing. You know, when you’re going through it, it feels like forever, right? Mm-hmm. Like three or four weeks. It just, what do they say? You know, the days are long, but those weeks are short. I mean, in the scheme of things, three or four weeks is like, you know, not that much time.

Maeve Danaher: Yeah. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Living through it is tough. 

Maeve Danaher: It definitely feels longer. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. And I, you talked a little bit about having to deal with some of that nerve pain that kicked you. Mm-hmm. Tell us what that was like. 

Maeve Danaher: It was definitely out of the blue because I woke up and I couldn’t feel half of my thigh and it was kind of like a surprise to me, but I kind of just like blew it off.

And then right when like my back started feeling better, I started getting these like electric pains and it would like, I would like stop what I was doing. It was bad, but after that week it definitely started getting better uhhuh and it was expected to like not be numb anymore, but being a year and a half post-op now, like it’s still there, but it doesn’t bother me.

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. Little bit of numbness. 

Maeve Danaher: Yeah. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. But it doesn’t interfere with your movement or your ability to work out or train or anything like that? No, not at all. That’s great. Um. I was so excited when we got to your part of the story where you got to go to summer camp. Holy cow. That’s amazing. Yeah. So that was just a couple months after your surgery?

Maeve Danaher: Yeah, it was the end of July. Start of August. That is amazing. Yeah, it was. It was great, but it also was like I had to send out of a lot of things. But I expected that, and that was like an expectation that I had, so it didn’t really make me upset. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. That expectation is so, so important. Mm-hmm. So that you anticipate what you’re gonna do and how you’re gonna feel and manage your emotions, right.

About feeling mm-hmm. Left out of things or not able to fully participate. And it’s like I’m here. Like I’m happy just being here. Yeah. That’s so cool. Ian, what’s amazing me is I’m looking at you and you are this gorgeous, beautiful young girl, and no one would have any idea what you’ve been through. Yeah.

And that you’re, you’re bionic. Mm-hmm. You, you got all, you got metal in you and you’re a bionic girl here. No, you never know. Never nobody would, you know, and I just think that is the, that is the. Joy of the miracles of modern spine care. It’s like, wow, look at you. Amazing. And you know, I I, I wonder, do you, is it, do you even remember that that’s going on in your body as you go through your life?

Do you feel like it’s something that is the front of your mind or it sort of in the back of your mind? 

Maeve Danaher: It’s definitely in the back of my mind now. I’m so far out from it. Like I just feel like I’m normal and I like, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to like, be able to freely move my body 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. 

Maeve Danaher: And not have that like restriction with me.

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. Are there any restrictions to your movement now? 

Maeve Danaher: I def I can’t bend. Okay. That’s, yeah. Um, I can’t like twist. Standing for a while. It’s like a lot of pressure on it. ’cause I am fused for, for most of my spine. So they like from T one to your pelvis? 

Dr. Rita Roy: Pretty much. 

Maeve Danaher: Um, I’m fused. T three to L three. T three.

L three. Okay. So I still have like movement in like my tips. Mm-hmm. Which I’m super grateful for. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. 

Maeve Danaher: Because I can still. Like I can twist to a point. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. 

Maeve Danaher: So I have some mobility. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah, that’s, that’s great. That is awesome. Um, I would think that swimming would be one of the best things you could do for yourself.

Yeah. As an activity. Did your medical team talk with you about actually using aquatics for recovery? Was that part of your, um, recovery journey? 

Maeve Danaher: It definitely was like a part of my recovery journey because I started swimming like super lightly in the pool, like competitively, not competitions, I think four months post-op, just to get my body moving, and I did that very lightly until I was six months post-op, so I could go back.

So it definitely was. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. What other kinds of things did your recovery involve? Tell us about that. 

Maeve Danaher: I just had to be super careful with everything I did. Mm-hmm. Did 

Dr. Rita Roy: you go to physical 

Maeve Danaher: therapy 

Dr. Rita Roy: after surgery? 

Maeve Danaher: It’s crazy. I did not go to physical therapy after surgery. Wow. Yeah. Wow. That was like a surprise to me and my family.

’cause like we just expected. That, like it was gonna be like an automatic physical therapy, but I just had to walk a lot and just like stay as active as I could. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. That’s incredible. Yeah. That’s amazing. Um, how soon were you walking after your surgery? 

Maeve Danaher: The day after 

Dr. Rita Roy: what? 

Maeve Danaher: Yeah, the day after I stood up and I walked second day.

I did stairs. Oh my gosh. And then the third day it was kind of just like more walking. Yeah. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. And did you have to stay in the hospital? 

Maeve Danaher: I had to stay in the hospital for four days. Okay. So it’s not the best, but it, it flew by to me like, yeah, I don’t remember all of that. 

Dr. Rita Roy: And it was nice ’cause you had the nursing staff there to help you get out bed.

Yeah. Learn how to walk, learn how to, did you have to do that log roll to get out of bed? Like to roll over? 

Maeve Danaher: Yeah. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Had to learn how to do that, right? Yeah. I, I’ve had a fusion, not as many levels ease as you, but I also had to learn that, you know, careful. Yeah. Pulling out a 

Maeve Danaher: bed 

Dr. Rita Roy: thing. Yeah. That 

Maeve Danaher: was different.

I don’t use the log rule now, but I had to for like a few months. Till. Till. Till you heal. Yeah. Yeah. 

Dr. Rita Roy: That’s amazing. Maeve, how do you talk about your condition with your friends? Do you talk about it now? Is it something that comes up? 

Maeve Danaher: Yeah. I talk about it very positively now because I’m also had people that are getting fusions that like I know come and talk to me about it, which is like.

A great thing because I, I love talking about it because I think it’s like a huge part of me now. And like you said, like no one would know that I had it. Yeah. Like, it’s not like a physical thing. Right. So I talked about it super positively ’cause it didn’t negative negatively affect me. It positively affected me mentally and physically.

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. Once you got through it though, right? Yeah, through it. And you gotta have that support system around you. Yeah. You had all that. That’s awesome that you can talk to other people that are going through it. It’s absolutely amazing. Meg, what do you think about what we are doing at the National Spine Health Foundation?

What do you think about our efforts? Um, and and maybe some ways that we can do more, do better? 

Maeve Danaher: I think it’s great what you guys are doing and I wish I. Found you guys before I got my surgery ’cause it would’ve helped me so much more because going to the internet, like you get kind of the mixed opinions, but like going to you guys and hearing people’s story, like there’s a story out there for everyone by what you’re going through while I’m going through.

So I think it’s great for people who like don’t have someone who they can. Talk to about it. And I felt like super supported when I found you guys because like seeing many people going through like the same thing made me, made me feel like super positive. 

Dr. Rita Roy: I’m so glad to hear that you just filled my cup.

That’s what we’re here for. That’s what we hope for. And you know, it’s people like you who help us. On our mission to reach out there and to be a resource and to support others and, you know, and everything that you do helps us sharing your story, telling your friends, helping us spread the news, um, that we exist, that there’s hope, that there’s good news for recovery.

It might be hard that you’re gonna get through it and, um, and get on with your life and get back to it. That’s fantastic. Maeve are there, are there any other things that we haven’t talked about today that you wanna share with the audience? That anything we didn’t cover? I would just 

Maeve Danaher: share, um, to stay positive during the whole thing because going to a negative mindset can really affect how you recover.

And I think having a positive mindset can make the process go quicker and like happier for you. 

Dr. Rita Roy: Such good advice, such good advice. And it’s a little bit easier said than done. Yeah. But once you decide, right, like I’m gonna lean into this and I’m gonna find a silver lining and think about how much better off I’m gonna be.

Right. To stay positive. Mm-hmm. Good advice. I love it. Well, Mave, your story is amazing. Thank you. I’m so grateful that you’ve shared this with us. Taking time out of your busy life as a high schooler now and an athlete and all the extracurriculars and everything, your story shows how incredibly brave and resilient you are and, um, I just thank you.

Thank you for taking your time. And diving into all the aspects of your story, the mental health challenges and the physical struggles. And um, I know, I know you are going to achieve amazing things academically on the diving board. Um, ’cause you are a winner and that. It comes from your mindset and your dedication to what you’re doing, your positive way of looking at the world.

And, um, and you are a winner. And I, I just, I can’t wait to keep in touch with you and see all the amazing places you’re gonna go. Um, you’re amazing.

At the National Spine Health Foundation, something we believe in most is providing hope for recovery Through sharing stories of success and expertise. It isn’t always easy to find someone to relate to. Even though a hundred million people suffer from a neck or low back condition every year. To hear more stories of spinal champion recovery and access educational materials about spine health, visit us@spinehealth.org.

If you’re interested in supporting our show financially, you can contribute at the link provided. Thank you for listening.