{"id":11872,"date":"2024-02-13T14:45:41","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T19:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=11872"},"modified":"2024-02-13T14:45:59","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T19:45:59","slug":"ocean-lakes-gymnast-swings-through-curved-barriers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/ocean-lakes-gymnast-swings-through-curved-barriers\/","title":{"rendered":"Ocean Lakes gymnast swings through curved barriers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Ocean Lakes High School junior gymnast Maggie Sokalzuk dismounts from the bar, then turns to judges and showcases her smile on Dec. 4, 2023. (photo courtesy of Amberly Zurschmit)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Marlie Smith<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Gymnastics. Competing. Perseverance. One problem: scoliosis.<\/p>\n

On Sept. 2, 2021, junior gymnast Maggie Sokalzuk was diagnosed with scoliosis. It was a normal yearly checkup, but the doctor noticed something different this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one would tell me what was going on, but I knew it was something that would affect me for the rest of my life,\u201d said Maggie.<\/p>\n

Scoliosis is a sideways curve of the spine. Specifically, Maggie has an S-curve, in which the spine curves sideways in an \u201cS\u201d shape to the left.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaggie is a consistent reliable teammate,\u201d said gymnastics coach Jennifer Ramey. \u201cShe works hard to be successful despite her hardships.\u201d<\/p>\n

To fix her condition, Maggie had to get a life-changing surgery. At first, her doctor was convinced Maggie needed the Harrington rod surgery, a surgery that fuses a metal rod to the spine to reduce the curve. If Maggie had gotten this surgery, she would have never been able to compete again.<\/p>\n

\u00a8I started to feel empty, wondering how can this be the only way,\u201d Maggie said. \u201cI figured there had to be another way to fix this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junior Tatum Heckstein said, \u201cAt practice, Maggie is always encouraging, but most importantly caring, so when Maggie told me she may never be able to compete again, it was really upsetting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knowing Maggie\u2019s love for gymnastics, her mother searched for a specific surgery that allowed other patients to continue their sport. Eventually, Maggie\u2019s mother found a doctor who could perform Anterior Scoliosis Correction (ASC). A surgery that would not only allow her to continue competing but also would allow her to grow by avoiding permanent damage to her back muscles and disks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was out of school for weeks after the surgery, and I could hardly do anything,\u201d said Maggie. \u201cIt was 12 weeks after my surgery until my life became normal again.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the beginning of her recovery, Maggie was unsure if she\u2019d ever be able to fully recover because the process was so physically and mentally demanding. Still, as time went on, she persevered and made a full recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is amazing how you think there is only one way out of your problem, but actually you just need to try harder to solve it,\u201d said Maggie.<\/p>\n

Marlie Smith is the girls sports editor for <\/em>The Current<\/em><\/a>, Ocean Lakes High School\u2019s student news website.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Marlie Smith Gymnastics. Competing. Perseverance. One problem: scoliosis. On Sept. 2, 2021, junior gymnast Maggie Sokalzuk was diagnosed with scoliosis. It was a normal yearly checkup, but the doctor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":11874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11872"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11875,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11872\/revisions\/11875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}