"You have Spina Bifida," the doctor told me. The first question that came to mind was, "would there be a limit to playing High School football?" Now is the time for me to refute my parents because football is on the line. I knew I needed strong points to convince them that I was still able to play football. That's why I decided to do my I-Search paper on spina bifida. .
At that time, which was when I was about 12, I had absolutely no clue what this was. I thought it was really serious, but the doctor said it was just a fissure on the last vertebrae. "What a relief," I thought. Now, 3 years later, my mother is stressing that I should not play football for Goleman Senior High School.
Being the determined and hardheaded person that I am, I decided to gather information to refute my side of the argument against my mother's. I wanted to learn everything possible about spina bifida occulta. I was, and still am, determined to get my point across clearly. I am determined to win this battle.
The first article I came across was from the Brain Encyclopedia, title "spina bifida." Since I was new to this subject I learned a lot about my condition. I found out it is just an incomplete closure found in 20% or more of our population. It was diagnosed to me accidentally when I had complained about my back when I fell playing basketball.
My second attempt to be more successful. This article titled "spina bifida (genetics)," from the encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders and Birth Defects was more in my favor, and liking. It stated that the "occulta" from is the mildest. It also says that the cause MAY BE multifactorial, but it's still unknown. I thought this was the most informative source.
My last resource was monotonous. It was just a very broad overview of what spina bifida was. Although all this information was very helpful, my doctor beat me to it. He consulted with neurosurgeons and doctors specializing in Sports Medicine and they told him that there is no way I could play football.
