Stop Fighting Your Body: How to Heal When the Medical System Leaves You Behind

What happens when you wake up from surgery at 11 years old in a body you no longer recognize, and nobody tells you what to do next?In this episode of Pain to Performance, host Bradley Morgan sits down with Dr. Laura Glazebrook, a Doctor of Physical Therapy who specializes in scoliosis, spinal fusion rehabilitation, pelvic health, and pregnancy and postpartum care. Dr. Laura is not just a clinician. She is a spinal fusion survivor who has lived the very recovery she now guides others through.At age 11, Laura underwent a long spinal fusion for severe scoliosis, a surgery that left her with titanium rods and an entire section of her spine that no longer moves. She received almost no guidance on how to exist in her new body afterward, and that experience became the foundation of her entire practice. Today, she helps patients around the world relearn how to move, rebuild confidence, and stop seeing their bodies as broken.This conversation goes well beyond posture and pain relief. Brad and Laura dig into the mind-body connection, why the medical model fails people by compartmentalizing the body, how a foot surgery can cause hip pain years later, the surprising link between scoliosis and pelvic floor dysfunction, and why radical acceptance is the first real step toward recovery. Laura shares her go-to tool for patients stuck in a negative mindset: find one thing you love about your body and start there.If you have ever been told your body is fragile, that pain is just something you have to live with, or that you have simply been "cleared" with no plan for what comes next, this episode is for you.Topics covered: scoliosis, spinal fusion surgery, spinal fusion recovery, physical therapy, pelvic floor dysfunction, chronic pain, body image, radical acceptance, mind-body connection, medical trauma, connective tissue, postpartum recovery, movement coaching, body awareness, PT vs chiropractor for scoliosis, pediatric scoliosis, long spinal fusion, pain mindset, empowerment in recoveryTo connect with Dr. Laura Glazebrook, visit her website and social media channels.Listen to Pain to Performance on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.Website: paintoperformancepodcast.comFollow, subscribe, and leave a review. If this episode made you think of someone who needs to hear it, send it their way. Pain is rarely a solo experience and a good conversation is better shared.