Hello Everyone -
I had my one year post op appointment yesterday and left there very dissapointed and literally in tears.
First of all my curves seem to have changed since the last visit by like 6-8 degrees and also the rotation increased from 5-10 degrees as well. My doctor described this as "settling" that is normal and expected. He said some people lose some correction in the first six months to 1 year but that is not expected to continue except there is a possible non union.
Also based on the leg pain I have had in my right leg since after surgery, he got a CT scan of my lumbar spine at this visit. He said that L1-L2 and L2-3 seemed to have fused but L3-L4 is still open at the facet joint and did not show fusion as yet. I was very distraught at this information and asked if it was possible to expect fusion past the first year and he said it is different for each patient.
In terms of next steps, he said to come back in six months so we cold take new xrays and take all the measurements again to make sure that there is no more shifting in the correction and then for the lumbar to wait until two years to see if the fusion completes before we make any further decisions.
This is where I need your guidance on the forum. Was your doctor able to tell if you were fully fused at your first year appt and is it possible for fusion to continue in the second year. Everything I have read out there seems to suggest that fusion is complete in the first year after surgery. Also given these signs at my one year appt I am not very comfortable about the wait and see approach that my doctor has decided to adopt. Please any into your own experiences will be helpful. I literally did not get any sleep last night just worrying about all this.
Thanks is advance for your responses.
I had my one year post op appointment yesterday and left there very dissapointed and literally in tears.
First of all my curves seem to have changed since the last visit by like 6-8 degrees and also the rotation increased from 5-10 degrees as well. My doctor described this as "settling" that is normal and expected. He said some people lose some correction in the first six months to 1 year but that is not expected to continue except there is a possible non union.
Also based on the leg pain I have had in my right leg since after surgery, he got a CT scan of my lumbar spine at this visit. He said that L1-L2 and L2-3 seemed to have fused but L3-L4 is still open at the facet joint and did not show fusion as yet. I was very distraught at this information and asked if it was possible to expect fusion past the first year and he said it is different for each patient.
In terms of next steps, he said to come back in six months so we cold take new xrays and take all the measurements again to make sure that there is no more shifting in the correction and then for the lumbar to wait until two years to see if the fusion completes before we make any further decisions.
This is where I need your guidance on the forum. Was your doctor able to tell if you were fully fused at your first year appt and is it possible for fusion to continue in the second year. Everything I have read out there seems to suggest that fusion is complete in the first year after surgery. Also given these signs at my one year appt I am not very comfortable about the wait and see approach that my doctor has decided to adopt. Please any into your own experiences will be helpful. I literally did not get any sleep last night just worrying about all this.
Thanks is advance for your responses.
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