Shirners Hospital Patients

[marylatimer]

Hi, I wanted to know if anybody out there had surgery any Shriners Hospital for Scoliosis? My son is 14 years old and he has 50/55 curve and they have sugguested he have surgery in June this year. He suppose to have it at Shriners Hospital in Greenville, SC. I am so worried, He doesn't want to talk about it at all. I just want to find out all th info. I can for his well being. I want to know should he give is own blood before surgery? What type of rodes is the best to use? They said they will be using sterling silver? I heard about the Harrington Rods, Titantium rods etc. Is it best to have an anterior or posterior surgery, which do you recovery faster from. I know it all depends on the indivdiual and I pray he does well. Does anybody know if its best to fuse from the front or back of the spine? After his surgery will he ever need surgery again? I pray he doen't, because once enough! Does anybody know what I can do to ease his mind of this surgery? I ask him to come on this website, but he just won't? Please Help, I'm runnig out of time.
Thank you/Mary Latimer-Concern Mom

[nikyergen]

Mary Ann,
We didn't use Shriners-Greenville, but we did use Shriners-Portland, Oregon. The care my daughter got there for her surgery was just wonderful. And, it seems to be pretty normal that everyone gets good care at all the Shriners Hospitals, nation wide.

It is pretty normal for these kids to not want to talk about their surgeries before hand. So, don't be upset with him about it. It is very normal.

Don't go into panic mode. There are a whole bunch of us here that have been in your shoes. Some it's been a while, some it has been very recently. Surgery for your child is very scary. Especially, a major surgery like this. I was like a kitty on a hot tin roof before Crystal's surgery. After she came out of surgery and was in recovery, I wondered why I was so keyed up about it.

How your son will recover will depend partly on his current physical condition, and how he takes care of himself after surgery. Crystal has done everything she was asked to do by the doctor and is in excellent physical shape, she's an athlete. She is back at school, 4 classes a day, and keeping very busy the rest of the time. Crystal had a posterior surgery. Whether you son has posterior, anterior, or both surgeries depends on what needs to be done. The easiest surgery to recovery from, I think, is posterior. However, which surgery will be done is the doctors decision. Crystal had posterior surgery and has done wonderfully with it. Crystal didn't have to donate blood, as they have a machine at Shriners that cleans the blood cells and they can put them back in. The doctor also used bone from the bone bank. Crystal didn't have to have another incision to remove bone from somewhere else to use for her bone graft. Her surgery took about an hour longer than what was scheduled, but everything went great. The hardware that is used, is really up to the doctor. These aren't decisions we were asked to make.

Don't look at this as running out of time. Things will be okay. To us moms, it is really scary. I don't know what your sons belief in God is, but Crystal puts a lot in God's hands. I asked her one day how she felt about having surgery, this was before hand. She told me she was okay with it because she had the best surgeon in the world and God sitting on her shoulder. And, neither one of them was going to let anything happen to her. Try to reassure your son. If he doesn't want to talk about it, don't force him to, as it may upset him worse. He'll talk about it when he wants to. Crystal wouldn't get on these boards either, because she doesn't know these people personally. Call your doctors nurse and see if there is any information she can give you over the phone or send you in the mail. Crystal's doctors nurse was great at that stuff.

I am sending you bunches of prayers to help you through this, but keep talking to us too.

'til later,
Nikki

[marylatimer]

Mary/Concern Mom

Hi, Nikki
Thank you for taking some of the pressure off of my mind. It's very assuring to hear confident, positive feedback about Shriners Hospital. Thank you so very much. I am so glad your daughter Chrystal has done very well with her surgery recovery. It sounds like she is a very smart girl, following all the doctors orders. I know that has to do a lot with recovering and doing well after surgery. Thank you for being understanding, because you know as a mom your kids mean the world to you. The closer I get to his surgery the more I get worried and scared. They haven't decided on a date yet for Hakeem, but they said it may be in the first of June. My family and I are god driven people. " We know all things are possible thru our lord Jesus Christ". I know Hakeem has Faith in God, because I think thats why he don't even want to take about it. He has put all his worries in God hands. I have 3 sons 18, 14 and 5 years old. I can't help but to worry about them when something is wrong. I must be strong and keem the faith. Thanks for your prayers and I will pray that Chrystal continues to do well as she is, it sound likes she had lots of support from her mom. I will continue to keep in touch.
Thank you
Mary Ann

[Mary Lou]

Mary Ann,

My daughter had surgery 4 1/2 months ago and is awesome! She is very restricted, which is hard right now with the nice weather, but her back looks great and she has a totally new positive attitude about herself.

Before her surgery, that was the first thing that popped into my head in the morning, I thought/worried about it all day and it was the last thing I thought about before going to sleep. I had heartburn. I was finding myself snapping at my family for the littest thing and it was all from worrying. I finally told Jamie that we trusted our surgeon and of course, trusted in God. I told her with that said, it was out of our hands. We had researched the surgery, taken her to several surgeons for different opinions and we had done all we could do and that it was all in God's hands from here on out. You know, the heartburn stopped, the stress was still there, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been and everything worked out just fine.

Mary Lou

[nikyergen]

Mary Ann,
A big Kudo's to Mary Lou. Her comments are so true. We are all here to help you through this scary time of life. I think we have all cried and we have all laughed, but the biggest thing is the sigh of relief when it is all over. It is okay to have a weak moment too. We are only human.

Crystal had her first post-op yesterday. She is healing wonderfully. The doctor didn't release any of her restriction yet. He said maybe in June when she goes back.

Keep talking to us. We will all listent and try to reassure you.

Love and prayers to your family.

'til later,
Nikki

[matt]

Shreveport Shriners Hospital

Hi Mary Ann. I had surgery at Shriners Hospital for Children-Shreveport, and we were amazed by their preserverence and great knowledge at what they were doing. Dr. McCall was a great surgeon. He specializes in spinal deformity. Like Mary Lou said, I trusted the surgeon, and ecspecially God. He won't give us more than we can handle. Take care, and good luck with the surgery. Keep us posted! Ross

[nikyergen]

Matt,
Crystal told me the same thing about her surgery. She trusted her surgeon and she knew God wouldn't give her anything she couldn't handle. Did you two read the same thing. I sure hope so. I like to hear you young people have so much faith in God. It is very refreshing.

Nikki