I'm Goin' In!

[Sharon C]

Hi Everyone!

After months of soul searching, this 53 year old woman has decided to have the surgery. I have a 44 degree thoracic curve and 25ish compensary, rib hump, stenosis, and degenerative discs. I have read a lot of your stories, and it has helped me feel less alone, although making the decision for surgery is still a very personal, hard choice to make, no matter how many went before you. Besides trusting in my Dr., I realize that my curve will never get better, nor will my insurance or personal support system. I wish there was a better solution, but there isn't, and I've S-L-O-W-L-Y come to grips with that I will write when I can and let you know how things went. Hopefully I can help someone else who's going through the agony of being "on the fence." Thanks again for taking the time to share part of your lives with me.
Sharon

[csc]

Our cases are very similar....

Hi Sharon!
Just to let you know ....I'm pretty much in the same situation you are. Trying to keep working full-time, but it's difficult. I've been advised to have surgery within the next year. I'll be 50 and this is surgery for the first time!
It's really been getting me down. The stenosis seems to have brought on numbness and leg pain. Just started taking Celebrex and it seems to be helping. Pain is a constant - in varying degrees- every day.
Let's keep in touch and get through this together.

CSC

[LindaRacine]

Hi Sharon...

Wanted to let you know that you posted in the Adolescent & Teen area. If you want to post in the Adult section, go here:

http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=68

Regards,
Linda

[Sharon C]

Couldn't find My Way

Thanks Linda,
But I was lucky to get posted at all! I had a heck of a time trying to find how to simply make a new post (not a private message.) Not sure how to accomplish this still.....

[Sharon C]

Misery Loves Company

So good to hear from you CSC.
I was down to 32 hours a week for quite some time, and that was really hard. I should tell you that I have also have fatigue and long term anxiety, but the scoli problems were just the last straw!
Old age aint all it's cracked up to be.
Where do you live? I'd like to keep in touch.
Sharon

[Barbara60/48]

good luck sharon c

hi at 56 i don't think i ever want to have surgery
but support your decision and will think about you on those dates
what tipped the scales for your decision?? i care understand that 'getting off the fence' would be a relief in itself
barbara

[Sharon C]

Nowhere to go But Up

Barbara,

I was DEFINITELY not going to get the surgery, then maybe, then...What a nightmare! There is some relief in just making the decision, but today in the grocery store, I felt surreal looking at the items on the shelf knowing that it would be a long time before I could do something even this simple again. Everything looks different now. But I'm not going to get better by wishin' and hopin'. I'm just tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop. My MD and my husband/close friends and I have weighed the options this way and that. I want to do this now while I'm in relatively good health and get it behind me. I still have a lot to offer and a lot of life to live. Can't wait 'til I can shimmy out on the dance floor again!
Best wishes to you!
Sharon

[Barbara60/48]

i'd like to hear over the next few months how it goes post op

i'd like to hear how it goes post op and so on
6 years ago they recommended extensive fusion and instrumentation.....among other reasons i just didn't have the support....but i do alot of various exercise and pain meds and acupuncture to keep me sane realatively i hope but continued work as an RN is not possible now
so maybe i will learn from your courage to go for it

i know what you mean about the little things a while back i wascouldn't drive after having a broken hip and i was holding up fine until i couldn't get a ride to the thrift shop one day then i burst into tears it wasn['t the thrift shop just the realization that i was dependent for a while
but that got better and again good luck
barbara

[Sharon C]

Flip A Coin

Hi Barbara,

I just saw my "second" opinion today, a surgeon recomended by my anesthesiologist son-in-law. A really great guy, who is like most, cautiously optomistic about this very serious surgery. It has simply come down to the point where I will either go on disability or get this surgery. The doc said "well, you may still go on disability after the surgery." I hate it when they talk like that! But he agreed that my husband and I are not taking this lightly and have researched as much as we can. The thing is that the surgery will stop the curve, and probably alleviate SOME of the pain, but not all. And I'd like to hear from some others out there who have had the surgery and years later develop pain above or below, as is wont to happen. What then?? I'm still very scared, but I've made up my mind and will try to enjoy the next 2 days before I step into the twilight zone.

Thanks for your support,

Sharon

[csc]

Let's get through this together....

It is nice to make a decision. It just seems so strange. Surgery was not something that was advised. It was always "wait and see" or "you might never need it." Now it is a definite thing in my future. I had a bone scan done at Costco this last weekend. It showed that my bones are at the farthest range- + side for density. The consulting doctor said, "bones like a teen-ager."
Then he went on about how surgeons complain when operating on someone like me- how they have to saw and saw! I told him ENOUGH. I was scared enough as it is about my possible surgery next spring.
Anyway- y'all take care!
CSC

[Sharon C]

Hold Everything!!!

Unbelievably, I woke up the day before my scheduled surgery with a toothache, and ended up seeing a dentist on an emergency basis who said "NO SURGERY FOR YOU!" not unlike the soup nazi on Seinfeld. I had managed to get an abscess in the night! I see the dentist 1st tomorrow, followed by my back surgeon to re-schedule everything. I've been walking around in a daze, and trying to keep my head from blowing up with all the stress! I felt relieved until I realized I still have to have the surgery, just not right now. I also filed for disability today. I'm hoping all goes well, and the surgery will "magically" help cure my anxiety, depression, and fatigue, but I've got the ball rolling just in case God's all out of miracles.
Regards to All,
Sharon