One week post-op

[CaMom]

Hi this is my first post. My son Jeremy is 16 yrs old and was diagnosed with Scoliosis when he was 10 yrs old. He wore a Boston brace for 5 yrs. His curve continued to get worse till at 57 degrees we decided it was time for surgery. We are Kaiser members so we were referred to Kaiser Oakland to see Dr. Ravi Bains. I was very impressed with his expertise in this type of surgery. So the surgery was last Monday, November 14, 2005. His spine was fused from T-1 to T-11. His incision is about 14 inches long. Everything went as planned no complications. He went in on a Monday and was home by Saturday. I don't think he thought he was ready to leave that electric bed that helped him get up and down. Once home we all were very happy. Its so hard to get any rest in a hospital with nurses coming in all day and night and roomates that have visitors that sometimes are loud. The pain has been managable with meds, he's taking Narco for pain and Valium for spasms and anxiety. He wanted to take a shower by himself 6 days post op so he did. He also took a walk outside, well this wiped him out. He was shaking and in extream pain after. It took him quit awhile to settle down after that. Today he decided to take another shower and again it was way too much for him.
We have learned how little energy he really has. Every little movement just wipes him out. We are taking it one day at a time and learning every bit of the way. I have been visiting this forum for months now and finally decided I had something to say. One great thing that happened was this morning he was joking around with his brothers, telling them they are lucky he can't get up they told him no you're lucky. In other words his personality is coming back and he actually felt like kidding around. That's music to my ears. I do have one questions does anyone know how to remove all that sticky stuff left over from the tape? Also any comments are welcome on how to get through this difficult time. :

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[LindaRacine]

Hi...

Congratulations on getting throught the tough part! I know Dr. Bains, and think a lot of him.

You've posted your message in the Adult Patient forums. If you want to talk with other parents, you should probably post in the Parent area:

http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=100

Regards,
Linda

[curvy]

http://www.scoliosislinks.com/AboutMe.htm

Great website for limitations on what he should do and cant do. I also bought the scoliosis surgery book by David Wolpert..

it says for adolescents who usually heal faster than two weeks. The sticky stuff should not be picked at but if they are still hangin on after "three weeks" you can carefully try to peel them off.

Did you say he was already taken showers....hopefully he is being very careful not to get them wet and if the incision itches ask the Dr for a prescription cream.

Hope that helps

[LindaRacine]

Thanks for mentioning my website Curvy. However, the page about resuming activities is here:

http://www.scoliosislinks.com/PostSurgActivities.htm

[Mary Lou]

CaMom,

Congratulations! Doesn't it feel great to be on the other side of surgery? It sounds like your son is doing great and yes, even taking a shower at this point will really tire him out! My daughter felt as though she ran a marathon after taking her first shower, but she said it felt so good, that it was well worth it effort.

As for the sticky stuff from the tape, I read several things on this site to remove the sticky stuff. For the life of me, I can't remember what worked best. Did you try doing a search and seeing if you can find the posts where we've talked about it before? You might find something under "removing ster-strips" because I know we talked about that, and with my daughter's strips staying on for over seven weeks, I was ready to get rid of them!

Tell your son to keep up the good work, but try not to overdue it. His body needs time to heal.

Mary Lou

[nicoles mom]

Camom
Welcome To The Other Side. My Daughter Is 8 Months Post Op. Sounds Like Jeremy Is Doing Well. My Nicole Was Also Wiped Out Doing Anything The First Couple Of Weeks. As Far As The Sticky Stuff A Cotton Ball With A Rubbering Alcohol Works. When My Nicole Came Home From The Hospital She Had The Adhesive Tape Marks On Her Arms And Leg.the Alcohol Takes In Off Quick. My Surgeon Told Me To Take Her Steri Strips Off With Alcohol Too. We Did That At About 3 Weeks. As Soon As The Edge Of The Strips Curled Up. I Gentle Took A Cotton Ball With The Alcohol Dabbed The Steri Strip And They Came Right Off. We Did A Few A Day And They Were Gone. My Nicole Didn't Like Her Back Touched At All So Just Be Gentle It's Not Going To Sting If The Skin Is Healed. Works Well If He's Ichty Too.

Theresa

[HGD24]

Camom,
Congratulations on getting through the surgery. The next few months are going to be tough for your son both physically and emotionally, but with a lot of hard work and determination, he should come through it all just fine! I'm 31 and now 9 months post op and feeling great!

For removing the sticky stuff, I found that once I applied lotion after taking my showers, it really helped to loosen it and in some cases, made it come off on my hand as I would apply the lotion. For the tougher spots, my husband would have to scrape a little with his fingernail, but the lotion still helped to loosen it. I used St. Ives Intensive Healing lotion. I'm not sure how exicted your son will be to use lotion, but it worked and wasn't painful at all.

Hope that helps!

[nikyergen]

My daugther is 8 month post op. We used neosporin to remove her steri-strips before her prom, at which time she was 4 weeks post-op. We just applied the neosporin to the site where the steri-strips were before her shower, then some of them would come off by themselves in the shower. I would be afraid alcohol would burn.

[CaMom]

Thanks for the advice

Well what a great welcome thank you all. I posted again in the parent area as recommended and I printed the limitations list. I did read the book Scoliosis Surgery by David K. Wolpert over and over again. It is such a great book I even used it to show family and friends exactly what was happening.
As for the sticky stuff I did do a search on this website and found lots of advise on how to remove it. Now for taking a shower, our Dr. said showers were fine with no limitations on how long to wait. Of course no baths and no direct water sprayed on the incision. When my son got out of the shower I removed the gauze covering the steri strips and used a hair dryer on a very low heat to dry his back. The nurse at the hospital told me to put square gauze pads all down his incision site and then run tape down the length of the pads. She said its up to us whether we run another strip of tape down the middle of the pads. I am so worried about infection, when I was in the hospital waiting during the surgery a mother was taking about how her daughter was doing great, had her stiches removed and soon started running a fever. They thought it was step throat yet the test came back negative.
So they went back to the surgeon and found she had a infection in her wound and she was back in the hospital to have her wound opened and cleaned out. This just freaks me out, I wonder how many people have had this happen to them. Also how can I avoid my son getting an infection.

[nicoles mom]

My Nicole Had No Limitations With Taking A Shower Just No Direct Water On The Incision. We Didn't Have To Cover The Incision With Gauze After Leaving The Hospital. I Was Helping Her Take A Shower For A Few Weeks She Was Filping Out That I May See Something. So To But Her At Ease I Had Some Plastic Table Cloths Round I Think I Got Them At The Dollar Store. I Would Cut A Hole Into The Middle She Would Get Undressed I Would Have My Eyes Closed. Than Into The Tub Onto The Shower Chair. When I Washed Her Very Long Hair The Plastic Covered Her Incision So It Did Get Wet But No Soaked Than I Would Just Pad Dry With A Soft Towel. You Will See If It Is Getting A Infection It May Start Oozing Or Look Red Around The Incision. Nicoles Incision On The Very Top Was Swollen And A Little Oozer I But Neosporin On It. I Had Called The Doctor And Couldn't Get Throught But When The Nurse Called Me Back And I Told Her I Used The Neo On It. She Said To Just Leave It So It Could Dry Up And Heal. This Was The Only Place On The Site With A Small Scab. We Saw The Doctor Two Days Later For Something Else And It Was Fine. Just Keep It Dry As Possible And You Should Be Fine.
Theresa

[Mary Lou]

Jamie's bandage was changed once in the hospital and I had to change it once after we got home. She only had the bandage on for about 10 days or less because she was allowed to shower at 10 days post-op and the bandage was gone by then. Did the hospital tell you how long to keep it covered?

As for risk of infection, it sounds like you are doing everything you can to avoid infection. Sometimes it does happen, so be sure to watch out for signs like redness, fever, and the skin being warm. I would suggest that you wash your hands very well before changing the dressing. This is always a good practice, but very important during the cold and flu season.

Mary Lou

[CaMom]

Sounds good

I know what you mean about privacy I'm sure I've seen alittle too much as far as my 16 yr old son is concerned and as he gets better he really does not want me to see him. Its amazing considering we use to change their diapers.
Oh well I guess its just natural. As far as his wound goes I'll keep an eye on his incision for redness and swelling. Because of the holiday he is not scheduled to have his stiches out till 3 1/2 weeks post op. I hope this won't be a problem with the stiches being to stuck on his skin. I was told not to remove the steri strips, that they will either fall off or the nurse will remove them when she removes the stiches.

[LindaRacine]

I could be wrong, but it seem to me that showering with gauze pads covering the incision will actually keep water on the incision longer than if the steri-strips were simply left uncovered.

--Linda

[Carmell]

I agree with Linda. The steri-strips are better left uncovered if you are already showering. And yes, do NOT remove the steri-strips if he has sutures that need to be removed by the doc. The steri-strips will come off on their own.

I'm assuming your question about tape residue is from the surgical adhesive and the tape used for IVs and such. There is an adhesive removal called Detachol that you can buy in most pharmacies (you may have to ask for it at the counter). It will remove the residue that the tape leaves. The tape is Braydon's LEAST favorite part about having surgery.

[CaMom]

I agree

Linda I think you are right about the gauze soaking up the water and keeping it close to the steri strips. Thanks for the info.