I have a question

[ScoliGal]

At what degree does your doctor operate? Mine does it at 40.

[roxie]

same here my doctor did my surgery at 40 but i was alot more but boy am i glad it took it!! yep i have no pain

[ScoliGal]

yeah, and most doctors operate at least when it's 55 degrees. I think that's too much and you'll get less correction.

[CurvySAT05]

Mine says normally 50, but 45 if you have much pain, like I did.

[samantha_lynn]

It depends on the doctor. When my scoliosis was discovered, I was at 42, and my doctor at the time immediately said "surgery".
Obviously I wanted a second opinion, considering this guy was edging on 70. My current doctor, who actually did my surgery, held off until I jumped to 54 in less than a year. I'm glad I had the opportunity to wait it out and see what happened, without going too far.

[starchild_81212]

my doctor operates at 45 and as soon as my curve hit that he schedueled the surgery but between then and when the surgery was it moved up 8 degrees so he operated at 53 on me

[ScoliChick]

My doctor is the ortho for the muscular dystophy kids so he operates on them as soom as he knows there is scoliosis occuring and before it gets to bad because most of the md patients are in wheelchairs and there curve will continue to grow for a long time so he operates on them as soon as possible so that he can straighten them as much as possible. As for a more normal kid he operates as soon as he thinks that the curve is severe enough. He wanted to wait on me because i was done growing so he though my curve was too but he was wrong. My curve got worse so it was time. I go for surgery march 10th.

[Nikim13]

Decisions on Surgery for my daughter

My daughters largest curve is at 54 degrees, and her doctor is still putting surgery off. What should I do? When is the best time to consider surgery? I also have no idea where to start looking for a second oppinion. Niki

[ScoliGal]

Nikki, how old is ur daughter? Im 16, and i have a curve of 40 degrees, and my surgery is planned for June 7. 2006. It depends on the pain too, i have a lot of pain. If ur daughter is still growing I would highly recommend u get a second opinion for surgery because if ur doc continues putting off surgery, it could get worse and by the time he does consider surgery, it will be too late to get a lot of correction.

[marmyte]

i think in a lot of cases it's a mistake to go purely on degrees of curvature when making a decision as serious as whether or not to have fusion surgery. a lot of surgeons in the UK would wait until a minimum of 50 degrees, but it depends on: patient's age, speed of progression, risk to lifestyle (such as lung capacity), pain levels.

the other KEY thing to remember is that when measuring spinal curvatures (unless a computer is doing the measuring) there's a margin of error! so if a doctor is ready to raise their scalpel to a patient with a 40 degree curvature, the patient could actually have a 35 degree curve and not yet be at the point of requiring surgery (margin of error is believed to be +/- 5 degrees)

one of the things i've read many people around here write is: scoliosis is rarely an emergency. most people can afford to take their time over a decision like this. i was offered surgery when i was 16 and deferred it until last summer when i was 18 (mainly due to school, but also because i just wasn't ready). despite waiting those two years i've had a fantastic correction and recovery, plus i was in a better frame of mind to get through it. obviously if my curves had taken a significant leap in that time i'd have had to change my plans but fortunately everything's been ok.

so nikki: your daughter's curve could be between 49 and 59 degrees. i'd get a second opinion if i were you but whether to have surgery just yet or not is determined by other factors such as her age, stage in growth and rate of progression. good luck!

[ScoliGal]

well i just know that my curve is 40 degrees and progressing like 3-5 degrees a year....and im not missing any school cause its during the summer, and even if it were less (the curve) it would be corrected more... he he

[lindsay]

SCOLIGIRL!!

im 15. how old are you? you said your having surgery june 7? im having it june 19!! we so need to get in contact with one another. please email me at lroyek@yahoo.com. i would love to talk! my doctor does it at 40 degrees. im like 45 degrees (last checked 3 months ago) my curve jumped from 17-45 in 6 months time. so who knows what it is now. but yeah, email me so we can talk!

<3 lindsay

[lindsay]

SCOLIGIRL!!

im 15. how old are you? you said your having surgery june 7? im having it june 19!! we so need to get in contact with one another. please email me at lroyek@yahoo.com. i would love to talk! my doctor does it at 40 degrees. im like 45 degrees (last checked 3 months ago) my curve jumped from 17-45 in 6 months time. so who knows what it is now. but yeah, email me so we can talk!

<3 lindsay

[tulsamom]

Lindsay,
My daughter Shelby is also having her surgery June 19th!!!!! We are in Oklahoma and my daughter is 12 1/2 and in the seventh grade. We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

Kathy

[Jacqui]

Well, I had a brace for four years (age 10-14) before I had surgery (about 65 degree curve) and I think the reason is that the doctor wants you to grow as much as possible before surgery. I'm almost sixteen now, and I really haven't grown much (maybe a centimeter) since surgery. So, if the patient's really young and small, then surgery would really limit growth.