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  • New here with questions

    Hi I'm new to this forum and I'm really glad I found it. I'm 28 years old and I was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 12, and was braced for about 2 years (I don't remember what my curvature was or where it was located since the doctor primarily spoke with my parents). I remember being told that the curvature was corrected by about 10 degrees.
    I'm certain that the curve has gotten worse since then. I have a prominent rib hump on the right side of my spine, as well as on my front left side. My rib cage on my left side constanty gets stuck underneath my hip bone and I'm constantly having to "pop" it out by stretching. I have trouble sitting still for long periods of time and I have a hard time getting to sleep because of the pain.
    Over the past couple years I've been considering surgery, but I really don't know where to start, or if I even qualify for it. I have an HMO through Blue Care Network, and I was wondering if there are any pre-existing condition clauses. I work for BCBS of MI which means I would have to speak with an ombudsman if I had any questions about my policy, but they never seem to know anything!! Also, I was wondering if anyone here has had or even looked into the minimally invasive surgery.
    One last question for the women....Does surgery affect your ability to conceive? And if not, how long after do you need to wait before you start trying to get pregnant?
    I thank any and all responses!!!

    Angie

  • #2
    Hi Angie...

    All insurance policies are different, but I think if your plan is a group plan, than it cannot have a pre-existing condition clause. You should read your policy booklet which will say whether or not that is the case.

    Most surgeons tell their patients to wait at least one year to get pregnant after scoliosis surgery. And, the only way that the surgery will actually affect the pregnancy is that you may not be a candidate for an epidural.

    Regards,
    Linda
    Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
    Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

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    • #3
      Hi Angie,

      Welcome! I know how it feels to not know where to start. I'm a 45 y/o female. I had surgery in May. I was braced from age 12 to 18. When I was around 30 y/o I started to develop a rib hump that got worse over a period of 10 years. I thought that nothing could be done, and that I would just have to live with my situation. That's what I was told as a child.

      About 5 years ago I was flipping channels and on the Discovery Health Channel they were doing a scoliosis surgery on an adult woman. I called my Dr. and asked him to refer me to a back specialist in Pittsburgh, PA. He then refered me to someone else. I got no satisfaction! And I was on a mission of mercy for myself. So I got a computer. I accidentally found this forum while trying to research the surgery. Found a Dr. and here I am today 8 months post opp.

      There are answers here! Just keep asking questions!
      Shari

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      • #4
        Welcome! I have BCBS PPO. I was diagnosed at 6 months old ( really!), so when I found that I had to have surgery I checked my policy for "pre-existing conditions." I found that I, at least, was eligible for surgery (which I had in Novemer). However, I did have to keep asking questions and talking to more and more BCBS employees before I could satisfy them that the pain and discomfort were new. I also had them put it in writing! Keep talking to more and more people until you have an answer. Hope this helps! Linda

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        • #5
          Thank you all for your replies!!

          I have an appt. with my Doctor this week and I'll be asking him to refer me to a specialist, so I guess that's a start! At least with some x-rays I'll find out what my curvature is at this point.

          I just have to say that I'm really glad I found this site so that I don't feel so "alone" with my condition. No one I know has scoliosis and when I talk about it they dismiss it as "no big deal"...including my previous doctor.
          Also, it's really nice to get most of my questions answered just by reading through the forum!

          Angie

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          • #6
            Hey Angel - welcome to the forum. I was just wondering who your Doctor is? (I am from MI too, and have seen a few...)
            Meg is Spinewhine
            31 years old with thoracic curve
            Wore Boston brace as teenager, but curve continued to progress.
            Surgery on 12/13/2005 with correction from over 55 degrees to under 25 degrees. (Ya baby!)

            The nitty gritty at:
            http://spinewhine.blogspot.com/

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            • #7
              Hey Angie!

              Welcome to the forum, I hope it has helped you out. I know it has me greatly since I joined.

              I was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was 13 and they basically made no big deal about it at the time. So I went on with my life and did nothing over the years. Well about the time I was 27 I started having problems with major pain. I saw my general doctor and she just wanted to put me on pain meds and physical therapy to stop the pain and never looked further into what could be the problem. She treated it as if I had an injury and didn't even think about the fact it could be my scoliosis. Well after many months of meds and PT and no relief I decided to see an orthopedic surgeon. Well I saw this doc that I had seen years before for a broken tailbone. He told me basically I needed to loose weight and exercise and that I was fine! Well this was coming from a very obese man and I thought that was pretty tacky. Especially considering that I was 5'2" and maybe 130 at the time. Not like I was hugely over weight.

              Anyway I wasn't happy with his diagnosis so a few friends of mine told me about the Texas Back Institute (located in Dallas). I made an appointment for an evaluation. At first they wanted to take a very conservative approach and started out with pain management with meds and PT too, but a different approach than my previous doc. This did help a little bit, but then the pain started getting worse. Eventually I wound up having several epidural steroid injections, and then finally a procedure where they cauterize the nerves where the area of the pain is, called a rhizotomy. We really hoped this would help as they were very minor procedures compared to surgery. Well they ultimately did not work, or at least not for long. So my doc refered me to a scoliosis specialist within the Texas Back Institute. Which is who I should have been seeing from day 1. He helped me realize that all these other things we had been trying were just treating the symptoms and not the problem. Basically slapping a bandaid on.

              I went through this conservative treatment plan with all my doctors for nearly 2 years and finally came to surgery. Just had the scoliosis surgery a month ago and even though I am still in a ton of pain and recovering, I am so glad I did it. Those 2 years that I suffered so much and missed so much of my life and work were horrible for me. The pain I have now is very different it's a surgery recovery pain, not the same area where I hurt before, so I know it will pass. This surgery has given me so much hope and I can't wait to start my new life.

              The moral of my very long story is... sometimes you have to wait and search a long time to find a solution. There are many doctors out there that just don't really try to find the solution for you, so you HAVE to take it in your hands and find it yourself. If that means seeing 50 doctors till you find a great one that can help you then that is what it takes. I would start out by aggresively checking into what your insurance covers and see a scoliosis specialist. Don't waste your time with just an orthopedic surgeon. Go straight to someone who specializes in scoliosis treatment. I know you are in Michigan so my facility (Texas Back Institute) probably won't be too convenient for you, but I would suggest finding a similar facility in your area that specilizes in only scoliosis or back/spine health.

              Good luck to you in your search for a pain free and normal life. It will happen but you have to make it happen. And don't settle for doing nothing just because some doctors tell you they can't do anything for you. Move on to the next one till you find a great doctor.

              Hope this all works out for you and feel free to email me if you have any questions. I'll keep you in my prayers!

              Shelly
              Shelly
              Anterior Spinal Fusion and titanium rod and screws inserted to correct 45 degree thoracolumbar curve from T12 - L4 on 1/4/06.

              Comment


              • #8
                Meg-
                Hi neighbor!
                As of yet, I haven't seen a specialist. I will actually be seeing my PCP (Jeffrey Deitch in Sterling Heights) and hoping he can give me a good referral (ohhh the perils of an HMO). I just took a peek at your blog and I really enjoyed reading it...and I have to say your results look incredible! How are you doing today? Did your rib hump disappear?
                Oh, btw, I'm a scorpio also!

                Shelly-
                Wow what a story! I'm so sorry you had to endure all that, and although I know it's not an easy road, I certainly hope I don't get the run-around and such. I guess in situations such as yours, the only thing we can do is ask ourselves after it's finally taken care of is "was this all worth it?", and I have a pretty good feeling that your answer would be yes. Like you said, your pain now is a direct result of the surgery, and not from the scoliosis...and soon you will be pain-free! And I can only imagine that that would be a wonderful feeling. I wish you a speedy recovery so that you can experience it soon!

                What a wonderful forum with wonderful, caring people who can relate with my issues (well, at least my scoliosis issues! lol). I feel blessed.

                Angie

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