Anybody wearing the Jewitt Brace????

[lelc2002@yahoo]

Hi! I have the Jewitt brace that I am wearing for 3 more months...I think I lost about 15 lbs after the operations & just getting a better appetite in the last week or so...My brace is kind of loose on now so I wear a couple of t-shirts under it to tighten it...I'm sure I'll gain some back & it will be tighter soon enough. Forgot to have my surgeon check it out with so many other questions at the visit... anybody else have this brace???? Ly :) :)

[jelysc613]

Hi Lynne,

I unfortunately can't answer your question, but I have a few of my own to add on...

1 What is the Jewitt brace? I've never heard of that one!
2 Does everyone get a removable brace after surgery now? When I had the surgery in '94, I was put in a plaster cast that went from right under my armpits down to just past my hips, and I was in it for 4 months. Obviously, I couldn't take that off even if I wanted to (and of course, I always got a little itch around my stomach... argh!!). Have they switched to braces now? Are they removable? I hope they've come up with something easier for people to deal with since then!! :)

Glad to hear you're recuperating well, Lynne :D

[bbest]

Jen -

I wasn't put in a brace at all...go figure!

[Karen Ocker]

Dr. Boachie told me this brace was mainly for protecting me from moving in a painful way and "moral support". ;)

I suggest you e-mail Lindy his nurse. It is somewhat adjustable.
I would take it off to lay down and once I even walked a mile without it without realizing it. Dr. B told me I could "wean" myself off. This was about 4 mos post-op.

[Marcia]

I've enjoyed reading your blog and your notes. I'm curious about your brace. I know I will have to have one but they basically called it a "turtle shell" type brace. Does yours look anything like that?

I sure hope I lose 15 lbs after surgery!!

[Suzy]

Lynne,
You didn't have 15 lbs to loose!! Eat something!

Marcia,
I had no brace and I think it defietely depends on your Dr. and where your fusion is. My P.T. said it is used less and less. I too lost 15 lbs but unlike Lynne had a bit to spare!

[lelc2002@yahoo]

Suzy--I'm not that thin!!!! Believe me, I'm sure I'm starting to gain it back!
To all: the Jewitt brace is less than the turtle shell Br....It is really only a metal bar up by the bottom of my neck & another at my hips...I will try to get my husband to take a digital shot so I canpost it.....every night I take it off before bed & hook it on the bed post feel like I'm throwing my saddle on the bed post! Since I pretty much have been housebound these days, I have'nt covered it up too much! Except when I walk outside, I wear a big button down shirt-x-large, over it to cover it.... also when I went into see my surgeon in NYC, I wore a nice short sleeved shirt over it & a nice buttoned down long sleeve shirt over that...I thought it hid the brace well! It's just when you sit down with it on, you seem like a robot, so straight & mechanical!!! :eek:
I feel more sturdy at 6 weeks out now but I can't imagine some of you who did'nt have a brace in the beginning for support... when I first was home at about 2 weeks post-op, I felt like I would fall over without my brace. My big incision was on my left hip(all the way from underarm to pelvic area) & I felt weird walking without the brace, like half of my body had been cut away....still feels weird in the shower when the water hits that area...I still keep shower chair in with me.....Ly
http://lynnebackattack.blogspot.com
surg.AUg.1st/Dr. Boachie/Kim@ HSS in NYC
fused T-11 to L-5/ Kyphosis was 85%-no hump now!
95%thorocolumbar c. reduced to in the 50's

[jelysc613]

Brandi and others -

I am surprised there are people who never had a brace/cast after surgery! I'm with Lynne... I can't imagine not having something protective afterward! I wonder if my being 12 y.o. when I had surgery had anything to do with it... like being more prone to "being a kid" and falling or something. I think it helped mentally, more than anything... like how putting a bandaid on a cut just makes it feel better all of a sudden :)

You are all so brave :D

[bbest]

At first I was a little skittish about it. I now realize they didn't operate 8 hours for nothing. My hardware is very secure and isn't going anywhere. If even feels tight. I think someone else on here said it before, my brace is on the inside.

[HGD24]

I wonder if the decision to brace or not depends on the length of the fusion. Mine was very long so my entire balance was off for quite some time. The brace (I had the turtle shell type) helped me to keep the right balance. I didn't wear it all day, only during times when I knew I was going to be very active, like on trips to the Mall or a restaurant. My doctor did not require me to wear it constantly and encouraged me in the hospital to go without it a couple of times so that I would not come to rely on it.

I lost weight too and had my brace adjusted by the local company who made it. They would adjust it as many times as needed.

[sweetness514]

As far as support I agree that it helps, and I had a brace but it was a soft one, again only to get used to sitting and standing-not for the fusion. I did notice that once I started take it off more, it was a challenge to stand ans sit without pain, but with time strength comes back.

I still wonder why here all my doctors told me that they don't prescribe hard braces, unless in very rare cases. It's all so different the way they think.

[Marcia]

From my reading it is used more often in older adult patients.....that would be like me! Also the length of the fusion can make a difference in whether your doctor chooses to have you wear a brace. My fusion will be from T2 to S1. I will have to wear the turtle shell type brace.

[Shari]

I think it just depends on the doctor and their training. I'm not sure why there is no consistent answer to whether we wear a brace or not and what kind it might be.

At my post-op visits, I saw a man with a shorter version of the turtle shell brace and a young girl with the same brace as mine.

Mine was not adjustable when I had lost the weight. I had to have it trimmed. But I lost more than 15 pounds. I know I weighed 130 when I had the surgery and I had gained 10 pounds a few months before my surgery, I think because I had to quit smoking. The next time I got on a scale, at the insistence of my mother and sister, I weighed 90.

We all experience this surgery in different ways. That's the only thing I'm certain of!!!

Shari

[Singer]

Shari, are you back to your normal weight? Holy smokes!!

[mattie]

I had to wear a turtle shell brace after amy surgery also. I had to wear mine 23 hours a day for 6 months. It took some getting use to. Especially sleeping in it.
I lost around 30 pounds after surgery and my brace was so big I was miserable. The brace people adjusted it several times, trimmed it and done everything imaginable and it was still bothering me. Finally my Dr. ordered me to be fitted for a new one and it was much more comfortable. It fit like it was suppose to. I had lost so much weight that my brace could not be adjusted to fit properly.
I had gained half the weight back a year later. Then I had surgery again twice the next year and lost it all again.
I have now gained it all back plus a little extra. I am almost 1 year post-op.
Mattie

[Shari]

Hi Singer,

Yes, I am now back to my normal weight. But I looked pretty bad for quite a while. I just had no appetite at all for the first couple of months, then I couldn't eat much when I did get it back.

But unlike others here, I was heavily medicated for the first 3 months. And my mother-in-law, whom I love, is not a very good cook.

I know my experience was not the norm.

Shari