Finally saw a specialist!

[KristyH]

Well I went to Ottawa yesterday to meet with Dr. Chow. I've heard from a few people that he's the best orthopedic surgeon in Canada. He's the doctor for the Ottawa Senators too. Anyway he did a full back x-ray on me and it showed a left lumbar curve of 48 degree and a right thoracic curve of 49 degrees. I was fully expecting him to recommend surgery but instead, he said I need to lose 40 lbs (which would bring me down to 120lbs!) and be more active. I was shocked when he said that. I'm 5'2" and I know I'm slightly overweight but I don't think I've weighed 120 lbs since sixth grade. Anyway he said he doesn't feel that my curve is going to progress (I'm 21 years old) and he feels that I will be able to control the pain by getting in better shape and strengthening the muscles in my back. He said there is no point in putting me through the risks of surgery when it can be controlled using other methods. I agree with him there but what will happen when I'm 80 years old and I can no longer go to the gym and work out? I'm just afraid that my back will give me problems when I'm older even if I can control it now. He wants to monitor it over the next while and I'm sure if it begins to exceed 50 degrees, he will then recommend surgery. He said too many doctors in the US perform surgery when it's not necessary just for the money. He said that's how people end up dying from surgery because they don't get the correct care that they need. In Canada I wouldn't pay anything for the surgery and doctors only perform when necessary. So I am going to try joining Curves and continue going to physio once a week and try doing more yoga and pilates and walking. I also will need to eat a bit healthier to lose weight.

I'm still a little concerned about the sharp pains I get in my ribs and chest though. I can't see this happening because I'm overweight. I'm hardly overweight anyway - just a little bit. There are people a lot heavier than me who don't have sharp pains in their ribs and chest. I guess I will just do what he told me to do as best I can and see how if the pain goes away. I have to admit, I'm happy because I DON'T want to have surgery. But I have a feeling I will have to have it eventually anyway.

[amae28]

I think I'd at least try what he's reccomending for you to do... for me, working out makes my back fatigued, but overall it feels a little better. I think he is giving you the responsible advice that he is hesitant to do surgery because your curves are in the grey area and you are still young. I'm sure more people will give you their opinions on here...

[Jinseeker]

I am in the exact position as you are Kristy. I had pain and stiffness in my back about 2 months ago and i went to see a specialist about it who recommended i exercise as much as possible instead. And believe me, 2 months later after weeks of continous exercise like working out in the gym, yoga and physical therapy i feel a lot better. My pain is gone and i hardly have any stiffness. But i do find that i will have to continously exercise for the rest of my life, because if i don't the pain and stiffness will start to come back. I have the exact fear over the future as you, about when you are too old to exercise and your body is slowly beating you down when you can no longer provide for it. Whether i have surgery or not, there is no guarantee that i would end up in the exact same ordeal in the future. Just live in the "now" is my best answer for you, and even if you would choose surgery, you always know that technology will always improve in the future to make surgery safer for us and it is still the best answer not to do it right now when you are young enough to wait.

I just have a question for you surgery post-op folks, is the need to exercise regularly still important and if you don't do you get pain or any other kind of discomfort? Do you still need to exercise just as much as before you had the surgery to keep the discomfort away? How much harder is it to exercise now you have limited flexibilty because of being fused over when you were still pre-op(for ex. lifting weights, doing yoga poses)?

[MATJESNIC]

Kristy,

Eating right and exercising will make you feel so much better overall. I am happy for you that he is not recommending surgery at this time. You are young and have many quality years ahead of you. No reason why you shouldn't be active for a long time. Don't worry about what you will do when you are 80. Just worry about the here and now and the next couple of years. Nobody knows what life will bring them by the time they are 80.

Remember, new treatments could be available to scoliosis patients in the future. Better surgeries, etc. If the doctor is saying you don't need surgery now, that is a good thing.

[christine2]

Kristy
That is great advice from Melissa. Medicine is improving all the time. My little brother (he is not that little 6'5" 250 lbs and 33 yrs old) Is a parapalegic his doctor is keeping him in good shape because one day there will be a surgery that will allow him to walk again.

Christine

[LindaRacine]

Hi Kristy...

I wonder if Dr. Chow is more of a sports medicine doctor than a spinal deformity doctor.

While I think it's a great idea to try less invasive treatments to see if you can live a normal life without scoliosis surgery, I think it might be appropriate for you to be seen by another orthopaedist more specialized to your condition.

Regards,
Linda

[lberg]

Kristy

Hi there, I am from Canada too just a couple of thoughts, first my really bad pain started 2 years ago ( I was 20 pound thinner then than I had been in ten years) Well within my current weight to height too, so the weight thing in my opinion is not always true. I am 43 now and my curve is over the 30 degree threshold for progression that means it will progress just because of its size. I am now as I am getting older blowing out all my disks and can only walk for 2-3 hrs a day before I am in agony. I was told 5 years ago that "sit ups" for the rest of my life was the presciption which I did, ya right try that with herniated disks. No one likes to do these surgeries and the pay for the time for one in Canada is poor. I would seriously look for a 2nd opinion and rate your pain, scoliosis and your current curve is a progressive disease is it not?

[KristyH]

I have been referred to an orthopedic specialist in my city but the wait time is so long and I don't even have an appointment date yet. I am definitely going to get a second opinion just to be sure. Maybe I'll get the second doctor's opinion before I even tell him what the first doctor said. I am definitely going to try to lose weight regardless. It's sort of the motivation I need. I am joining Curves tomorrow and have started watching what I eat. I realize it will be a long road to get down to 120 or even 135 lbs but I definitely want to give it a try. I have a feeling surgery will be required in the future anyway and I know it's better to have it when I'm young but I don't want to have it period. I guess I'll just live for the moment and see what happens. As long as it doesn't progress, I guess I should be happy with that and deal with the pain as best I can. I'm thinking of taking Aleve but I'm not sure if I want to. My pain really isn't nearly as bad as it used to be. I'd prefer not to use pain medication if I can manage. Anyway thanks for all the words of wisdom everybody!

[csc]

Good luck!

Hello!
Just wanted to tell you that joining Curves might be a good move. I've been doing it religiously 3x a week since May. The stretching and exercise really seems to help. My lower back pain is not as bad and it seems to give an energy boost. If I miss days, I really feel it.

[trcylynn]

Working out: I agree that working out and stretching helps to ease the pain but be VERY CAREFUL about lifting weights. I was going to the gym and when I would exercise I would try to stand up or sit as straight as possible. Well when a friend finally went to the gym with me and I was doing some back strengthening exercises he told me I was still "crooked" while doing them. I was actually only strengthening my already strong muscles that supported the curve. It felt like all the hard work I did at the gym was only hurting me.

The doctor: I hate hearing from doctors oh we will just monitor it- they don't know what its like... losing weight/being healthy is always good for you but at least for me being in shape doesn't allow me to want to wear that bikini to the beach because you can see the curves. I could have a 6 pack from working out and still not want to show it off because of my scoliosis. I would get a second opinion.

Surgery- those of you that have had it would know more- but when a doctor finally agrees to operate on me (all say my curve is too small) I am seriously thinking of doing it. I was told after puberty the curve should stop but it got worse and now my spine is rotating. I'm getting more health problems as this progresses and I'm only 22. I would rather spend 3-4 months recovering from surgery (or however long it is) and enjoy the next 30 years pain free and straighter than continue with this another day.

Hope that advice helps... I'm scheduling an appointment with a specialist who supposedly is a leading scoliosis specialist in the US (how believable that is I'm not quite sure). I have to get everything worked out with my insurance company but as soon as I finally see one I'll let you all know what he said. If he says he wants to monitor it I might just go crazy.

~Tracy

[KristyH]

Update!

Hi guys! Just wanted to update everyone on my progress since I saw the specialist. I have lost 6 lbs in about 6 weeks and am definitely more active now. The strangest thing is, ever since I got back from Ottawa, I've been practically pain-free. It's almost like now that it's not on my mind 24/7 and I'm not constantly thinking about it, the pain just went away. I know it wasn't all in my head before but it's just SO weird. I can't believe that exercising and being active really makes THAT much difference. It's unreal. I still have about 30 lbs to lose but I think just being even a little bit more active has helped significantly. I'm very happy he didn't suggest surgery now because I don't want to ever have to go through that unless I'm in a lot of pain already. Now that I feel like this, I don't see any point in having surgery unless my curve continues to progress past 50 degrees (god PLEASE don't let that happen). Anyway just wanted to give an update!

Kristy - 22 years old
48 degree left lumbar curve
49 degree right thoracic curve