New here, 18 years old

[aprilshowers]

I am new and would like to hear from other people in their late teens to mid twenties who have curves over 30 degrees, I have a 52 degree lumbar and have just been recommended for surgery. I don't have any pain and realize that is common among young people. However, I just can't see having surgery at this point in my life before I go off to college when I don't feel like I am suffering. I have looked into Spinecor and have an appointment in early April. I would love to hear from you if you can relate to me in any way.

[aprilshowers]

I would like to add something to my previous post. I would really just like to hear some people's stories. I am interested in anyone who is in their mid teens to late 20's as well as all adults who have the spinecor. How is your progress? I am also open to any questions.

[ashleym8118]

Hi!

I'm 20 years old and had surgery three months ago to fuse from T10-L5 to correct a 46 degree curve. I was not in a great deal of pain before the surgery either. Most of my pain apparently came from some arthritis very low in my spine that I didn't know about until the day before surgery...not from the actual curve, though the curve probably affected the arthritis. Anyway, my curve was progressing at about 2-3 degrees per year and I've been done growing for a few years. My scoliosis was found when I was 16 by "accident" during an x-ray, and my doctor told me at that time that my bones were done growing so a brace wouldn't help, but he didn't expect my curve to progress (it was at about 37 or 39 degrees I think). I didn't go back to the doctor until I was 20 (didn't want to deal with it/wasn't in a lot of pain) but when I did go, my doctor recommended surgery. We got a second opinion, who agreed with my original doctor, and the second opinion doctor did my surgery this past December.

My reason for having the surgery at this time in my life was that it's not really going to get any easier or better. Younger healthy people tend to bounce back pretty quickly, even after such a major surgery; this was the case with me. As far as money goes, I'm on my mom's insurance plan right now, and almost everything was completely covered. I wasn't sure if my insurance would cover it once I'm on my own ("preexisting condition"?). Also, as a college student, my main responsibility right now is myself. I'm not married, not working full time at anywhere that matters lol, and I don't have kids. If I wait 5-10 years on surgery, I think I would be more likely to be worried about my job and family and be much more stressed out about the post-op period. At this point, all I had to focus on was my recovery and getting well enough to go back to school. Also, if I'd waited, there's a good chance my surgeon wouldn't have gotten as good of a correction. As it stands, he only got a little over 50% of the curve corrected because my spine was so stiff from arthritis. In 5-10 years or more, not only would my curve be greater (more in the 60-70 degree range if it kept on at 2-3 degrees per year) but my spine would probably be stiffer as well, lessening the correction the surgeon can achieve. This is not to scare you if you do choose to wait on surgery. Plenty of people on this forum choose to wait and have surgery later on in life and many get even more correction than I got at age 20. I believe some even get 100% correction! But the doctor really can't know for sure until he's in there. My doctor was sure he would get me down to 10 degrees or less based on my bending x-rays, but it just wasn't possible once he opened me up. However, I'm still very happy with how my back looks from the outside. I think I look totally straight, even if my x-rays show about a 20 or 22 degree curve. I do not at ALL regret this surgery!!

I am also a college student and I know this is a lot to deal with right now. I am in my junior year and had surgery over my Christmas break and am back at school. When I found out I needed surgery, I started crying in the doctor's office because he told me it would mean taking at least a semester off from school...and I'm already behind, PLUS the nursing program that I'm in is longer than 4 years to begin with. I was already upset about needing surgery in the first place, so I really didn't want to hear that it was going to disrupt my life like that too! My family and everyone acted like it wouldn't be any big deal for me to take some time off, but it was a big deal to me! My second doctor told me that if I felt up to it, I would be ok to take a couple of classes. I rescheduled a couple of fall semester finals and went to have surgery in the middle of finals week, and was back by the first day of spring semester to take two classes (which is actually all I had left before I started clinicals for nursing, so it all worked out well)...I had about 4 solid weeks of recovery before I was back on my own at school. Within a couple of weeks of being back at school, I was entirely off pain medication and muscle relaxers except for Tylenol as needed.

This is just my experience, people on this forum have had a wide range of experiences. I hope this helps! Good luck with whatever you decide!
-Ashley

[LindaRacine]

Hi April...

At your age, with your degree of curve, you should be able to wait to see if your curve is going to progress. In all likelihood, it will, but there's always the possibility that it won't. And, if it does progress, it's not likely to progress quickly. The Spinecor brace will not keep your curve from progressing (as you're almost certainly skeletally mature already).

Be sure to go back to see your scoliosis specialist every year or two to keep monitoring for progression.

Enjoy your college years!

Regards,
Linda

[Michael Barga]

Hi April, My son is 21 and just found out this year he has Scoliosis. Severe enough the surgeon said surgery. One X ray said a 65 degree curve .. one said a 75 degree turn. Same curve within days,just different Drs.Right now he has decided not to have surgery. He has no pain, went to Dr for a different reason,with his shirt on it is not that noticable ( he figures he went to 21 without anyone seeing it) and he just says no to surgery.I did ask the surgeon if he could predict a better outcome in the long run with surgery and his answer was there is no sure deals with Scoliosis, but he recommended surgery.He works at a very heavy lifting job, 40 hours a week so I am surprised the pain issue has not came up.We are learning more each day and he plans on another X ray and I think he realizes surgery may have to be done, but he is not ready and he has no medical or pain issues yet.It is very emotional roller coaster!

[aprilshowers]

Ashley,

I too started crying in the doctor's office. It's nice to know other people are going through the same thing. I was trying to be strong, but couldn't help thinking about how it would change my life. With my curve, I have always known there was a possibility of surgery, but ignored that it could happen to me. I am going to wait a couple of years to see if it progresses and getting spinecor because I believe it is better than nothing at all. There is always a chance. Bob Woodruff's language center in his brain was destroyed yet he is talking. He has defied all the textbooks. I'm am not expecting a miracle, but believe it it can always happen. At the very least it will improve my posture. I am glad your surgery went well and hope you enjoy your last few years of college.