Help?

[TwistedSister57]

Hi! I'm new on here and i just learned that my biggest curve (i have 3) is somewere around 57*. I'm 14 (turning 15 soon here) and i'm gonna need surgery. I've heard sooo many (bad) things about it. i just want to see if anyone has some questions i should ask my doctor about it. i don't really know what i should be checking on. thanks to anyone out there who helps me out.

[laurieg6]

I am the mother of a 12 yr old boy facing fusion surgery. We got opinions from 4 different surgeons before picking one to do the surgery.

We asked questions about the type of surgery: Anterior vs. posterior (will they operate from the front/side or just the back?); how many vertebrae will they fuse? What type of fusion material (we're using bone bank bone) & instrumentation (eg. pedicle screws)? Will you have to donate blood? How many days will you be in the hospital?

Make sure the surgeon has lots of current experience doing your type of surgery (they do dozens/year at least). You also may want to ask the nurse to find you a patient of the surgeons who had a similar surgery who would be willing to talk to you.

That's all I can think of right now.
Laurie
Alexander's mom