Surgery in Post-Menopausal Women

[wnorm]

I am a 54 year-old menopausal woman with a curve of ~45 degrees. My scoliosis had been stable since I was a teenager. However, in the last few years I have been suffering from a lot of neck, hip, knee, etc.pain probably due to to a combinations of factors.My orthopedic surgeon said that I might need back surgery due to worsening osteopenia in the next 5 years or so. My doctor moved to the U.S. and I am now on a 6 month waiting list for a surgeon (Dr.Ouellet) .There is basically one scoliosis surgeon in Montreal who performs surgery on older women. Are there any women out there who have had surgery and can give me some advice? What are the negative implications to having surgery at my age? Comments from surgeons would be appreciated. Thank-you.

[JoAnn5]

Hi wnorm. I'm 55 and had my surgery almost 2 yrs ago. It is not a walk in the park, to say the least. However at my age, i could not expect any improvement without surgery, disc and bone deterioration were only going to get worse over time. I had a newborn granddaughter (my first grand) to think about. I wanted to be able to hold and play with and enjoy my grandchildren in the future, and without surgery that was not going to happen. I'm fused now from T-4 to S-1 and often babysit my very active toddlers. She wears me out, but oh i love being able to do things with her... AND my grandson who just turned one year old. :)

[lelc2002@yahoo]

Hi- I'm 47 & had my surgery last summer. Joann is right, it is no walk in the park but well worth it in my case too. I had a 95 curve with kyphosis/about 85 and a bad hump/disformed body. Now at 10 mnths post-op, there is not a day that goes by that I don't have gratitude for all that has been done for me. Ly :)

[MadeinMelb]

I'll let you know in a few weeks as I'm due to go in on June 25 with 2nd surgery on July 9 - Gen