How much correction??

[nj_jl]

I am scheduled for surgery in September with Dr. Errico and have been reading the forum for information regarding what corrections were achieved. I have noticed that many people went from curves of 50s+ down to cuves in the teens. My surgeon told me that I would probably get a 50% correction which would bring me to 30* as my curve is now 61*. In your expeirence is it typcial for a surgeon to be more conservative about correction and say 50% even though a greater correction can be achieved? The reason I ask is that my anticipated correction seems to be so much less than what most are achieving. What were you told would be your correction and what correction did you achieve?

[Theresa]

I was told not to look for much of a correction because due to the bending x-rays my spine seemed to be pretty rigid. Once he got in there and removed some discs I was actually alot more flexable than they thought. My surgery was mainly supposed to be a holding surgery. But as you can see I got great correction. I do believe that the doctors are very cautious when they are talking to you before the surgery. You wouldn't want them to say I can get you to 15 degrees and then it ending up only being to 40 degrees.

[scoliboymom]

Same thing happened with my son recently. His bending x-rays suggested a very stiff spine and a 50% correction would have been good. When the surgeon came out to see us after the surgery he had a huge smile on his face as he told us his correction was much better, more like 75%. In our case I do believe this was a welcome surprise to the surgeon.
Just for your information his curve is now mid 20's and he looks so straight.
Best wishes to you for a speedy recovery and a good correction.
Ramona

[Suzy]

My bending x-rays showed I was very flexable however, my Dr. never said a # he wanted to get me to only that they hope for a 50% correction. I believe they would rather be conservative then set you up for disappointment. I must say though, when he came in to my room after surgery holding up my x-ray, he was grinning ear to ear as he told me he got me to 10* from 49*. It turned out later I was actually at 8*!

[suzyjay]

Dr. Errico performed surgery on me in Feb. I had a upper curve of 49 and lower curve of 58, after surgery my upper curve is now 17 and lower curve is a 22, before surgery he didn't give me percentage, he said he felt I would get a good correction. That wouldn't be so bad if I didn't get a staph infection that was ignored (by his assistant) as normal, then treated it cleared upon the outside but a blood test wasn't performed to make sure it was gone and got it worse. The infection was inside so now I am on antibotics (sp) for 6 weeks with many side effects. Every check up insist on a blood test to see there any infection (you don't have to have symptoms to have an infection). If your wound is weeping for more than a week, see to it that they test the fluid and blood to rule out infection and another test when it clears up to be sure it is gone.

Sue

[SandyC]

Suzyjay,
If a patient has had any type of major surgery and the incision has started oozing or has opened, even a tiny bit, waiting a week is way to long to wait to have it looked at by a doc.

Sorry you have an (what sounds like a staph infection) infection. I also had one after my A/P

[MishP]

Dr. Boachie said he would probably only get about a 30% correction on me. I think that he tends to exercise caution and not make any promises. So I'm hoping that it will be more...but I'm just hoping that it will be enough so that I feel a little bit more proportioned.

[suzyjay]

I did tell the doctor, it was leaking in the hospital he said it was normal and it may last for a little while. A few days after I was released I went the emergency room at NYU because my legs and feet were so extremely swollen, Dr. Errico's assisting doctor said he would meet me there. He again looked at the weeping and had no answer and didn't even test for infection. I called the office every couple of days and his doctor assistant said the leaking is okay sometimes that happens. I am very disappointed with the doctor's he has his assistant take care of a lot of medical care. Perhaps if I able to deal with him directly the infection would have been caught sooner.
Sue

[Janet]

Dr. Boachie said he would probably only get about a 30% correction on me. I think that he tends to exercise caution and not make any promises.

MishP, Dr. Boachie told me he would be happy if he got my 100* kyphosis down to 70*, which also sounds like a 30% correction. I too think he tends to be conservative, so the patient isn't disappointed. There are several Boachie graduates whose corrections were far better than what he had told them to expect. I shall remain optimistic. BTW, another spine surgeon I consulted said he would get my at-the-time 93* curve down to 45* and I don't know if this was an optimistic number.

[Shari]

Hi Sue,

We know our bodies and we know when something is just not right. We may not know all the medical terminology, or the expected affects of of what may happen afterwards. But there is no shame or disrepect in questioning something that you may feel is not a normal condition or symptom during your recovery process!!!

Speak out and ask questions!!! We have all choosen the Doctor that we have the most faith in and trust to perform this surgery on us, but once it's over, we have NO control of the medical staff that takes care of us afterwards!!!!

If you have concerns, don't hesitate to express them!!! In my opinion, all of us that have gone through this surgery, no matter how long or short our fusion has been, we have survived a "battle" with scars to prove it!!!

If you are strong enough to endure this surgery, which you obviously are, then you strong enough to fight for what you think is the answer you deserve!!!

Just my opinion,
Shari

[Singer]

I got a much bigger correction than expected because once Boachie actually opened me up I turned out to be more flexible than expected. I was originally told I would be corrected to somewhere in the 30-deg. range, and I'm now at 14 deg!!! I look totally straight on the x-rays.

[Houston Curves]

My doc has always said that I could expect about a 50% correction. However, after my bending x-rays he said "don't count on this", but he he "thinks" it will be close to 80-90% correction - of course, as drs usually don't express their hopes, I doubt he even remembers the comment. I am going in with the presumption that it will be a 50% correction and have not even told my husband about that other comment. 50% sounds pretty good to me.

Ann

[suzyjay]

Shari
I know now how stupid I was not insist on checking out my problem, but I left the hospital the wound was leaking they said it was normal, emergency room I asked them about the leaking and they said they weren't worried about that, they were concerned I had a blood clot and I also had visiting nurses come to my house and check out the wound and they never said anything. With all these professional people dealing with my problem I thought I was being taken care, I don't know what normal is, I never had such a big surgery. I wish I better informed myself on the possible complications of staph infection, (I didn't even know what staph infection was). The doctor's assistants are employed or are choosen by the doctor to work with them - if the doctor chooses them I thought could trust what they said. My doctor did warn me of possible infection - he said it was low chance. While I was in the hospital in the same room was another of my surgeons patients having revision surgery 7 months before he did the first one for the same thing,infection. I don't want what happened to me happen to anyone, so I wrote about my problem so people are aware of the signs of infection because they may be too weak to post on the forum and ask questions like me. At the time this was going on I was a month or two after surgery and didn't post on the forum to get advice because I was so weak.
I am sure I will be one the happy ones when this infection clears up.
Sue

[CHRIS WBS]

Sue,

Don’t be so hard on yourself. I am appalled that signs of an infection were so casually dismissed by the medical professionals in your charge. Shame on them! Infection is one of the more major complications associated with this surgery. And hospital-caused infections occur in seven to 10 percent of hospitalized patients. What a lack of diligence by these so-called professionals.

Chris

[nj_jl]

I am hoping that like the majority of the people here my correction is more than 50%. When looking at my bending x-rays my doctor did say it was flexible. I guess only time will tell. 2 months to go.