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What does your back feel like now?

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  • What does your back feel like now?

    I'm not talking about the long post-op recovery, but after everything has healed.

    Like now, I can feel my curve when I think of it and of course the other things, soreness and my right rib cage constricting my lungs and all the other muscle pains and aches.

    I know some of you have gotten good corrections. Do you feel straighter? If you had rib constriction, do you breathe better?

    What does it feel like to be straighter? Taller? What about emotionally? Does the scar bother you? Do you feel more confident about your back, wearing backless or strapless outfits?

  • #2
    I grew three inches from my surgery. Most of my curve was at my waistline, so it was a little more even after surgery. As for the scar, mine is on my back where I can't see it and one on my hip. It has never bothered me or my husband. When my daughter had her surgery, we got some bandaid things that reduce scars and they helped. We used them on the top of her scar where it would show above her leotard. You have to get close to see her scar. You cannot see her scar when she is dancing.
    T12- L5 fusion 1975 - Rochester, NY
    2002 removal of bottom of rod and extra fusion
    3/1/11 C5-C6 disc replacement
    Daughter - T7 - L3 fusion 2004

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    • #3
      I am 17 months post-op. Not only do I feel and look straighter I am doing great. My scar doesn't bother me at all. I couldn't wait to wear backless tops or dresses because now I am symmetrical! I have had a couple of people ask about my scar and then find out they know someone who has scoliosis and is thinking about surgery. It was a mental and physical battle that I won and I have the scar as a reminder of what I accomplished.

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      • #4
        Hi Iggy,

        Your guestions are valid, and ones that most of us have had prior to our surgery!!! I had extreme pain constantly before my surgery, and I still have some pain now but it doesn't even to compare to what I had before!!!

        I got a decent correction for my age and my flexibilty, and I feel so much better in so many different ways. I actually have times in my day that I am without pain. I can lay down and have no pain, which never happened prior to surgery, and I do breath better.

        I gained no height, but I had 5 discs removed. I look at my before pictures and then look at my after ones and even though I have a scar from the top of my neck to the crack of my ass, my back looks better than it did before.

        I don't have the rib hump on the left side and the caved in area on the right side. The side views are amazing as well.

        Yes I have that scar, and to be honest I felt shame and embarrassement, I thought it would make me look ugly, but as I compare the pictures, I look better now that before, and I have to add that I look more normal, but I also feel a strange feeling of pride that I survived a major battle, and I have a zipper to prove it!!! I look at it as a battle wound, a battle that I survived!!!

        I feel so much more confident with my back now than I have for the last 15 years. I wear tank tops that show some of the upper scar, and I have a screw that is visable because I have such a small frame, and I don't have alot of "meat" in that area, but it doesn't bother one bit!!!

        If someone happens to see it and ask questions, I am proud to explain what I have been though, and take great pleasure in watching their faces turn pale white!!! I guess in that way I am a sick "SOB".

        Regarding your emotional question, it took me many, many months before I got over many issues, and finally accepted that I had to be a strong person to have gotten though this surgery. I would get so depressed, because I expected to be so much better sooner than I was, I had compared myself to other's recovery, and I found that to be a big mistake.

        None of us recover the same!!!

        Sorry I rambled on, but you seemed to have alot of questions.

        Hope I helped in some small way,
        Shari
        Last edited by Shari; 07-24-2007, 02:46 AM.

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        • #5
          Thanks for answering all of my questions. They are kind of in line with the "symmetry" thread too, I notice.

          I'm trying to gather as much information as possible as I'm at the very beginning of the process. I've seen an x-ray so I know my curve is kind of large and I have a few obstacles, I'm already nervous.

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