Finally! A Plan!

[skoshi314]

I will be scheduled for surgery either the second or third week of June! The surgeon's office is going to check his schedule and check with the hospital and let me know what's available. I think I'm more relieved than scared, but I'm plenty scared! BUT, I have complete faith in my surgeon and know he is the right one for me. The fusion will be T-10 to L-5. I was hoping the fusion would end a little higher than L-5, but at least he won't have to include the sacrum. He feels confident he can accomplish everything from a posterior only approach and says he will be very happy getting the 60* curve down to 30*. The smaller, upper curve is compensatory. The hospital stay will be 3-5 days and then another 4-6 days in an inpatient rehab facility. Because of the amazing list of questions shared with me I went into the appointment looking like I'd been working on the list for weeks. HAH! Thanks, ladies, for making me look good!

Tomorrow I need to go back and re-read my notes from today and try to process everything. There's so much! Another thing I remember is I will have to have a consult with a pulmonologist and a cardio. I'm not anticipating any problems with either.

Thank you everyone for the good thoughts today. They made all the difference in the world!

[Geish]

Yea Becky! I am so glad you have a plan now. The time will fly by and all of a sudden you will be wondering where all of it went! I am glad you won't be fused to the sacrum, it just makes life a little bit easier. I am still adjusting to the fact that my hips don't swing any more. It's just a different gait now. My Dr was hoping to get my +60 curve down to 30 and actually got it to less than 20 so you might get a pleasant surprise. Congratulations on taking the next step.
Alicia

[Susie*Bee]

Yay!

Becky-- that's great news! That always seems like the biggest of the hurdles... Geish is right, the time will fly and then you'll have the surgery behind you. I'm so glad for you that THAT decision is made. As for it being scary-- of course it is. I am pretty sure all of us were scared facing the surgery, but we got through it and so will you. Shoot, you get to sleep through the whole thing... Well, almost-- at least with me, they woke me up to make sure I could wiggle my toes and things like that, part-way through it. Anyway, the anticipation is hard. You've got a couple months to do some fun things and make preparations and just enjoy your family... so concentrate on that. You'll do great!

[LorDon]

Hi Becky,
So happy to hear that you finally have a plan in place. What a relief. Let the preparations begin!