I went to Baltimore for my first visit with Dr. Kebaish at Johns Hopkins today. My greatest fear of a dual procedure apparently was justified because that’s exactly what he has proposed. In a way it’s better to know than to not know because the ‘what ifing’ was driving me a little crazy! The bright spot is that the incision site for the anterior procedure he proposed would be in the front, similar to the incision made during a cesarean procedure, not the long right side incision. Be thankful for small favors, right? The downside is that he felt any fusing would start at T3 and extend as far as at least L5 and possibly to the tailbone complete with pelvic screws. Exactly how far he would need to extend the fusion would depend upon the quality of my lumbar and sacral areas. I now have scripts for an MRI and bending x-rays….
I was mentally prepared (I think) for a thoracic fusion but something like this?? On the other hand the pain I have is often (daily) so bad I have this running monologue in my head that goes something like this, “Oh God, oh God, oh God…” and from the outside I am carrying on like business as usual so that no one knows on the inside that I am crying. My other mantra is “Tall spine, tall spine, tall spine…” because by the end of the day I am not really standing upright anymore and I constantly have to remind myself to stand up straight. It hurts. So how much more of this kind of life can I keep up? ( I know surgery is no guarantee for pain removal or even reduction but a girl’s got to hope doesn’t she?)
Just how much does a fusion of this magnitude change your activity level??? Holy cow, I cannot even imagine…would I still be able to dance? To ride my bike? To dive? To …..?
I was mentally prepared (I think) for a thoracic fusion but something like this?? On the other hand the pain I have is often (daily) so bad I have this running monologue in my head that goes something like this, “Oh God, oh God, oh God…” and from the outside I am carrying on like business as usual so that no one knows on the inside that I am crying. My other mantra is “Tall spine, tall spine, tall spine…” because by the end of the day I am not really standing upright anymore and I constantly have to remind myself to stand up straight. It hurts. So how much more of this kind of life can I keep up? ( I know surgery is no guarantee for pain removal or even reduction but a girl’s got to hope doesn’t she?)
Just how much does a fusion of this magnitude change your activity level??? Holy cow, I cannot even imagine…would I still be able to dance? To ride my bike? To dive? To …..?
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