Just found out about surgery....

[crystalalice88]

Hi all,
I just found out, yesterday, that I have to have a surgery to fuse my lumbar vertebrae to my pelvis. I am very worried about this surgery since I have read about the risks. Has anyone ever had this surgery before? I am going to school to be a neo-natal nurse. Is there any nurses out there who have had a surgery like this? Does it impact your job? I'm a 20 year old full time student who lives alone.

Thoracic curve= 37 degrees
Lumbar Curve= 67 degrees

Any info would be helpful!

[loves to skate]

Hi Crystalalice88,
Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry I can't answer your questions directed to a nurse, but I have been fused L2 to S1. I am a year post op and I am able to do most everything I could do before surgery except touch my toes. I'm pretty sure you should be able to do the work of a neonatal nurse after you have recovered from the surgery. Lifting your sweet little patients shouldn't be a problem. Since you are very young, your recovery should not take as long as mine, and I have had a fairly rapid recovery. Hopefully some of the younger people on this forum will be able to tell you about their recovery and what they are able to do after the surgery. Are you in a great deal of pain and is that the reason you need this surgery now? Be well and feel free to ask other questions.
Sally

[crystalalice88]

I am in a great deal of pain. I feel pain every moment I'm awake and most of the time it interferes with my sleep. I had to stop playing college softball because the pain became so bad, but then I didn't know I had scoliosis. My surgeon said that after you hit 50 degrees it will increasingly get worse by at least 1 degree each year. Is that true? I have been taking naproxen, but it does not seem to be working very well anymore. I can't stand up for longer than 10 minutes and sitting in a chair at work is very uncomfortable. I have always managed the pain because I never knew the root of it and figured it was normal. But lately it has only seemed to be getting dramatically worse at a very fast pase.

[loves to skate]

Hi Crystalalice,
I'm sure your Doctor knows what he is talking about. My Doctor didn't get into degrees with me. Since I was in serious pain and becoming more and more disabled, there wasn't much point to it. The one thing I know for sure is that it isn't going to get better on its own. Is your Doctor a scoliosis specialist? How many scoliosis surgeries does he do each year? When dealing with a serious surgery such as this, it is always wise to seek out a second or even a third opinion and you would want to choose a Doctor that does many or these surgeries a year. Go to this web site to find qualified scoliosis surgeons in your area. http://www.srs.org/ Once you get some Doctors to contact, you can always ask on this forum if anyone has had any experience with any of them. Best wishes to you. Sally