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  • Pillow talk

    Does it ever get to the point you can sleep without pillows strategically placed to be really comfortable? I am taking a trip this weekend and will take them along but just curious (and hopeful) that someday it isn't "neccesary"

    Thanks in advance!
    Nancy Joy

    Surgery- Posterior- Oct. 8th, 2008
    Anterior- Nov. 10th, 2008
    Age 54
    T10 to Sacrum
    Curve 65 degrees
    Very straight now!!!

  • #2
    Ni Nancy Joy,

    I wasn't able to sleep without extra pillows until about the last month.
    __________________________________________
    Debbe - 50 yrs old

    Milwalkee Brace 1976 - 79
    Told by Dr. my curve would never progress

    Surgery 10/15/08 in NYC by Dr. Michael Neuwirth
    Pre-Surgury Thorasic: 66 degrees
    Pre-Surgery Lumbar: 66 degrees

    Post-Surgery Thorasic: 34 degrees
    Post-Surgery Lumbar: 22 degrees

    Comment


    • #3
      Pillows

      Good afternoon, I have dwyer instrumentation and harrington rods in the lumbar area. The surgery was late 1979. I am sad to say, the pillows are still being used! I also get comfort using a back support such as the back of a couch as I rest too. The discomfort out weighs the bad side of doing nothing! I guess the best thing I can say is "improvise, adapt, overcome" straight from Clint Eastwood movie! Good lock in your recovery.... keep any check up requested...and do not be afraid to ask questions!

      Comment


      • #4
        Hi NancyJoy,

        I kicked the pillows out somewhere between four and six months post op. Sometimes I think they would help with comfort, but every time I would roll over in bed, I would have to rearrange myself and the pillows and then I was too awake to go back to sleep. I am comfortable most of the time without them. I am a year post op now. Sally
        Diagnosed with severe lumbar scoliosis at age 65.
        Posterior Fusion L2-S1 on 12/4/2007. age 67
        Anterior Fusion L3-L4,L4-L5,L5-S1 on 12/19/2007
        Additional bone removed to decompress right side of L3-L4 & L4-L5 on 4/19/2010
        New England Baptist Hospital, Boston, MA
        Dr. Frank F. Rands735.photobucket.com/albums/ww360/butterflyfive/

        "In God We Trust" Happy moments, praise God. Difficult moments, seek God. Quiet moments, worship God. Painful moments, trust God. Every moment, thank God.

        Comment


        • #5
          I still use a pillow between my knees when I lay on my side....a far cry from the mountain of pillows I used until around 6 months post-op!!
          Chris
          A/P fusion on June 19, 2007 at age 52; T10-L5
          Pre-op thoracolumbar curve: 70 degrees
          Post-op curve: 12 degrees
          Dr. Boachie-adjei, HSS, New York

          Comment


          • #6
            Pillows are a good thing ! I can never have enough pillows. I have them everywhere and there are about 8 on my bed at any given moment. That became a habit years ago before my operations.

            Of course they are all the high end soft down pillows that cost the big bucks! If they didn't cost so much, you would think that they were breeding and multiplying themselves.

            I keep 2 in my car at all times. Offering a pillow to a non-scoli passenger is usually a very welcome treat. I don't need them in the car anymore, but like to have them if I want them.

            I carry one in my carry on bag on airplanes. That I feel is a must! The seats on the planes are horrible!

            I could be the person on the airplane that hands out the pillows! "Please take a pillow, yes our seats will destroy your back!"

            Ed
            49 yr old male, now 63, the new 64...
            Pre surgery curves T70,L70
            ALIF/PSA T2-Pelvis 01/29/08, 01/31/08 7" pelvic anchors BMP
            Dr Brett Menmuir St Marys Hospital Reno,Nevada

            Bending and twisting pics after full fusion
            http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...on.&highlight=

            My x-rays
            http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...2&d=1228779214

            http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...3&d=1228779258

            Comment


            • #7
              Oh goodness, YES! PILLOWS, & LOTS OF THEM!! But - for me, that's been an "always" thing - before any of my spinal surgeries, & continuing after all of them.

              Nancy, have you ever tried any of the variants on "memory foam" pillows? I have one in ordinary size for sleeping (under head - same size/shape), & a smaller one made of the same gear, but a different shape - much like a wave-form on one side, if that makes any sense, lol (it was marked as a "neck" pillow, but I use it behind my back when in the car or lying on my side). I'm also looking into finding a "contoured" head pillow to see if it will support my neck better (having even worse issues with lying-down neck post-op...*sigh*).

              Anyhow, I find the memory foam pillows to be very supportive - if you've never felt one, think of firm "silly putty". It moulds to whatever weight distribution is placed on/against it, but returns to normal shape once the weight is lifted. I've had mine for.....ages....maybe 5yrs, & it's still as good as new. Weren't cheap when I got them, but are quite reasonable these days.

              Hope you find something that works for you, & pronto! No sleep is no fun.

              Best wishes.

              Comment


              • #8
                Thanks all! I am using 2 roll pillows from my bedspread set and they work great. Went to dentist this morning and took a pillow. No pain whatsoever and was in the chair for an hour for a root canal. I will gladly live with pillows compared to the pain before surgery!!!
                Nancy Joy

                Surgery- Posterior- Oct. 8th, 2008
                Anterior- Nov. 10th, 2008
                Age 54
                T10 to Sacrum
                Curve 65 degrees
                Very straight now!!!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Nancy Joy, you amaze me with your recovery. I've put my dentist off until the end of the year, thinking I wouldn't be able to manage his weird chair, but there you are, after what you've been through, having an hour's work done at the dentist, only two months later!

                  Great to read!
                  Surgery March 3, 2009 at almost 58, now 63.
                  Dr. Askin, Brisbane, Australia
                  T4-Pelvis, Posterior only
                  Osteotomies and Laminectomies
                  Was 68 degrees, now 22 and pain free

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Jennifer- LOL- Just remember a pillow!!! Actually, I am very excited. I have seen a huge improvement this last week and have cut my mile walk from 24 minutes to 17 (I have always been very active until scoliosis just kept taking away from me!!!) See, there is hope for you also. Debbei totally amazes me and then I have to remember I had 4 surgeries. Thanks for the cheerleading- we can take all we can get!
                    Nancy Joy

                    Surgery- Posterior- Oct. 8th, 2008
                    Anterior- Nov. 10th, 2008
                    Age 54
                    T10 to Sacrum
                    Curve 65 degrees
                    Very straight now!!!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Speaking of pillows...

                      a few month prior to surgery, I picked up a few memory foam pillows from Sams Club. I loved them until a month or so ago. All of a sudden, they feel like I'm laying my head on a ROCK!! Is it just becuse I purchased the cheapo variety of pillow?

                      I went back to regular feather pillows. I can't even stand the memory foam pillow under my knees.
                      __________________________________________
                      Debbe - 50 yrs old

                      Milwalkee Brace 1976 - 79
                      Told by Dr. my curve would never progress

                      Surgery 10/15/08 in NYC by Dr. Michael Neuwirth
                      Pre-Surgury Thorasic: 66 degrees
                      Pre-Surgery Lumbar: 66 degrees

                      Post-Surgery Thorasic: 34 degrees
                      Post-Surgery Lumbar: 22 degrees

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I use 3 pillows. One is a 5' pillow that is either between my knees and ankles, or behind my back, but curved in to go between my ankles. On the other side I have another pillow (regular sized) that is usually behind my back, or between my knees. It all depends on what side I am going to sleep on.

                        The two regular sized pillows are diferent thicknesses. One is pretty flat and the other very fluffy. It depends on how I am feeling as to where they end up, under my head or behind my back.

                        Brad
                        Surgeries July 26th & August 3rd 1983 (12 years old)
                        Still have 57 degree curve
                        2 Harrington rods
                        Luque method used
                        Dr David Bradford
                        Twin Cities Scoliosis Center
                        Preop xray (with brace on)
                        Postop xray

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Nancy Joy #10. I hope you continue improving at that great rate. To be walking a mile in that time so soon after your two surgeries, is, to me, amazing. Keep up the good work!
                          Surgery March 3, 2009 at almost 58, now 63.
                          Dr. Askin, Brisbane, Australia
                          T4-Pelvis, Posterior only
                          Osteotomies and Laminectomies
                          Was 68 degrees, now 22 and pain free

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Nancy - ditto on what Jen said...your recovery after that one hitch just amazes me! May the rest of you scoli journey be ever smoother, too

                            Debbe - very strange about your memory foam pillow turning to a rock. I've never had such problems, & have had the full-sized pillow for at least 4-5+ yrs, & the smaller one maybe 3-4yrs. I don't find they've changed consistency at all, thankfully. I'm not familiar with Sam's Club, but maybe the brand you bought wasn't great, or maybe a bad batch? I certainly didn't go "high-end" with mine at all - not from a proper bedding store, PT, or anything - just from a store called Target (no idea whether you have that over there??....it has everything from clothes to homewares, bedding, music/DVDs, etc.). It was their store brand, & though not cheap at the time (because memory foam was new out on the general market), they've come down in price significantly. Perhaps accompanied by a decline in quality??? I have no idea! What a pity for you....really hope you can find something that works out well.

                            Take care, all

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