Calendar

[nervous]

I noticed that my surgery is still not on the calendar. Is there something else that I need to do?

[Susie*Bee]

I sent you a PM.

[kaizan]

Hi Susie, this is my first time here. i have surgery coming up May 22 this year. i'm here cos i think that everybody here has been in my situation and can probably help me with answers.

[Susie*Bee]

Welcome!

Hi kaizan! And anyone else who is fairly new too! It's good to have you here with us-- and you're so right! There are a ton of people who will provide support and encouragement-- and share their own experiences with you. There are a lot of us who have already gone through the surgery, some who are about to, and others who are thinking about it-- as well as others who are not planning on surgery but have scoli and need support and friendship too. I think you'll find this forum to be kind of a family/friend group that understands and accepts you and your scoli in a way that your own family and friends cannot-- because we know where you're coming from. Also, since you don't have to deal with us in the same way you would your close family and friends, you can vent away, confess your fears and all the rest of that without fear of upsetting us. Sometimes that really helps too. And most of us have been on that same emotional/psychological roller coaster in our pre-op days too. I know I had periods of excitement (Yay! I'll be straighter!) and fear/doubt (as in "what the heck am I doing! )

Setting the date is a BIG step! I will go ahead and add you to the informal calendar thread, that some of us like because it lists everyone's surgeries for the next chunk of time... so yours will be in the April, May, June 2009 surgeries thread. Here is a link: http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showthread.php?t=8420 If you let me know more info (levels being fused, whether it's anterior/posterior or posterior fusion, surgeon, hospital, whatever...) I will add that in too.

You can go to the official calendar and add yourself, or I can help you out by doing that for you if you want me to.

Can you let us know a little about yourself sometime, so we can understand a little better? Things like age, the extent of your scoli (location and degrees, if you know them), and what your surgeon is planning to do-- that helps us know how to relate. If you are younger, your recovery is almost always much quicker than some of us older ones...

If you have any questions, just ask away. Susie

[asccbodypro]

Hi Susie, this is my first time here. i have surgery coming up May 22 this year. i'm here cos i think that everybody here has been in my situation and can probably help me with answers.

Welcome! You will definitely get feed back from those who have gone through surgery which is very helpful. I asked my doc every question under the sun! God bless him for being so patient with me. However, I hit a point where the questions I had needed to be answered by those with the experience....that's what brought me here.

Good luck and ask away! This sight and those on it have been sooo helpful to me. Even when I thought what the hell am I getting my self into and I must need my head examined not my back straightened lol....my surgery is coming up in April. I am at the point of setting it aside for now, not thinking about it to much and having fun with my family and friends. We are planning a mini vaca with the kids and one for my husband and I. We figured it would be our only chance for a long time to completely focus on the kids and then just us.

Take care!

[kaizan]

thanx guys for the welcome.
well i'm in my late 30's (a week off 40)
wont be able to say that for much longer. Happily married with 4 small raggamuffins.Live at the foot of the Dandenong ranges not far from Melbourne.
were on high bush fire alert today so kinder, school and occassional care have all been cancelled .
i normally love fridays and 2 hours of peace with no kids.
So about me...i was diagonosed at 12 and wore a boston brace for 12 months correcting the curve from 43 to 38.
i had xrays after the first two pregnancies in 2004 and all seemed pretty good , stable at ruffly 45degrees but in december last year was suffering pretty acute pain and felt really twisted. xrays show the curve now out to 69degrees. My last pregnancy (2006) was twin boys, so that and carrying the others around and picking them up well.....it seems to have accelerated the increase in the curve, it had been at roughly 40-45 degrees for 20yrs.
so after referral to a surgeon, operating is the only option really available. so its "lets do it" and get to the recovery side. the next few weeks i have to have MRI's and Cat scans and more xrays and meet the 2nd surgeon helping during the op.

here are a couple of my Q's


Does everybody have 2 surgeons doin the op???
has anyone noticed if their height has changed?

[loves to skate]

Hi kaizan,
welcome to the forum.
I had two surgeons, my surgeon and a Fellow learning to be a scoliosis surgeon. I gained about one inch. Younger people usually get back more height because they are more flexible.
Sally

[txmarinemom]

... here are a couple of my Q's

Does everybody have 2 surgeons doin the op???
has anyone noticed if their height has changed?

Heya, kaizan ... welcome!

Lika Sally, I had a few people working on me besides my primary surgeon (his PA who assists in surgery and a resident). The surgery takes a few pairs of hands according to what I saw in my surgery photos ;-).

Although my curve was corrected from ±53° down to ±20°, I only gained 1/4" (bah.) I'd really hoped to gain more (like I can even *use* that 1/4" anywhere ... I can't even truthfully round up on my drivers license ;-).

A lot of people our age (I'm 40) do notice significant (2" isn't rare) height increase.

I'd say "Hope you get taller!", but you didn't say ... do you *want* to be taller? LOL. If not, you need only think of me ... and know it's possible you may not ;-).

Best of luck to you!

Regards,
Pam

[WNCmom]

kaizan--

At my (13yo) son's fusion there was the surgeon, plus a fellow and a resident assisting, along with several scrub nurses, etc. Quite a crowd. He gained over 2 inches, but everyone is different.

You will find answers to your questions here. Those of us who have been through it or whose children have been through it have found this forum invaluable.

[discombobulated]

Kaizan, just wanted to stop by & say hi from a fellow Aussie Hope you & the loved ones are staying safe from the fires where you are.

It's quite standard for surgeries have more than one surgeon present - often one senior surgeon + sugeon/s who are training under him/her (but are already trained surgeons); or in complex multi-system surgeries senior surgeons with different specialties. In my fusion surgery just gone, I had my surgeon + I think 6 other surgeons of various rank. Apparently I was a "good complex teaching case" LOL But yes - a second surgeon is important, e.g., in case the primary surgeon needs to take a break, esp. in long surgeries. I'm sure you're in (many) good hands

Re. height...excluding unusual circumstances, height gain depends on curve correction, which in turn depends on spine flexibility. Generally, the older a person is &/or the longer the curve has been in place, the less flexible it is. So, you may not achieve your original height again, but any correction that's made should give you a little height.


Take care.

[kaizan]

thankyou all for your feedback, i'm 5'9" and must say havent measured myself for a long long long loooonnnnnnnnnnggggg time, i didn't realise that while gaining height in surgery i had probably lost what i originally had (does that make sense) lol

[kaizan]

it's me again....

anyone have any hints or things that worked regarding kids..pickin them up, how long it took to get back on your feet enuff to take over the daily chores, mother routines.

thanks again its great to talk to friends that have been thru or going thru this and share experiences.

Good News!!! we've just had an inch of rain so the fire threat in our area has eased... woohoooo

[Beckymk]

Does everybody have 2 surgeons doin the op???
has anyone noticed if their height has changed?

I can't answer about the height change as my DD goes in for surgery next week. I'm *assuming* she will grow a couple inches.

I know for a fact we will have at least 2 surgeons in there. We met the assisting surgeon on Friday. I don't know if there will be just those 2 or more. It's hard to tell with Shriner's...sometimes there seems to have been several doctors at a visit & other times just her main one.