Before and after pics!

[Singer]

Hey all -- I think I finally figured out how to post these....The "after" is on its side and I had trouble rotating it but you get the general idea.


Before:
[ATTACH]401[/ATTACH]

After:
[ATTACH]402[/ATTACH]

[txmarinemom]

Okay, all you new post-ops ... DO NOT BEND to look at the after - LOL!

Nice, Chris! He *did* get you straight ;-).

Pam

[LynnMarie74]

Okay, all you new post-ops ... DO NOT BEND to look at the after - LOL!

Nice, Chris! He *did* get you straight ;-).

Pam

lol...I didnt...I turned my lap top onto its side!! I think its w/in my 5 lb weight restriction!

Singer....nice correction!! Im hoping mine stays at the 10* mark-ish. Im so jealous of your fusion...that it goes to T10..lucky duck!!! ;0)

I will have to try to post the before & after pics...when I get them! Im not that computer savy,so we shall see.....

[leahdragonfly]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the great pics--that's some impressive hardware.

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but how much has your mobility changed, and how hard has it been to get used to it?


Take care,

[Heathmoose]

Great pics Chris! You got great correction!

[asccbodypro]

Chris,

Very impressive! I can only hope for such a good correction! I will keep my fingers crossed!

Susan

[debbei]

Chris,

HOLY MOLY!! No wonder you look so perfect now! That is absolutely remarkable.

[LindaRacine]

Hi Chris...

I don't rotate very well, so I could only view your x-ray for a second at a time. Do you have both posterior and anterior implants? I do, and it's been quite a while since I've seen anyone else with the same setup.

Thanks for posting the pics.

Regards,
Linda

[titaniumed]

I couldnt look without rotating. Hope this helps

Chris
Your illiac crest heights look pretty even in your pre x-ray. Thats quite a bend down low, similar to the way mine was.
Are those leaves in there? Or am I having an alien abduction? You guys remember that post, It was a classic!
Ed

[Singer]

Ed, I bow to your genius! Thank you for righting the picture, but now that I look at it, it appears to be backwards....the longer rod should be on the right, not the left. And yes, my pelvis was pretty even. Even though I tilted a bit to the left, I hid the big hip deformity pretty well with baggy tops.

Yes Linda, I have A/P rods: anterior rod is T10-L5, and the posterior rod is L2 to L5. It seems to me that surgeons nowadays are moving toward posterior approaches only and/or avoiding the huge anterior incisions you and I had.

Leah, my mobility was very much affected, but it's loosened up some in the last few months. I do have trouble reaching my feet and doing things like wiping up a spot on the floor or feeding the cat. My arms are very short, which doesn't help. I'm still improving month to month, though.

Thanks for all replies!

[CHRIS WBS]

Wow, Chris, Dr. Boachie sure did a beautiful job of fixing your spine. You should see my x-rays. They’re really frightening. When they were first presented to me as I lay moaning in my hospital bed, all I could think is "no wonder I feel like I’ve been run over by a bus."

It seems to me that surgeons nowadays are moving toward posterior approaches only and/or avoiding the huge anterior incisions you and I had.

Maybe so, but I don’t think you would have gotten such a fabulous correction with posterior alone.

[titaniumed]

With me, it was a freight train a mile long and hit with every axle. They tied me down. LOL I guess I was flipping out. They even tied down my right arm and my shoulder was broken. I was rough on the male nurses in ICU, not the female nurses, just the guys. You might say, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was in combat mode, fighting for my life, and didnt realize this till my visitors told me I was being a little rough on the guys in ICU.

I went back down there at about 2 months later and apologised. I felt bad about it. They said that it happens.

Remember in the movie 'Frankenstein" when Igor says "Its alive", well it was kinda like that. LOL

Here is a pic of me in ICU

[CHRIS WBS]

Are you serious? Were you really tied down? Love the pic of you in ICU. At least you had a smile on your face.

[Singer]

Ed, you're a scream...!

I don't remember much about the ICU. As long as the Dilaudid was flowing, I was fine.....

[Susie*Bee]

Chris-- thanks so much for sharing. Isn't it amazing what our doctors can do?!!! I find x-rays to be pretty fascinating-- my goodness, we all sure were curvy! I love looking at people's scoli x-rays-- especially before and after ones. I just added some digital to my signature (just got them at my appt. on the 12th-- I'm amazed by my reconstruction too, although maybe I'm not quite as straight as you are-- but I'm still really good. I have to keep telling myself not to email them to all my friends and family-- they would be bored, I'm sure. I just think that all of us who've been through this can't help but be in awe of the drastic changes made to our spines... We are pretty cool that way, don't you think? And the x-rays show it so plainly, in black and white (and a little floral coloring if held up to a window for the picture...)

I'm so glad to hear you are doing well. It may take us turtles longer, but we still keep getting better and stronger. Just wait another year or so and there's no telling what we'll be up to.

Ed-- you must have a virtual storehouse of funny clips and pics. Thanks for always providing entertainment to us! And how is being back to work going for you? Hopefully not too taxing...