Good News/Bad News

[naptown78]

I went in today for my 2nd opinion appt with a different surgeon. Remember I have had a T4 to sacrum fusion about 15 mo ago and haven't been able to stand upright from day one.
My original surgeon kept saying everything was looking great, and didn't know why I was having this trouble. The good news is that this dr took xrays and knew right away from looking at them and holding a plumb line at C7 that my problem is a sagittal imbalance of 11 cm. The bad news is that the fix is a pedicle osteotomy surgery. That is the last thing I feel like doing but at the same time, I can't live like this. I don't know what to do. I know several of you have had osteotomies, can you post your stories? What was your recovery like? How long were you off work? My surgeon said that an osteotomy is a much more serious surgery than the original surgery with risks of blood loss, more risk of complications etc.

[Susie*Bee]

Kristy-- sorry to hear the diagnosis, but it must be good to know what's wrong finally. I can't help much-- my osteotomies were done at the time of my fusion surgery, so I have no idea what it would be like as a separate surgery without the rest of it to recover from too. For that matter, I have no idea what a fusion surgery would be like without the osteotomies too. Best wishes as you try to figure out your course. It does sound like a necessary surgery. Hugs...

[naptown78]

Thanks Susie Bee! I needed the hugs. Been feeling blue since my appt yesterday. I keep remembering the painful recovery and I REALLY don't want to go through that again. I've been praying to know the right thing to do.

[LindaRacine]

Hi Kristy...

There's a group of people on YahooGroups. Many of them have had scoliosis revision surgery involving osteotomies. You can find them by searching Flatback_Revised from the find forums link on YahooGroups.

I've seen a lot of people recovering from such a procedure, and I can tell you that the recoveries are all over the place. One friend of mine had multiple osteotomies, and a fusion extended to the ilium. She was off all pain medication by 3-4 weeks postop. On the other hand, I've heard people say that they had pain for many months.

It's daunting, but the results I'm seeing these days are pretty great. Just make certain that your surgeon does a lot of this type of procedure.

Regards,
Linda

[Doodles]

Kristy--
I'm probably not much help either. I had 6 osteotomies but also had T2-sacrum surgery at the same time. I'm 5 months today and doing quite well. In many ways, however, I don't feel I'm up to where the first-timers usually are so it's very hard to tell. Good luck in your decision. Janet