Details about surgery.....

[Horselover]

Hi Lauren

Hi
I have had an anterior fusion at least that is what mom says. But yeah I think that means the top part of my spine. well ttyl
Kimberley

[Alison]

Hey

Fused T2 to T11, scar is 42 centimetres (I think to convert to inches you multiply by 2.5 but i'm not sure) and goes from my neck to my waist. I think I gained two centimetres in height but I'm not sure. I had two IV's one in my wrist and one in my neck. Neck one came out after two days and the wrist one on day five.

Anterior Fusion: this is where they fuse the front part of your spine, they usually go in through your side, through ribs and stuff, but the ribs can grow back so that's pretty cool

Posterior Fusion: Is where they go in through your back and fuse the back part of your spine

Alison

[Peggy]

Hi Lauren,
My 13yr. old daughter had surgery last April and is doing very well. She had a double fusion for curves that were 50 and 60 degrees. Her correction went to 10 and 15. Her surgery took 9 hours (included a thoroscopy too). She was in Intensive Care for 6 days and went home on the morning of the 10th. She lost about 15 lbs but gained it back with a little extra! At her 6 month check up last month they removed her restrictions. She can now lift up to 40 pounds and bend at the waiste. She can resume physical activity assuming it doesn't give her any pain. She hasn't done much yet accept walking though. Still a little nervous about letting loose! She moves well. She of course isn't as flexible as she was but she doesn't look stiff or feel stiff. Her posture is excellent and she looks great. I know what a difficult time this is. There were times I thought we wouldn't make it through without going crazy. But stay positive and focus on the future, post-surgery days. You will do great and come through this a stronger person. Best wishes.

[Peggy]

Wanted to add that she had posterior fusion and is fused from T-2 to L-2.

[Horselover]

Hi

HI
I guess I had a posterior fusion then lol But they took some ribs and used them to fuse my spine. But ribs don't grow back. They can grow together but they can't grow back. So ttyl
Kimberley

[Alison]

I don't know much about ribs, cause I had a cadaver bone graft and I read it somewhere I just thought it was an intersesting bit of stuff and sounded pretty spiffy. What it said was that if the surgeon leaves the lining of the rib in tact, it will grow back, probably means the same as growing together but I don't really know. Sometimes Australian ways of describing things don't quite describe across the same as you would say it in America :-)

Alison

[ANIMAL LOVER12]

Thank you everyone

Hi,
Thanks everyone. You have really helped me.I am having a posterior spinal fusion. I ahven't got all the details yet though. Peggy your daughters curves were close to mine. Was it really rough on the ride home from the hospital and at home.? Hope to hear from you! Bye.

[Gemma]

Advice

hia my name is Gemma Campbell and i have just gone 12!
I am having surgery on the 26th of January and i am scared too!
I know that if you keep on wearing your brace (that is if you still have it) it will keep your spine that little bit better until the operation. There is nothing to worry about really! People will come to see you and to support you in any way they can!
Please if you have any worries, email me on (sumarasumara@tinyonline.co.uk) and maybe we can be penpals!
Please email me back!
Yours sincerely
Gemma
p.s. don't worry i am there for you!

[ANIMAL LOVER12]

Thank You!

Oh, Thank you so much Gemma. Im there for you too.You are absolutely right, people will be there supporting me. It won't be as bad as I am thinking it will be. Actually, I am not even that nervous about it anymore. I mostly just want to go get it done.If you have any worries just post them on here or you can private message me and I will do my best to help you. Bye!

[donkeelover]

Hi! I'm going to be getting surgery this coming summer, and earlier in this thread, you were talking about weight loss. I was reading some other posts on this, but I'm still really worried. I'm 14 years old, 5 foot 2, and only 85 pounds! People are already worried about my weight as it is...I look anorexic even though I'm not. I'm eating CONSTANTLY, and really healthfully too, I just have a really fast metabolism. Would weight loss after the surgery be dangerous for me? Should I try to gain weight? That sounds scary, and one of the surgeons I saw said that it's easier to do surgery on really thin people. If someone could give me their opinion, I'd really appreciate it.

--Carole

[mumof5]

HI Carole,
Unless you are very sensible about gaining weight you will only gain 'fat'. Trying to gain some probably would be a good idea, but do it with help from a doctor or nutritionist. My daughter lost quite a bit of weight, she has gained back a little though. Her surgery was almost 7 months ago. I think the weight loss had a lot to do with her lack of stamina.
Try not to worry too much about it though because it may cause you to loose weight, which by the sound of things you definately don't want to do.
As long as you eat a healthy diet and don't skip meals you should be fine.
I doubt that your surgeon would operate if he / she thought you were to underweight.
Best wishes.
Cheryl.