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  • Originally posted by babyboomer16 View Post
    Hi Melissa,
    I have a new problem added to my already broken rods. I damaged my knee cap from a fall. I haven't had it xrayed, as I kept thinking it would get better( it happened a month ago.) But it is still paining me and is swollen around the knee cap. I have an appt. next week to get it looked at. I was wondering how your knee is doing and what you did for treatmeant? I am still healing from my neck surgery, and have four fractures in my rods (my lower spine) So I was sick about this new development! Darn~ pain on top of pain. I hope you are doing alright Melissa. My knees have always been good until now!! Trying to stay positive . Linda
    My knees are coming along. They gave me a brace to use.
    Melissa

    Fused from C2 - sacrum 7/2011

    April 21, 2020- another broken rod surgery

    Comment


    • Originally posted by mabeckoff View Post
      My knees are coming along. They gave me a brace to use.
      Thanks ~glad to hear they are coming along alright. Linda
      Linda Brozik~~60 yrs. old at time of Lenke's first surgery. 62 now!
      Surgery 2006 L3/4 L4/5 double fusion/ instumentation/ With 2 cages
      This started adult onset scoliosis
      July 1st, 2010/ surgery ~~fused T10 to pelvis (long rods/ screws)
      Oct.20th 2010, extended rods to T4 / did osteotomy at L3
      Oct. 29th 2012 Dr. Lenke St. Louis Mo. T4 to sacrum osteotomy anterior cage L3/4 titanium rods
      May 30th 2013 revision
      May 8th cervicle surgery 2016
      May 31st Dr. Gupta revision 2017

      Comment


      • I hope you get some relief. Let me know what happens
        Melissa

        Fused from C2 - sacrum 7/2011

        April 21, 2020- another broken rod surgery

        Comment


        • Could this be your motto, Melissa?

          Originally posted by mabeckoff View Post
          It was very steep but I made it
          And the core inspiration for us all, from your long, nightmarish saga (which nonetheless has so much good news as it unfolds). You couldn't have guessed I am following your story, but indeed I am - and that includes the very beginning (where a sadly, naive Melissa asked why anyone would EVER need a revision operation). May the courageous line above stand as your thought-out representation.

          I'm trying to read this thread as a forum classic - kind of like War and Peace. (Up to p. 16 and the very last pp.). Yours and Susan's and a few other long stories both inspire and scare me. Trying to remember who said, "Man, the creature capable of adapting to anything."

          PS I'm sure you've all discussed this over the years, but I can't help noticing how much the forum has thinned out since I first joined seven +/- years ago.

          I'm saddened to see it, remembering how very much it enriched and informed me in my long search for help - struggling to decide about having THE surgery (and if so, how to prepare). Why has it happened, do you think? Are fewer people deciding to undergo the big op or what?
          Not all diagnosed (still having tests and consults) but so far:
          Ehler-Danlos (hyper-mobility) syndrome, 69 - somehow,
          main curve L Cobb 60, compensating T curve ~ 30
          Flat back, marked lumbar kyphosis (grade?) Spondilolisthesis - everyone gives this a different grade too. Cervical stenosis op'd 3-07, minimally invasive

          Comment


          • I decided to come back and say hi. I have been received many private messages wondering how I am.
            This year has been a year of change. I was divorced in May after 33 years of marriage. I fell twice this year.I cannot say that I have not spent one night in the hospital. I spent a week in September due to having a UTI and being dehydrated. But no surgery this year. I am working and trying to stay ahead of my bills, but it is not easy.

            I hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday season and I wish everyone a Happy New Year.

            Melissa
            Melissa

            Fused from C2 - sacrum 7/2011

            April 21, 2020- another broken rod surgery

            Comment


            • It was good to hear from you. Let's hope this is a good year.
              T10-pelvis fusion 12/08
              C5,6,7 fusion 9/10
              T2--T10 fusion 2/11
              C 4-5 fusion 11/14
              Right scapulectomy 6/15
              Right pectoralis major muscle transfer to scapula
              To replace the action of Serratus Anterior muscle 3/16
              Broken neck 9/28/2018
              Emergency surgery posterior fusion C4- T3
              Repeated 11/2018 because rods pulled apart added T2 fusion
              Removal of partial right thoracic hardware 1/2020
              Removal and replacement of C4-T10 hardware with C7 and T 1
              Osteotomy

              Comment


              • Originally posted by jackieg412 View Post
                It was good to hear from you. Let's hope this is a good year.
                The same to you
                Melissa

                Fused from C2 - sacrum 7/2011

                April 21, 2020- another broken rod surgery

                Comment


                • Originally posted by mabeckoff View Post
                  I decided to come back and say hi. I have been received many private messages wondering how I am.
                  This year has been a year of change. I was divorced in May after 33 years of marriage. I fell twice this year.I cannot say that I have not spent one night in the hospital. I spent a week in September due to having a UTI and being dehydrated. But no surgery this year. I am working and trying to stay ahead of my bills, but it is not easy.

                  I hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday season and I wish everyone a Happy New Year.

                  Melissa
                  What a world of suffering, physical and emotional are in your lines above, Melissa, especially on top of the suffering you've shared in the many pages preceding. I'm so sorry to hear of it all. As a long-time divorced mother, I've always wondered how single patients (almost always, scoli patients ARE women) are managing especially if they have no involved partner. Finances are always a point of curiosity too. (I was unable to have THE surgery for the seven years after joining, entirely because I lacked social and financial support until recently.)

                  I have envied those with devoted partners, wondering how else patients get through such intense surgery. I have speculated that it must take a heavy toll on marriages, whether the patient is a partner or a parent. (When I was a co-chair of our local ADD Parents Support Group, I noticed we had only one father member in many years. I wonder if it's the same with scoli parents).

                  I am glad you've gotten many PM's and with them I hope much support. I don't "know" you as well as I would have if my membership had been continuous, but I certainly have gotten the message that you've suffered more than most long-term members.

                  Thank you for your good wishes for holidays and the new year. I wish you the same in spades! If anyone deserves it, it's surely you, Melissa.
                  Not all diagnosed (still having tests and consults) but so far:
                  Ehler-Danlos (hyper-mobility) syndrome, 69 - somehow,
                  main curve L Cobb 60, compensating T curve ~ 30
                  Flat back, marked lumbar kyphosis (grade?) Spondilolisthesis - everyone gives this a different grade too. Cervical stenosis op'd 3-07, minimally invasive

                  Comment


                  • A trivial point in common, is having a low grade fever ever since my surgery of November 22, which I am hoping is attributable to a UTI. I am pretty sure I have one (have had many in the last decades but haven't been able to be tested in part, owing to antibiotic snafus in the last weeks). Yesterday, I nearly passed out trying to climb up and down my newly bannistered basement stairs for exercise. At first, I feared it was my heart (right before surgery, first learned I have a-FIBS), but then thought of two less pernicious possibilities: 1) my as-yet undiagnosed UTI and dehydration. I stopped and drank two glasses of fluid, then resting between "flights" 2) severe anemia from blood loss. I was by one doctor to have a transfusion after my surgery (had 3 units of blood replaced during surgery, but one doctor thought I needed more). I'll call my family doctor after the new year to see if he forgot his prior plan to order me IV-iron infusion (as I had two years ago).

                    Your having a full week in hospital owing to two of these symptoms, gave me pause for thought. I know how hard it is to get hospital days approved. After having only a single day in hospital after a double mastectomy, I joked with family I could easily picture a drive-by procedure before long! I'm sure you were very ill. As always, I suspect you're underestimating the severity of your discomfort and worry. Again, I am very sorry. Your experience reminds me to go ASAP for my delayed urinalysis. I never heard of a UTI causing such serious consequences - at least, not in a young woman. I will arrange for a nurse at my OB-GYN to help with the clean-catch test being unable to BLT enough myself - another reason for delaying it. This is the kind of personal sharing that can benefit others here so much. That reminds me again what a shame it is that the site is becoming so under-populated.
                    Last edited by Back-out; 12-31-2016, 02:43 PM.
                    Not all diagnosed (still having tests and consults) but so far:
                    Ehler-Danlos (hyper-mobility) syndrome, 69 - somehow,
                    main curve L Cobb 60, compensating T curve ~ 30
                    Flat back, marked lumbar kyphosis (grade?) Spondilolisthesis - everyone gives this a different grade too. Cervical stenosis op'd 3-07, minimally invasive

                    Comment


                    • Melissa,
                      I don't check in nearly as often as I used to, but had definitely noticed that you had not posted in a long time and often wondered how you are doing. Thanks for dropping in! I'm glad you had no more surgeries, but realize that you had a great deal of other problems. I hope that 2017 is a good year for you!
                      Karen

                      Surgery-Jan. 5, 2011-Dr. Lenke
                      Fusion T-4-sacrum-2 cages/5 osteotomies
                      70 degree thoracolumbar corrected to 25
                      Rib Hump-GONE!
                      Age-60 at the time of surgery
                      Now 66
                      Avid Golfer & Tap Dancer
                      Retired Kdgn. Teacher

                      See photobucket link for:
                      Video of my 1st Day of Golf Post-Op-3/02/12-Bradenton, FL
                      Before and After Picture of back 1/7/11
                      tap dancing picture at 10 mos. post op 11/11/11-I'm the one on the right.
                      http://s1119.photobucket.com/albums/k630/pottoff2/

                      Comment


                      • Hello everyone

                        I have gotten several PM messages, so I figured that I would just update here

                        I am in serious pain in my right leg, and my SI joints are in terrible pain. I have the worst insurance possible and cannot see Dr. Bederman. No one can figure out why I am in pain, but there are days I cannot walk.

                        On another note, my daughter got married in May and is having a little girl in November. So I will have two granddaughters and a grandson.

                        I am working.

                        I have a great guy in my life.

                        Overall, I am happy

                        Melissa
                        Melissa

                        Fused from C2 - sacrum 7/2011

                        April 21, 2020- another broken rod surgery

                        Comment


                        • Hey stranger, nice to hear about all the good news.....

                          This working thing at our age and with our situation's is becoming quite a challenge....The joints in my drivetrain (Ankle, knees and hips) are worn out now and all I can think of is Benny Hill's pain jokes from years ago.....funny, but also serious since it made me think about these things. He knew that there was only so much anyone can do, and that we do roll on with our lives the best we can with what we have. Even joke about it, or try to joke about it.

                          One person who took laughter therapy seriously is the President of Ecuador. He runs the country from a wheelchair, the victim of a gunshot to the spine.
                          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len%C3%ADn_Moreno

                          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughter#Laughter_therapy

                          Its good to see your posts.......especially for us who know your history. Your signature should simply state, "Scoliosis, been there done that"

                          Keep smiling

                          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

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