The Date Is Set!

[titaniumed]

Bill

Don’t leave until you feel you can handle it. You are on oral meds correct? Are you eating?

The woozy feeling is from the meds.....

Hang in there
Ed

[JDM555]

Yes, I agree with Ed. Don't force yourself to get out of the hospital to hurry home, because it'll be harder to get any help when you get home. Stay another day or two until you feel ready to take care of yourself, don't rush things. Also, I'm wondering if you've been switched to oral meds, the switch is a pain man, give that a day or two as well. Good luck and hope you recover great. Let us know if we can answer any questions or help you in any way.

[BendyBill]

Yeah, been moved to oral meds now. I'm on Paracetamol, Ibuprofen and some morphine substitute beginning with T. Not eating great at the moment but mostly because the food is appalling here. Still no bowel movements yet either... Hopefully sort that out when I get home tomorrow...

Thanks again for your help - hope you're doing well

B

[JDM555]

Yeah, been moved to oral meds now. I'm on Paracetamol, Ibuprofen and some morphine substitute beginning with T. Not eating great at the moment but mostly because the food is appalling here. Still no bowel movements yet either... Hopefully sort that out when I get home tomorrow...

Thanks again for your help - hope you're doing well

B

I'm doing great, don't worry about me though hehe, focus on healing. I haven't heard of paracetamol, but morphine/dilaudid/fentanyl seem to be the famous 3 IV meds. But why are you on Ibuprofen this early? That's a NSAID and most surgeons tell patients to avoid taking it until they are completely fused. I would talk to my surgeon and see if there's a substitute or way to avoid taking a NSAID this early.

[rohrer01]

It's nice to hear that you are on the "other side" and making progress. I'm really surprised that they are letting you take ibuprofen. I've heard that it inhibits the bone graft from forming. I'd ask your doc about that one. Sorry to hear about the food. All of the hospitals that I've been in have actually had pretty decent food considering the reputation that hospitals have for really bad food. LOL When my daughter had her baby, they served us ribeye steak with baked potatoes a very nice salad and a bottle of non-alcoholic "champaign".

[JDM555]

When my daughter had her baby, they served us ribeye steak with baked potatoes a very nice salad and a bottle of non-alcoholic "champaign".

....Are you serious? I would be in the hospital all the time if they served food like that lol. My food wasn't that great, but then again it's very hard to eat the first few days so I don't remember much. I would of remembered ribeye and champagne.

[loves to skate]

....Are you serious? I would be in the hospital all the time if they served food like that lol. My food wasn't that great, but then again it's very hard to eat the first few days so I don't remember much. I would of remembered ribeye and champagne.

John, I think you have to have a baby to get that kind of treatment at a hospital these days. Hehe

[rohrer01]

Yes, it was a celebratory dinner! Actually, I never got that kind of treatment when I had babies, but that was a long time ago. LOL You can also tell I'm not a drinker as I can't spell champagne!

[BendyBill]

Asked about the Ibuprofen and they said it is only for a the first week as it is good for bone pain so I'm off it after tomorrow. Is does seem a little bizarre nonetheless...

Recovery is going strangely well... I'm not even a week out and today's pain was minimal. I'm taking it easy but mobility is good. I had a walk across the road and through the small grounds of a church opposite my parents place, I'm up and about for meals and tea etc... Had a fairly long shower, had 2 lots of guests for an hour or so each. I feel a little sleepy this evening but in a good way. And I'm only on half doses of Treadamol (1 4x/day rather than 2 4x/day). Should I expect this just to be a good day?

Thanks again for all your help.

B

[JenniferG]

Wow! That is good news Bill. Some people just seem to have an easy time with pain. It's fascinating how different we all are.

My partner had foot/ankle surgery in October. There were four incisions. They cut and reattached a tendon, did osteotomies, added wedges between bones, stripped his archilles tendon to stretch it, put in two metal plates with screws and sent him home on day 2 with Endone, Tramadol and Panadeine Fort. He didn't even open the boxes. He simply didn't have any pain.

Weird, but lucky!

My advice is that if the pain increases, don't man it out, up your meds immediately, so that it doesn't get out of control. But it's likely you simply won't need it. It's great you're doing so well.

[rohrer01]

From reading the forums for over a year now, I'd have to say that the younger people (20's and under) always seem to recover really nicely. It's probably because you are young and you don't have other problems that even non-scoli adults get. I'm glad this has been easier than you thought. Maybe keeping your plans / gigs won't be as hard as you thought. :-)

[BendyBill]

Well, touch wood, everything continues to be this smooth!! I do have a couple of problems, mind you.
Firs of all, as I've seen in the forums a LOT, is that the cold is a nightmare. I left the radiator off in my room upstairs and wend from in front of a cosy fireplace to a cold room and all my back muscles immediately seized up! Painful!!! I suppose I just need to remember to turn on my radiator... Lesson learnt

Also, at night time I seem to be sleeping in one position all night and I stiffen up so much so logrolling and pushing myself up is bloody agony. Anyone else have this? Any tips?

One more thing... Is anyone unhappy with their post op body shape? Bizarrely, I look more like I have scoliosis now than I did before. My scoli curves seemed to be fairly even so my torso looked more 'squat' but pretty straight and even. Now It's longer but clearly uneven and I have the 'one arm touching the hip, one arm dangling' thing. Anyone?

Hope you're all well - good to be on the other side!

B

[Pooka1]

One more thing... Is anyone unhappy with their post op body shape? Bizarrely, I look more like I have scoliosis now than I did before. My scoli curves seemed to be fairly even so my torso looked more 'squat' but pretty straight and even. Now It's longer but clearly uneven and I have the 'one arm touching the hip, one arm dangling' thing. Anyone?

BB, this is common. Don't worry about it. My one kid came out of surgery with a different shoulder higher. She stressed about it but the surgeon said it would come even and it did. It took several weeks though. The other kid came out with a torso lean that took many months to slowly resolve. It is still there but not noticeable to people who don't know what to look for.

Surgeons attempt to balance your straightened spine in all planes. Then your soft tissue has to slowly allow the change over time. It will seem like they overcorrected you because of this.

Give it time. Have you seen the post-op radiographs? They should have them from the front and the side so you can see the balance for yourself. Those will tell the story much more than your outward appearance so soon post-op.

Good luck.

[BendyBill]

Thanks for your reply, Sharon. Definitely puts my mind at ease!

Another, slightly less pressing question... Did anyone else get the most horrendous nipple chafing post op? I swear it was like they had spent the last half hour Of the operation taking sandpaper to my nipples before wheeling me out of the OR. I noticed when I first got changed and they were completely scabbed over and one is completely numb!!!

B

[LindaRacine]

OUCH! I can't imagine what they did to result in that. You should mention it to your surgeon.