Hi,
I am a 63 year old male with severe scoliosis. I have been seeing Dr. Frank Rand at New England Baptist in Boston for a few years at one year intervals. He specializes in Scoliosis and Spine surgery. X-ray are taken and he lets me know what has happened. I do not know the degrees of the s shaped curved. Between Nov. 2013 and Feb. 2014 I have lost close to an inch of height. 5'6" to 5'5". My height when in my 20 to 30 year old days was close to 5'9". During the last few months I have had lots of pain in the rib hump like the ribs want to push out more. The rib hump is also more pronounced. It was always there but seems to have enlarged. I have a lot of twisting of my rib cage from left to right so my left pectoral protrudes much more than the right pectoral. My ribs on the right side front are or seem to be making contact with the large bone which I think is part of my hip. When trying to sleep on my right side I am not comfortable as it seems the left side is trying to dig in to what limited space is left between the ribs and hip and the same happens if I try to lay on my left side. Prolong sitting in a chair will aggravate the pain in the rib hump and slouching feels better than trying to sit up straight. Stationary standing will bring about lower back pain. I do not have any difficulty walking but I have noticed my clothing fitting poorly compared to a year ago. Sometimes I feel pins and needles in my left leg from the knee down to my foot. I have had right hip pain, which shoots down the right leg but only as far as the knee, for several years.
Dr. Rand has said each time that I would be worst off than I am now if he was to do the procedure.
Since I am seeing him Thurs. June 19th, what should I be asking or telling him? I notice most of the people responding are posting their curve degrees. Is it important to know these numbers?
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul
I am a 63 year old male with severe scoliosis. I have been seeing Dr. Frank Rand at New England Baptist in Boston for a few years at one year intervals. He specializes in Scoliosis and Spine surgery. X-ray are taken and he lets me know what has happened. I do not know the degrees of the s shaped curved. Between Nov. 2013 and Feb. 2014 I have lost close to an inch of height. 5'6" to 5'5". My height when in my 20 to 30 year old days was close to 5'9". During the last few months I have had lots of pain in the rib hump like the ribs want to push out more. The rib hump is also more pronounced. It was always there but seems to have enlarged. I have a lot of twisting of my rib cage from left to right so my left pectoral protrudes much more than the right pectoral. My ribs on the right side front are or seem to be making contact with the large bone which I think is part of my hip. When trying to sleep on my right side I am not comfortable as it seems the left side is trying to dig in to what limited space is left between the ribs and hip and the same happens if I try to lay on my left side. Prolong sitting in a chair will aggravate the pain in the rib hump and slouching feels better than trying to sit up straight. Stationary standing will bring about lower back pain. I do not have any difficulty walking but I have noticed my clothing fitting poorly compared to a year ago. Sometimes I feel pins and needles in my left leg from the knee down to my foot. I have had right hip pain, which shoots down the right leg but only as far as the knee, for several years.
Dr. Rand has said each time that I would be worst off than I am now if he was to do the procedure.
Since I am seeing him Thurs. June 19th, what should I be asking or telling him? I notice most of the people responding are posting their curve degrees. Is it important to know these numbers?
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul
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