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First day home from the hospital

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  • #31
    So far, congrats: pain level?

    Originally posted by 1998golfer View Post
    Hey everyone,
    I made an account over the weekend hoping to post before my surgery, but it wouldn't let me post.

    Anyways, I can now, and wanted to share my story.
    I'm 18 years old, male, found out I had scoliosis when I was 17, and through a series of appointments and referrals, was lucky enough to find an opening for surgery on July 11th at a local hospital.
    Details:
    Last July, 40° curve from initial x-ray
    March, 47° curve, new x-ray from the surgeon
    At the appointment in March, we talked to the surgeon about surgery and decided it would be best to do it before it got worse as the years go by, and earlier that day he had someone else cancel their surgery for July 11th, so we immediately scheduled it for then.
    I got my blood work done July 8th just for type/cross.
    Clear liquids Saturday, nothing Sunday, was at the hospital around 5:20am on Monday to check in, and they wheeled me to the operating room right on time at about 7:30am. I think I woke up around 12:30-1pm, my surgeon and his team did an incredible job.
    I stayed in the PICU for the duration of my visit, came home yesterday in the early afternoon.
    I've done a lot of walking, sitting up/down, etc since the surgery, and apparently they were impressed by my progress and pain tolerance at the hospital, and even considered letting me go home Wednesday.

    Soo... Scoli details... They fused T4-L1 with 2 rods, 1 titanium and 1 cobalt-chrome, and 17 titanium screws. I don't know the new curve amount but it looks almost perfectly straight, considering it was 47° 3 months before surgery.
    So, I highly recommend my surgeon Dr. Brian Shaw in Colorado, and I'll attach the xrays from before surgery (March) and after surgery on Monday on this post.

    If anyone has any suggestions on how to ensure quick and safe recovery... I'm very interested, as well as anything else I might want to know for efficient pain management.

    Before:
    https://imgur.com/yV35CPA

    After:
    http://i.imgur.com/fOs3dED.jpg

    I look forward to hearing from all of you!
    -Golfer
    Golfer- Just a few quickies. Have not had the surgery, but need it, longer job than yours ( mine will be from base of neck to posts screwed into the ilium. Huge job. Not that your's was small. 2 ?s: 1) Can you sleep on your back, i.e. do you feel the hardware? 2) How is your pain level? Manageable, or do you hurt, and if so, can you locate the area? Keep On Getting Better, RJM

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    • #32
      Originally posted by rjmacready View Post
      Golfer- Just a few quickies. Have not had the surgery, but need it, longer job than yours ( mine will be from base of neck to posts screwed into the ilium. Huge job. Not that your's was small. 2 ?s: 1) Can you sleep on your back, i.e. do you feel the hardware? 2) How is your pain level? Manageable, or do you hurt, and if so, can you locate the area? Keep On Getting Better, RJM
      I am fused from C2x -, sacrum if you have any questions
      Melissa
      Melissa

      Fused from C2 - sacrum 7/2011

      April 21, 2020- another broken rod surgery

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      • #33
        Originally posted by LindaRacine View Post
        I'm surprised that he called it kyphosis. You were actually hypokyphotic. That is, you had too little kyphosis. It's relatively common in teens with thoracic curves. The postop sagittal films look really good.

        I hope that you're successful in straightening out your cervical spine. It looks pretty uncomfortable.

        --Linda
        That makes sense, the paper he gave me said "kyphoscoliosis", he never said kyphosis.

        And thanks, I'm not too confident it'll fix itself, it's a bit painful pushing my arm down to make my shoulders level... Would an extended fusion surgery be as hard as the first one? Hopefully he'd only need to go to T2 or T1, max, but that's just my guess
        First diagnosed July 2015, 40°
        Follow up March 2016, 47°

        Fused T4-L1 July 11, 2016 - age 18
        Pre-surgery curve: 47°+
        Not sure corrected curve yet

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        • #34
          Originally posted by rjmacready View Post
          Golfer- Just a few quickies. Have not had the surgery, but need it, longer job than yours ( mine will be from base of neck to posts screwed into the ilium. Huge job. Not that your's was small. 2 ?s: 1) Can you sleep on your back, i.e. do you feel the hardware? 2) How is your pain level? Manageable, or do you hurt, and if so, can you locate the area? Keep On Getting Better, RJM
          I can't feel the hardware, I just feel the stiffness of that area of my back. It'll take some getting used to.
          I tried yesterday to sleep on my stomach and it was quite painful.. Sleeping on my left side or my back is the most comfortable.
          My pain level is very low, depending on what I'm doing. When laying down, sitting, or walking, it's zero to uncomfortable. But the last few days I've been driving and riding my bike, I'm pretty sore but not bad enough to take any pain meds. I haven't taken anything since July 22nd, 11 days post-op.

          That's a big surgery, I wish you luck. Talk to some of the others here with longer fusions, they'll have better advice. And also how old are you, I'm only 18 and I'm pretty sure my relatively young age is making the recovery quicker.
          Best wishes,
          -Golfer
          First diagnosed July 2015, 40°
          Follow up March 2016, 47°

          Fused T4-L1 July 11, 2016 - age 18
          Pre-surgery curve: 47°+
          Not sure corrected curve yet

          Comment


          • #35
            Originally posted by 1998golfer View Post
            That makes sense, the paper he gave me said "kyphoscoliosis", he never said kyphosis.

            And thanks, I'm not too confident it'll fix itself, it's a bit painful pushing my arm down to make my shoulders level... Would an extended fusion surgery be as hard as the first one? Hopefully he'd only need to go to T2 or T1, max, but that's just my guess
            Kyphosis and scoliosis = kyphoscoliosis. So, scoliosis and kyphosis is saying the same thing as kyphoscoliosis. What I think you actually have is scoliosis and thoracic hypokyphosis.

            It's hard to say whether an extension of your fusion would be an easier surgery than the original one. Typically it is, so your recovery could be easier. However, I think you'll find that having your cervical spine fused will be somewhat more bothersome in the long run, depending on how high they would need to go.

            --Linda
            Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
            ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
            Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

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