14 months post-op and a hello

[Jjohnsonphd]

Hello!
I have been meaning to check in with you all, it has been a long time. My year anniversary was a June 14th and I celebrated by going to a concert. Never would I have dreamed I could be dancing a year later! I feel very lucky and very relieved it is behind me. The anticipation, worry, sleepless nights were so hard. But nothing compared to the first 3 months of recovery. Hands down the hardest thing I think a person can endure! If you remember I had the vision mystery and did not see normally for the first 101 days. It was a scary time. It healed overnight and I feel like my back started to heal much quicker. So fast forward to now. We moved this summer and although I didn't lift heavy things, the unpacking was really hard. I don't have daily pain but I can have pain if I over-do it. My issue now is posture. I am finally going to physical therapy. By the end of the day I tend to lean forward.i find the weight of the bars is hard to keep up straight. I promise to keep you updated. My year check up went great. I do have a hook at the very top that slipped a bit so I have a bump, but it was there few weeks after surgery. It hurts if I lean on it so I stay off it. Not worth even a minor surgery to repair in my eyes! I'm done with surgeries hopefully forever! Good to see you all here! You have been awesome support!
Jana

[titaniumed]

Thanks for the update Jana, so glad to see you moving through your recovery. Sometimes, it can be a rough go in the beginning as you experienced, and its great to see that things are normalizing or settling in....Your in your 2nd year now which I have called my fine tuning year, the continuation of building of the soft tissues....

For those that do full fusion scoliosis surgeries.....we wonder if we have made the right decisions, this always crosses our minds. Some of us come through with different feelings about this depending on how we feel and our expectations which can be completely out of our control, (Example, your eyesight at 100 days). Then all of a sudden we heal, and our feelings improve on the 101st day. Our complete recoveries is dependent on our hope that we will heal at some point, keeping that positive attitude through thick and thin. Patience, and understanding what is happening with our bodies is never an easy thing....

Most of us come through ok.....your example is a great testimonial for those that are wondering right now.....

Congratulations on the dancing. I would dance with you but would probably need some oil as I am getting rusty these days.....(smiley face)

Ed

[golfnut]

Jana,
It sounds like your recovery is going well. I noticed slight improvements even after 1 year so hopefully you will, too.

[the_baroness]

I find the people on this forum so inspirational. We should gather up some of these lovely thoughts from each other and make a book that we can present to all new scoliosis patients. It has been such a help to me to know, in my darkest scoliosis-induced moments, that others have come through the same crucible stronger and wiser.

[KathyInIowa]

Hello!
I have been meaning to check in with you all, it has been a long time. My year anniversary was a June 14th and I celebrated by going to a concert. Never would I have dreamed I could be dancing a year later! I feel very lucky and very relieved it is behind me. The anticipation, worry, sleepless nights were so hard. But nothing compared to the first 3 months of recovery. Hands down the hardest thing I think a person can endure! If you remember I had the vision mystery and did not see normally for the first 101 days. It was a scary time. It healed overnight and I feel like my back started to heal much quicker. So fast forward to now. We moved this summer and although I didn't lift heavy things, the unpacking was really hard. I don't have daily pain but I can have pain if I over-do it. My issue now is posture. I am finally going to physical therapy. By the end of the day I tend to lean forward.i find the weight of the bars is hard to keep up straight. I promise to keep you updated. My year check up went great. I do have a hook at the very top that slipped a bit so I have a bump, but it was there few weeks after surgery. It hurts if I lean on it so I stay off it. Not worth even a minor surgery to repair in my eyes! I'm done with surgeries hopefully forever! Good to see you all here! You have been awesome support!
Jana

Hi, Jana! It is so good to hear from you! We had our surgeries just 10 days apart, and I remember us both posting during our early recovery time - swapping problems! It's good to know that you are doing well. I'm doing well, too. My pain is minimal, but I can still get "tight" in my low left side. I hope your physical therapy is a success for your leaning. Keep us updated.

Kathy

[KathyInIowa]

I find the people on this forum so inspirational. We should gather up some of these lovely thoughts from each other and make a book that we can present to all new scoliosis patients. It has been such a help to me to know, in my darkest scoliosis-induced moments, that others have come through the same crucible stronger and wiser.

Hi, Baroness. It's funny you mention a book - I've had that same idea but I'm not really a writer so I have a hard time getting started. You mentioned "dark moments." I had lots of those dark moments, and this forum helped me a lot during those times. I often wondered if the high level pain would EVER go away, before & after surgery. But, it does! At my age, I have other aches and pains, but the back pain is pretty much under control at the moment. I find that as each week goes by, I am forgetting how bad it really was - which is nice to not really remember much about the dark moments. I'm so glad the worst of it is behind me....

Kathy

[mistybowe]

I find the people on this forum so inspirational. We should gather up some of these lovely thoughts from each other and make a book that we can present to all new scoliosis patients. It has been such a help to me to know, in my darkest scoliosis-induced moments, that others have come through the same crucible stronger and wiser.

I couldn't agree more! This site did more for me in my recovery than any other resource. Such amazing people!

[mistybowe]

Hi, Jana! It is so good to hear from you! We had our surgeries just 10 days apart, and I remember us both posting during our early recovery time - swapping problems! It's good to know that you are doing well. I'm doing well, too. My pain is minimal, but I can still get "tight" in my low left side. I hope your physical therapy is a success for your leaning. Keep us updated.

Kathy

I feel a connection to both of you! In the weeks and days leading up to my surgery on August 1, 2016, I read your updates every day and was right there with you both from afar. I am glad to hear that you both are doing well and hope for your continued recovery. I have been thinking a lot about this site lately and thought I would check in

Happy Holidays!

[KathyInIowa]

I feel a connection to both of you! In the weeks and days leading up to my surgery on August 1, 2016, I read your updates every day and was right there with you both from afar. I am glad to hear that you both are doing well and hope for your continued recovery. I have been thinking a lot about this site lately and thought I would check in

Happy Holidays!

I hope reading our posts helped you. When I was preparing for my surgery, it was Susan Cook's posts that I kept reading. We had similar curves and were both in a similar age group. It does help to feel a connection with someone, really anyone, that you feel is going through the same thing as you.

I, too, am very thankful for the wisdom the people on this forum have. And, the compassion. When people answered my questions, I really felt like they cared. That meant (and still means) alot to me.

Kathy