Muscle Spasms

[ozziemum]

Pain in Shoulder

My daughter 17 is just three years post op (Royal North Shore, Sydney) and all went well but recently has experienced quite severe pain around her upper back/shoulder area, her local GP prescribed anti inflamatory drugs which did seem to help but it took quite a few weeks. Did you go back to your original surgeon? We only had one visit 12 months after surgery and I wonder should we perhaps go back for a check up.

Thanks. My 15 yr old son is scheduled for surgery for pectus carinatum also in Sydney on the 3rd Jan.

[mumof5]

Amber has taken lots of anti inflamatories but they did not help at all. We have been seeing a spinal surgeon that we have been seeing for several years. He did not do Amber's surgery but he did recommend the one who did. They are friends and he has been keeping the sydney surgeon up to date on what has been going on. We are supposed to go back and see the one in Sydney in May. If Amber does need to have more surgery it will be done here. We find out what the dr thinks in 2 weeks.
Cheryl

[mumof5]

Amber's latest check up

Well Amber has been moving around much better lately. She says the pain has not really changed but she is learning to live with it.
None of the tests that she has had done have shown anything wrong, so it is all still a mystery.
The surgeon doesn't want to rush in and remove the rods. Which Amber is very happy about because she doesn't want to have any more surgery. He has said that removing the rods is no guarantee that it will fix the problem. The pain may always be there.
The kids here are still on christmas/summer holidays, so he wants us to go back in 3 months after she has been back to school for awhile. If the pain gets worse with all the sitting at school, we will seriously start to think more about surgery.
When we go back in April he is also going to recheck my other 4 girls backs to see how they are progressing. I haven't noticed any changes with them. Jordan's curves seem to have stopped. Gabrielle has bit of a twist but I can't see any difference in it since the last time he checked. Isabel seems ok and Shayleigh is only 5 so hopefully they won't develop problems.
Having one child go through this has been hard enough, I don't want to go through it all again. An acquaintance the other day said to me that he can't understand why I don't get married agian so that I would have support and things would be easier for me. He got upset when I told him that was the dumbest I had ever heard. lol. I have everyone here for support. Thankyou to everyone here for that.
Cheryl

[mamakay]

Glad to hear Amber's rods are not coming out and hope she can work with the pain.
I am sorry, but so happy there is not an infection.
Guess no new is good news huh!
Stephanie has pain off and on, and of course the hair on my neck goes up when she asks for a tylenol or has been in the nurses office to lay down.
She said the pain is not like it use to be so I guess these kids are just d#mn tough!
I always ask "where" on her back it hurts and just try to make mental notes.
She is 17and half now, driving her friends ALL the time and not home much on weekends so I'm sure she is hard on her body. (I notice it hurts more when she has been walking on hard surfaces for a long time.)
You are so right we are here to support each other, I think I would have really caved without everyone here.
stay in touch! (and single ha)
kay

[mumof5]

Thankyou Kay, where is Stephanies fusion?
Amber is worried about learning to drive. They are very strict here on looking over your shoulder, you know when changing lanes as well as reversing. She can't do it very well. So she won't even do the written test to get her Learner licence.
Amber's pain is over her entire back. Not just over the incision area but out to the sides as well. I have noticed that she is in more pain after she has been walking lots on hard floors, like at the shopping centre (the mall?).
We still haven't really found anything that helps a great with the pain, rest panadol, which I think is the same as tylenol, heat and ice. I have tried rubs and creams for pain relief , but she says they don't help and they stink. So they are out. At least the actual has gone from her back and the muscles don't feel like rocks now. I just wish the pain would ease off a bit for her.
She is coping at the moment and I think right now we have to be content with that.
I keep everyone poosted on what is going, hopefully though no-one else will have this happen.
Cheryl. (happily single mum of 5 girls lol)

[Alison]

Hi Cheryl

I know my fusion's a lot shorter than Amber's, but when I learnt to drive I was still having a lot of problems (basically not very well ) being able to see over my shoulder.

Whilst learning to drive, I found it took me a bit longer (I was also learning on an unknown at the time busted ankle which didn't help driving manual), but what really helped was that I had a sympathetic instructor. At the first lesson, we told him I had a spinal fusion, and in all his 'teaching' he took this into account.

He set the mirrors up in the car so I only had to look over my shoulder minimally. The mirrors in the car were quite 'big' and had those sticky things (like you get in K-Mart) to get rid of blind spots. When it came to reversing, he taught me to reverse using only the mirrors and the lines of the car park (ie not having to turn around to look in the rear-view mirror).......it is possible to do. He did try to teach me the 'normal' way.....but it was just not working, and I was getting very frustrated.

For the driving test, I just checked the mirrors the best I could. I spoke out loud (as most learners do in their test) to say "checking over shoulder", "looking in mirrors", "no car coming etc". By the time I went for my test I was a bit better at looking in the mirrors then when I started to learn to drive.....but it still felt a bit like 'going through the motions' :-)

I've now been driving for just over 2 years. I've driven my sister's car (which is a Ford Festiva Trio) for most of that time. The car is absolutely beaut for its mirrors, the rear-view one, you can see all of the back window easily, and the side mirrors and big enough and positoned well enough, you have minimal blind spots. What I've found is that with time, experience, and knowing the car well.....things such as reversing and changing lanes (ie looking over your shoulder) have gotten a bit easier (not perfect, but easier). I still rely on the mirrors a lot when changing lanes, on the freeway/highways I always make sure I look over my shoulder........however on 'normal roads'......I rely on the mirrors mostly when changing lanes. When reversing, I use a combination of looking behind me (by wiggling myself around in my seat......I can't just straight look over my shoulder), as well as the mirrors and the lines on the road (or where I'm 'aiming for')

Good luck.....I hope you can encourage Amber to take her written paper for her learners, and start to learn to drive. Once she has her license, she'll find that she has an immense sense of 'freedom' as well as achievement

Regards

Alison

[mumof5]

Thanks Alison,
How are things with you now? I hope all is well.
I guess Amber will do it when she is ready. There is no rush. It is good to know the other success stories though. It does help boost confidence.
Cheryl

[mumof5]

Just a quick update on Amber.
As we hoping but not really expecting, gradually her pain eased and one day she realised that it was gone.
We still don't know what caused it, I guess we never will.
Best wishes to all.
Cheryl

[lin515]

Mum of 5.
Wow I just read all your posts you . What a traumatic time it must have been for you. I was so glad to read that her pain is gone. We are only 4 weeks post op and I was shaking in my shoes as I was reading them. Here's hoping that they never return and it was just one of those things.

Hugs,
Linda