surgeons in US or UK

[LauraMary]

OK the last thing i want to do here is start off a huge row about whether the American or British surgeons are best!

i am from the UK and have had 2 ops to correct my 90 degree curve - 1 to insert metal rods and straighten my spine as much as possible and the 2nd one to try and reduce the hump on my back.

my surgeon here who is one of, if not the leading surgeon in the UK for scoliosis and he pretty much said before my surgeries that i would have a very straight back after. this was what i was looking forward to the most as being a teenager, growing up and becoming interested in boys was not much fun when you had to wear a brace and cover it up with baggy jumpers!

however, even after the 2nd op, although it did take the worst of the deformity away, i still look 'twisted' and my right shoulder blade sticks out.

i have never heard of anyone who still has this problem after their surgery?? my surgeon said there was nothing more he could have done without risking paralysing me and i believed him as he knew me since i was 7 right through 17 (i'm now 23). but whenever i hear of anyone or see anyone who has had the surgery, they look great - no twistedness, they have a straight spine etc so why couldn't he do that for me??

sorry if i sound a bit hard done by in this message, it's not that, i'm just curious as to why - was it because of the severity of my curve? as most of you on here have curves up to about 70 degrees at the worst whereas mine was a right angle.

without sounding ungrateful to him i'm wondering if i'd have been better off with someone else or if i should have asked more questions or what?!

any insight at all would be lovely

Laura

[Canadian_Bacon]

OK the last thing i want to do here is start off a huge row about whether the American or British surgeons are best!

i am from the UK and have had 2 ops to correct my 90 degree curve - 1 to insert metal rods and straighten my spine as much as possible and the 2nd one to try and reduce the hump on my back.

my surgeon here who is one of, if not the leading surgeon in the UK for scoliosis and he pretty much said before my surgeries that i would have a very straight back after. this was what i was looking forward to the most as being a teenager, growing up and becoming interested in boys was not much fun when you had to wear a brace and cover it up with baggy jumpers!

however, even after the 2nd op, although it did take the worst of the deformity away, i still look 'twisted' and my right shoulder blade sticks out.

i have never heard of anyone who still has this problem after their surgery?? my surgeon said there was nothing more he could have done without risking paralysing me and i believed him as he knew me since i was 7 right through 17 (i'm now 23). but whenever i hear of anyone or see anyone who has had the surgery, they look great - no twistedness, they have a straight spine etc so why couldn't he do that for me??

sorry if i sound a bit hard done by in this message, it's not that, i'm just curious as to why - was it because of the severity of my curve? as most of you on here have curves up to about 70 degrees at the worst whereas mine was a right angle.

without sounding ungrateful to him i'm wondering if i'd have been better off with someone else or if i should have asked more questions or what?!

any insight at all would be lovely

Laura

Getting a second opinion never hurts! I'm also in a similar situation as I am deciding on potential surgery in the US vs UK. I'd be interested in everyones opinion on this as well.

Just remember - going to the US uninsured is very costly with most surgeries running between $150,000 - $200,000 USD!!

[LauraMary]

well that's me out - i don't really have a spare £100000 lying around!

[tonibunny]

Hi LauraMary,

Every case of scoliosis is different, and it's usually difficult to get almost perfect corrections with large curves. This is because they have generally developed over a long period of time, so tend to have become "stiff" and impossible to fully straighten out without the danger of stretching the spinal cord. Infantile and Juvenile curves that have been there for years are generally a lot less flexible than adolescent curves.

In addition, if you have a lot of rotation, that makes it a lot harder to correct. Again, infantile and juvenile curves are more likely to be rotated. The extent to which the costoplasty (rib hump) operation can flatten the ribs depends on how much the spine still curves and rotates out into the rib hump.

Sadly your surgeon should have advised you of all this, rather than raising your hopes of having a very straight spine. I guess it's all relative though - what is the degree of your curvature now?

I had an infantile double curve with a thoracic curve of 62 degrees that was nearly 80 degrees when I had surgery aged ten, and surgery reduced that curve to 45 degrees. It wasn't possible to get any more correction than that. I've also had two costoplasties, but still have a small rib hump. I think my back looks brilliant and am amazed and thankful at what my surgeon did - but he never promised me a perfectly straight back! He was very careful to make sure that I understood that just wasn't possible. I can totally understand how upsetting it must be to have been promised a result you didn't get

I'd be interested to know which of the UK surgeons was looking after you - I'm familar with most of them - it would be great if you could PM me. Mine was one of the top guys as well but he retired quite a few years ago now.

Toni xx

[ali8781]

LauraMary,
I live in the US and the surgeon who did my fusion was one of the best. I got a good correction 42/52 to 25/25, but still have my rib humps. Because of the location of 1 of my curves and rib hump (upper thoracic) my shoulder blade sticks out too.
I agree with tonibunny. Your surgeon shouldn't have promised you a straight spine. However, if it really bothers you, you could always get a second opinion. Doesn't have to be here, especially since its so expensive w/o insurance.
As for the deformity, we always notice this more than other people. I still feel mine is very prominent. However, most of my friends do not even notice. In fact most of the general population doesn't see the deformity, just the scar. When people ask me about my scar, they usually think I've been in an accident.

[Canadian_Bacon]

well that's me out - i don't really have a spare £100000 lying around!

Yah, its really unfortunate how much surgery costs in the US