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Sheena's preop

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  • Sheena's preop

    Everything went well at the preop, there were some mishaps getting home (ever see "Planes, Trains and Automobiles"?) but otherwise, we came home with a renewed confidence in the doctor and hospital. My daughter was able to speak face-to-face with a 16 yr old girl who was 9 weeks post op and I spoke to her mother. They both gave us a very good idea of what to expect and had nothing but good things to say.

    She had xrays: standing, bending, supine and push-prone (2 guys put on leaded gloves and aprons and each pushed on her curves to see how much flexibility there was). The good news is she hasn't progressed since April (Dr. Lenke told me back then she wouldn't) but the curves are fairly rigid. She also has some kyphosis, he said he'll just have to work a little harder to get her straight. He also decided to order an MRI. They took photos and that was it. We spoke in length to both Dr. Lenke and his nurse then finally got out of there at 7pm. Our appt. was supposed to be at 3pm but he was in surgery and was running behind about 2 hours. There were still patients waiting to see him when we left.

    Our trip home was priceless. First off, we took the Metro from the hospital to the airport, there was a drunk on there talking to everyone. He was pretty obnoxious and I was just waiting for a fight to break out. It was like a field trip for Sheena, she'd never seen a drunk before in public. When we arrived at the airport, our flight was supposed to leave at 8:30, but bad weather had delayed our plane and the last we heard, it wasn't arriving until 12am so my husband got us on a flight to Dallas. There were no more flights to Houston, so we caught a taxi to a nearby hotel. We got the taxi driver from h***. I asked him a simple question about what hotel he was taking us too and he jumped all over my case. It's too much to go into but his parting words to us were "You're stupid" (my stepdaughter, the nurse, couldn't resist yelling back "you're stupid!") It was too much, we just couldn't help but laugh. To top it off, we woke up 30 minutes late to catch a 6:15 flight and had only 30 minutes to get dressed and get to the airport, we made it by some miracle. It was a very memorable experience.

  • #2
    Wow Sherie, what a trip! Like you said; a field trip for Sheena, will she have some stories to tell! Please tell me you didn't tip the driver, if you did you're way too nice...all in all, I'm glad the pre-op went well (albeit late) and I'm really glad Sheena got to see and talk to a post-op patient and see for herself how well the kids usually are by that point. Last time we talked, she was having trouble with the blood donation, did that ever work out for her?

    Renee

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    • #3
      Funny you should ask, as I was getting out of the cab, I yelled to my husband, "Don't tip him!". I wanted to make sure we got to our destination safely before I said anything, I don't think this guy was playing with a full deck.

      Still no blood, after the 2 days of high pulse rate, she was ill and then we went to the preop. We're going to try again tomorrow. The nurse said up to 2 weeks before surgery we could keep trying.

      Comment


      • #4
        Sherie,

        What a story!!!! I am glad it all ended up okay.

        Are you going to be going to Dr. Lenke for all of your post-op visits as well?
        Melissa
        From Bucks County, Pa., USA

        Mom to Matthew,19, Jessica, 17, and Nicole, 14
        Nicole had surgery with Dr. Dormans on 9/12/07 at Children's Hospital of Phila. She is fused T-2 - L-3

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        • #5
          The nurse told us we would be going back there for our 2-3 month post op, 1 yr and then at more infrequent intervals afterwards, but she said Dr. Lenke would basically like to follow her throughout her lifetime. We had already lined up a local ortho. surgeon so I guess we'll use him for any other appointments. I'm not sure how often?

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          • #6
            Hi Sherie,
            The trip sounds more eventful than the actual appointment! Good thing you have a sense of humor! I'm glad to hear that everything went well.
            Lori

            Mom to Christopher, age 17, Mark, 13, Heather, 10 and Michael, 8
            Chris had surgery with Dr. John Flynn at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia on December 12, 2007. He is fused T4 to L4.
            Dr. Flynn is an AMAZING surgeon!

            Comment


            • #7
              Sherie:
              Glad everything went well with the pre-op - the travel sounds like it was lots of fun!
              Ruth
              Ruth, 50 years old (s-shaped 30 degree scoliosis) with degenerative disc disease, married to Mike. Mother to two children - Son 18 and daughter 14. Both have idiopathic scoliosis. Son (T38, L29) has not needed surgery to date. Daughter (March 08 - T62, L63).

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              • #8
                Sherie,

                Your cab story reminds me of the fiasco we experienced when we went for our first Spinecor fitting in Montreal. We were leaving the hospital on a rainy midweek afternoon and had to catch the 4 o-clock train back home. We only had about half an hour to get to the train station and after that it was a very long five hour ride home. I made the silly mistake of getting into the 2nd cab in cue. The cab driver was very helpful and opened the trunk to put the stroller in. At the time I'm thinking the French are so helpful and kind. We get in the cab and I buckle Deirdre in and things take a turn for the worst. A lunatic man approaches our driver and starts screaming "tu es fou" translated it means "you're an idiot!" What ensues is a hostile argument in French between the two men. It didn't take long for me to realize that the "lunatic" is another cab driver who was "first" in cue and he's pissed off that my cabbie took his fare! My cabbie being a bit on the obese side looked as if he was about to have a heart attack since he was screaming at the top of his lungs! In the meantime Deirdre is screaming her head off and wants to get out of the cab but the cab driver won't let us!!!!! I thought for sure things were going to escalate to the point where we'd be on the six 0-clock news with the headlines reading "Cabbie Shoots Passengers and Other Cabbie... Then Self"

                Canadian eh
                Daughter, Deirdre born Oct 2000. Diagnosed with 60 degree curve at the age of 19 months. Serial casting by Dr. Hedden at Sick Kid's Hospital. Currently being treated by Dr. Rivard and Dr. Coillard in Montreal with the Spinecor brace and curve is holding at "2" degrees. Next appointment 2008

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                • #9
                  Celia,

                  What a story!! Look how long we remember these events. I always tell myself at thet time, "This is going to make a great story."
                  Melissa
                  From Bucks County, Pa., USA

                  Mom to Matthew,19, Jessica, 17, and Nicole, 14
                  Nicole had surgery with Dr. Dormans on 9/12/07 at Children's Hospital of Phila. She is fused T-2 - L-3

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Sherie,
                    You mentioned that your daugter has a bit of kyphosis as well as her scoliosis... how big was the kyphosis curve? Just wondering, because Dr. Lenke, for me, was saying that my kyphosis could play a big role in predicting whether my scoliosis would progress or not. Thanks!
                    aBbiE
                    22 yr old F,KU college student
                    Kyphoscoliosis...
                    Scoliosis (25T, 23L) diagnosed @ 14 yrs old; curves June 08 were 45T, 32L with 18 degree rotation
                    Kyphosis of 65 degrees...
                    I am missing a lumbar vertebrae

                    Surgery 6/30/2008 with Dr. Lawrence Lenke
                    Fused T2-L2


                    before/after pics
                    all smiles!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Celia,
                      Thanks for the great laugh!! That story was so funny. I'm sure you weren't laughing at the time, but hopefully you can look back now and get a chuckle out of it!!
                      Lori

                      Mom to Christopher, age 17, Mark, 13, Heather, 10 and Michael, 8
                      Chris had surgery with Dr. John Flynn at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia on December 12, 2007. He is fused T4 to L4.
                      Dr. Flynn is an AMAZING surgeon!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Celia

                        So you have crazy cabbies up there too? Must be part of the hiring requirements. It was ok this time, I just pray we don't have an experience like that coming home after surgery.

                        Abbie

                        I wrote down all the measurements except the ones for kyphosis, now I feel dumb. I wish I had and come home and researched it a little more. What is considered normal?

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                        • #13
                          From what i understand, normal is anywhere from about 20-40 degrees. Dr. Lenke told me that normally people with scoliosis are on the low side of normal just from the nature of having lateral curves. I think if you did not have scoliosis and just had kyphosis, surgery is a consideration at about 70 degrees. Mine is 65 degrees, but add on the scoliosis and i guess it's more of a problem. Maybe when you go back to St. Louis you can ask him what her's was.
                          aBbiE
                          22 yr old F,KU college student
                          Kyphoscoliosis...
                          Scoliosis (25T, 23L) diagnosed @ 14 yrs old; curves June 08 were 45T, 32L with 18 degree rotation
                          Kyphosis of 65 degrees...
                          I am missing a lumbar vertebrae

                          Surgery 6/30/2008 with Dr. Lawrence Lenke
                          Fused T2-L2


                          before/after pics
                          all smiles!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Abbie

                            I do remember a number in the 60's, I'm thinking right at 60. He said rigid curves or kyphosis each by themselves is not unusual but for an adolescent to have both is not typical; therefore he decided to do the MRI although he still expects everything to be normal. I will definitely make note of all the measurements when we go for surgery. What are your proposed fusion levels?

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