need to decide on surgery

[Alison]

Here is my two cents worth:

I remember when the doctor was deciding what method of bone he would take for my surgery. He said for short fusions he uses pelvis/hip bone, because it takes best. With longer fusions (ie 9 vertebrae and above) he takes bone bank bone because you would have to take lots of bone for the fusion, and this is the method he always used with his wheelchair patients. Using a mixture isn't as good ie bit body and bit bone bank but I don't know why.

[Peggy]

Good Luck Cholie. You are an inspiration to the rest of us moms. To have two children with serious medical problems is such a tough road. There are other moms on here, like Carmel who I just am amazed at how they cope. Good Luck and hang tough. I live just north of Toledo and travel to Cleveland often to see the Browns play. Hope everything works out well. Stay positive, you are going to a great hospital. Prayers & wishes.

[Peggy]

Me again. I forgot to say that my daughter had a 60 degree top and bottom and was fused from T-3 to L-3. They corrected it to 12 and 10. They removed 5 ribs and used those for the bone grafts. I was worried about the rib pain but she did really well. By the time she left the hospital (9 days) she wasn't complainiing too much about her ribs. Good Luck again.

[lorrie]

Hi there,
Just wondered if you have a date yet for Cholie's surgery and how things are going.
Regards,
Lorrie