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  • #16
    You women are amazing and you put someone like me to shame. Just wondered what you thought of this. We were in Florida visiting my Parents and I was talking to a woman who had the fusion done about ten years ago when she was in her late 60's. She said she waited at least 6 months to go back to playing golf. She said that after 2 years, one of her rods broke probably from her being bent over so much playing golf. Does anyone know if that is rare? Of course, that is the last story I wanted to hear when I told her my daughter just had surgery. Mind you, she had a second surgery and everything is great. But she said she isn't playing anymore. I thought that once you are fused, then it is safe to do any kind of bending. I know she had bone taken from her hip. Any comments?
    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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    • #17
      Oh, no!

      Yes! It is frightening to hear or read about something like that. I'm eight weeks into recovery from surgery. It seems like I read or heard that this can happen from repetitive movement. It is comparable to bending a paper clip again and again. Eventually it will give. Golfing was one of the activities that was mentioned. One needs to consider how important some activities are in daily life.
      CSC
      Idiopathic Scoliosis; Wore a Milwaukee brace; Told by physician it would not progress
      S curve; Surgery date: January 29, 2008!!

      Comment


      • #18
        That was one of my concerns too Melissa! All the documentation that I've read about rods breaking has been concerning the Harrington Rods and they too seem to fail when the "Magnitude of the pre-operative curve" was over a certain limit. Like a paperclip which once bent forward and backwards over and over will eventually snap - I think this was the case with the Harrington System.

        Can someone answer some technical questions for me.... (so I don't have to spend hours reading through on line journals) - How long has the new CD system been in place?? Any cases of those snapping?? Is it from improper care of the back ie... not lifting correctly, playing aggresive contact sports??? What about Titanium versus Stainless steel??

        It's all very scary - I know very well that I can't sing and dance now that surgery is over, well a little bit, but it worries me about what the future holds!

        Cheers
        Del
        Elysia 16 in Feb 2010
        Sydney - Australia
        Feb 2008 Fused T5-L1 and 5 ribs removed.
        Dec 2009 - Crankshafting
        Dec 10 - Revision surgery...3 vertebrae taken down, hooks removed, at T11-L1 - screws inserted, fusion extended down to
        L3 using Pedicle screws, some rib removed to try to derotate. Praying for things to settle.

        Comment


        • #19
          broken rods....

          There's some info on it in this thread from not too long ago... and (unfortunately) it doesn't just happen with the older Harrington rods.

          http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...ht=broken+rods
          71 and plugging along... but having some problems
          2007 52° w/ severe lumbar stenosis & L2L3 lateral listhesis (side shift)
          5/4/07 posterior fusion T2-L4 w/ laminectomies and osteotomies @L2L3, L3L4
          Dr. Kim Hammerberg, Rush Univ. Medical Center in Chicago

          Corrected to 15°
          CMT (type 2) DX in 2014, progressing
          10/2018 x-rays - spondylolisthesis at L4/L5 - Dr. DeWald is monitoring

          Click to view my pics: pics of scoli x-rays digital x-rays, and pics of me

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          • #20
            thanks Susie, I must stop being lazy and asking dumb questions before searching the threads! That was a good link to the Doctor!!!

            cheers
            Del
            Elysia 16 in Feb 2010
            Sydney - Australia
            Feb 2008 Fused T5-L1 and 5 ribs removed.
            Dec 2009 - Crankshafting
            Dec 10 - Revision surgery...3 vertebrae taken down, hooks removed, at T11-L1 - screws inserted, fusion extended down to
            L3 using Pedicle screws, some rib removed to try to derotate. Praying for things to settle.

            Comment


            • #21
              When I knew in my heart that I was going to have the surgery, one of the first questions I asked my Doctor was, "will I be able to golf", and he explained to me that because I would not be fused to the sacrum, that I should not have a problem.

              I am fused from T-1 to L-5 with titanium rods. I feel less pain now after 18 holes, than I did before the surgery. I have taken a fall, one that I consider minor, and it took me weeks to recover. I think everything depends on our own circumstances, length of fusion and unfortunatlely age plays into it.

              I know when I've pushed myself too far and I tend to avoid doing it again. And I don't think anyone of us or even the doctor's can predict what can cause a rod to break. I can only say that my biggest fear is falling.

              Shari

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              • #22
                Welcome

                I'm fascinated that you were fortunate to find a surgeon who would operate on you. I was told from the get-go that the cutoff age- give and take- was 62 yrs. If I have figured this right I was 60 at the first operation in Aug 03; a pelvic screw failed and in Dec 03, was reopened from top to bottom again (T11 to L4) just in case any little other pelvic screws might have migrated up to my waistline or shoulder blades. {I'm convinced this is how their brains work}. It was after this second surgery that I was moved on the second day over to a nursing home (a skilled nurse facility by any other name is a nursing home) across from hospital, where I was instructed to stay in bed always and never to raise my upper body higher than 30 degrees. Even at 61, I was the youngest patient there so I was told. 7 weeks flat on your back has no element of fun whatever.

                So that second surgery (1st revision) lasted a year and then the same doctor discovered there was no fusion throughout the thoracic area, so in Jan of 2005, he reopened the thoracic from either T12 or T11 down to T1 and then I was good until the first rod break in June or July of last summer. But what blows everyone's mind is that another set of rods broke about 2 weeks after he released me, leading to the Jan 28 revision.

                After that third operation by my original doctor, Dr. Shelokov, I received a letter of cancellation of his medical services to any patient who had United Healthcare Insurance. He was in dispute with it.

                I found another doctor on my first try in downtown Dallas and I just love him.
                He's now operated on me twice after rods have broken each time. I am 2 months out today on the last operation. It's a hard recuperation, much harder than the others. At my 12 week checkup, I go for cat scans, one day then the next, and take the film to my doctor. Supposedly he is to look over the scans to detect how much or how little bone growth I have.

                If there is not enough, he wants to cut inside my lower back on each side following the path of the lowest rib to give him access to place more BMP2 on the anterior side of the places he worked up in January. I asked him why didn't he put the BMP2 in there on the anterior side in January and his answer was that it has not been approved by the FDA for that area of the body.

                I wonder what they do in these cases? Do they seek special permission from the FDA to use it in that manner on his Patient X?

                You mentioned your doctor worked on both the anterior and the posterior of your lumbar spine. Do you know anything about the BMP2 and if it was used?

                You were a skater and are dying to get out there again. I was a square and round dancer, and it's breaking my heart that I cannot dance. My doc told me originally it would be 6 months before I could. That statement was made in September. !!!

                Again, welcome, I must have missed your name, so will watch for it again.

                Diane
                Diane in Dallas
                Adult Ideopatic Scoliosis (37%) and Kyphosis (65%)
                Surgery #1 8/4/03 - Dr. Shelokov, Plano
                Surg #2 12/8/03 - Dr. Shelokov, Plano
                Surg #3 1/10/05 - Dr. Shelokov, Plano
                Surg #4 9/10/07 - Dr. Viere, Dallas
                Surg #5 1/28/08 - Dr. Viere, Dallas
                Surg #6 4/27/09 - Dr. Viere, Dallas

                Comment


                • #23
                  Originally posted by MATJESNIC
                  She said that after 2 years, one of her rods broke probably from her being bent over so much playing golf. Does anyone know if that is rare? Of course, that is the last story I wanted to hear when I told her my daughter just had surgery. Mind you, she had a second surgery and everything is great. But she said she isn't playing anymore. I thought that once you are fused, then it is safe to do any kind of bending.
                  Melissa, you have to be more specific where she was fused. They're not all equal.

                  I golf AND throw my body all over slowpitch and fastpitch infields. I know all surgeons are different, but I've been told I can return to abrading skin on red dirt infields in early June (he said 4 months post-op). I'll be sure to post footage here.

                  I'll assume if pulling a bat, and snapping my odd, near sidearm throw is ok at 4 months, my clubs will be gravy. BTW, it requires MUCH less effort to get 250 yrs out of a driver (and no bending ... really no twisting because your hips lead!) than to hit a low, hard line drive drive that makes the 3rd baseman scream "eeeeek!".

                  And, CSC, some things ARE that important to some of us. I'd rather die trying to LIVE than be miserable watching life go by.

                  Susie, I asked Hanson VERY SPECIFIC questions about my Stryker XIA system - and Vitallium rod strength. He saw NO issues with me playing ball - even the WAY I play ball. I posted his verbatim response here.

                  Regards,
                  Pam
                  Fusion is NOT the end of the world.
                  AIDS Walk Houston 2008 5K @ 33 days post op!


                  41, dx'd JIS & Boston braced @ 10
                  Pre-op ±53°, Post-op < 20°
                  Fused 2/5/08, T4-L1 ... Darrell S. Hanson, Houston


                  VIEW MY X-RAYS
                  EMAIL ME

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    How careful should we be?

                    This brings up an issue I've been thinking a lot about lately: where do you draw the line between being cautious and living your life in fear?

                    On the one hand, having spinal fusion is not like getting treated for cancer. It's not something that I myself view with an "I can beat this thing" attitude. It's a permanent condition that has been arrested, and there are common-sense limitations that are just naturally attached to our condition.

                    I am by temperament a cautious person. I know I would never have the nerve to play golf (too much twisting) or softball (self-explanatory! LOL), but I often wonder what I DO have the nerve to do. At this point -- NOT MUCH. I think I will feel much better when I go back for my one-year checkup in June to make sure that the fusion is solid. Like Shari, I fell once and it was terrifying. With my weak leg, I feel very vulnerable. I also feel vulnerable being fused to L5 -- I really don't want to have to extend the fusion to the sacrum someday.

                    I love to garden, but I don't plan on doing it this year. Am I being too cautious? I wonder.
                    Chris
                    A/P fusion on June 19, 2007 at age 52; T10-L5
                    Pre-op thoracolumbar curve: 70 degrees
                    Post-op curve: 12 degrees
                    Dr. Boachie-adjei, HSS, New York

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      loves to skate

                      I guess I started a good dialogue here. Age of surgery: I was told that there was no limit on the age of the patient. I think it is all a matter of physical condition at the time. I wanted the surgery sooner than later because who knows what the future holds. I did water therapy to keep my body strong since physically I couldn't do anything else. My scoliosis Doctor likes to use stainless steel rather than titanium because it is stronger. He said that if there is the smallest nick in a titanium rod (and that can happen during surgery) it can break. In the anterior surgery, He did use artificial bone substitute. I don't remember if it was BMP2 or something else. I have cages at L2L3 and L3L4. At L4L5, he used a ring of some sort. All this will give me a much stronger fusion. I was hoping to be able to do some gardening this spring but I don't think I will be able to do much as I can get down, but unless I have something to pull myself up with, I can't get up.
                      Diagnosed with severe lumbar scoliosis at age 65.
                      Posterior Fusion L2-S1 on 12/4/2007. age 67
                      Anterior Fusion L3-L4,L4-L5,L5-S1 on 12/19/2007
                      Additional bone removed to decompress right side of L3-L4 & L4-L5 on 4/19/2010
                      New England Baptist Hospital, Boston, MA
                      Dr. Frank F. Rands735.photobucket.com/albums/ww360/butterflyfive/

                      "In God We Trust" Happy moments, praise God. Difficult moments, seek God. Quiet moments, worship God. Painful moments, trust God. Every moment, thank God.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Hi Sally,

                        I Rollerblade and snow ski (downhill) I did go back to skiing 2 days before my 1 year anniversary. Just for the record I did fall, kind of a sliding sideways fall (like sliding to a baseball base.) And my first thought was that I got it over with and was fine. But, I haven't put my blades back on yet. I want to go to an adult only skate session (To get my wheels back under me.) I don't want a little one cutting in front of me and causing a problem. I don't want to choose between a child or myself going down! I think your skate dancing will be no problem. I like to go FAST!! The ONLY sport my Dr. didn't want me to do again is water skiing. I agree, I have gone down fast, hard and not know what the heck happened! At least when skiing I know when I am going down. I am all for being cautious but, life needs to be lived.

                        BTW my Dr. did a fusion on a 93yo man last year. I have no specifics but pt. is doing well and thanks my Dr. every times he sees him.

                        2/22/06 T10 to L4 at age 43
                        L49* now 8*
                        Last edited by Suzy; 03-23-2008, 07:33 PM.

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