Worth it?

[CHRIS WBS]

You have to ask yourself how much is it worth it to YOU to stop the progression. Can you live with a deformity that will only worsen? Do you think you will be able to maintain flexibility for the rest of your life as your spine degenerates? Just this Sunday I spotted an elderly woman in her 80s in church who had a very large thoracic curve. Her significantly deformed back with a huge right hump was very noticeable. She was bent over and struggled to stand. Deciding against surgery does not mean that you can lick this and things will remain as they are. There is a reason why God has given us surgeons who can help us.

[hdugger]

Thanks so much, debbei. That's very helpful.

Of course, if we go in for our appointment over xmas break and find out that he's suddenly 65 degrees, we'll be having a different discussion over the holidays, but I'm hoping that it's stable and that he can wait until he's a little older.

Good luck to your son. The point of all of this rambling is just for him to keep an eye on it. If he decided against surgery for now, and the pain begins at some point, he can reconsider his decision.

[ADMoul]

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging replies. My dad had a severe thoracic curve as a result of childhood polio and truly lived his entire life without any problems from it. I was under the mistaken illusion that I would be able to do the same thing but once I turned 50, things started getting ugly. This whole journey is something I just didn't expect to be doing. Anyway, the friend of mine who went through it a year ago with the same Doc is a totally no BS person, not one to sugarcoat anything and she's pain-free. Has a very long fusion and doesn't bend much but is pretty much living a normal life. Chris, your screen name is singer--are you a singer and how has the surgery affected that? Both my husband and I are very involved with a choral group, I have studied voice, done some solo work and dearly love it. It's something I would hate to give up permanently or have to limit because of the surgery. I suspect my curve is similar to yours as well. Anyway, I'll know a lot more in two weeks but am one of those people that wants to be as educated as I can before I make a decision.
Thanks again for the pep talks!
Anne

[Singer]

Hi Anne,

Yes, I'm a church soloist/singer. It's a sideline but I really love it also. How much your voice and especially your breathing is affected depends on whether or not you have anterior as well as posterior surgery. Since I had a very long anterior incision with disc and rib removal, my breath control and lung capacity were compromised. It took me 8 or 9 months to start working again and I can't sing long phrases like I used to (yet) but I would say the quality of my voice wasn't affected. Since I have a whole new body I needed to learn breathing and support techniques all over again and at this point I'm doing well. I'm sure the average listener wouldn't hear any difference.

Like everything else with this surgery, you figure out new ways of doing things you did before.

[asccbodypro]

Anne,

I would have to say even with the struggles that I am having getting off meds and preparing for my husband to be underway again (Coast Guard) I definitely feel better than prior to surgery. I still have residule pain from the surgery which gets better and better all the time. I have a 19 month old that I am just now at 5 months able to lift again only periodically. We have had tons of help from my husbands mother. She spent the first three months with us and then my husband was home and for three weeks my teenage son helped with the baby and then my MIL came back to help. I will have help through the first patrol which will last 4 weeks and I am dreading the ship routine again at this time in my life but the surgery was worth it. My back was so bad that putting surgery off until the baby was older just wasn't a possibility. Many on here question my surgeon being responsible doing the surgery because of the baby but we just didn't have a choice. I will depend a great deal on my older son when we are finally on our own with no help but that's life and he's a great kid. He proved this summer he is more than capable. All I can say is living in pain all the time is not living....as difficult as recovery can be. It's a year of inconvience.....maybe more for some people but worth it I think. good luck in your decision making process. It's not a easy choice to make I know.