Question about height

[Doodles]

Laura--
I think most have a certain amount of swelling after surgery. My face was really swollen from lying flat for 10 hours. All the surgical areas and abdomen seemed to be swollen too which accounted for the gain. I had heard from another person who had it that she gained a lot from swelling. The good news is most of that weight gain went away on its own in first few weeks. Janet

[hamlette]

I measure 4 centimetres taller!!

[JenniferG]

It's wonderful, isn't it?!

[Sherie]

Hi Laura

We took my daughter to Dr. Lenke. We are very pleased with the results, he's an amazing surgeon. She's gained 2.5" after surgery, she had a lot of rotation in her lumbar that was completely straightened out. You can see the results in the link to her before and after photos/xrays.

Good luck

[Pooka1]

Sherie,

When you say in your signature that your daughter got a "great correction," that is an extreme understatement. That is beyond medicine and well into art in my opinion. The side shot really shows how he took out virtually all the rotation. Balance. These surgeons are amazing as are pedicle screws which are the little miracles that made that result possible.

sharon

[Sherie]

Hi Sharon

I would totally agree with you. I can't say enough good things about Dr. Lenke. Even though we've had to travel back and forth to St. Louis 5 times, I am extremely pleased with our decision to use him. You can't put a value on your health and happiness.

BTW, I'm very glad your 2 daughters are doing so well. I can't imagine going through this twice. It's nice to be able to put this behind you and move on.

Happy New Year!

[osumike]

Hi Sherie

Just curious to find out what the results of the surgery for your daughter in the photos is? My curves are very similar to that, and I also have alot of rotation in my thorasic area. Thanks!

[laurieg6]

My son was fused 8 levels and gained maybe 1/2 inch of height. He still has curves in the 20-30 degree range though, because of his hemivertebra. He is very short, only around 5' tall and I keep hoping he'll have another growth spurt. His one and only growth spurt was right before his surgery and since the surgery he's grown at most 2", very slowly.

[Sherie]

Hi Sherie

Just curious to find out what the results of the surgery for your daughter in the photos is? My curves are very similar to that, and I also have alot of rotation in my thorasic area. Thanks!

Well, as far as actual measurements, I was never given a number, but it looks <10 on both to me.

Pain wise, pain free at 2 years. She's had occasional flare ups the past year but usually a result of over exertion. Also, most of her preop pain was in her lumbar area whereas post surgery, it's been in her upper back and shoulder area which seems to be pretty common.

She's doing well on all points. She's not and has never been a very physically active person (although she says she can outrun most of the girls in her PE class) so can't comment on that.

[Radiogirl]

Sherie,

You must be thrilled with your daughters correction. I am so happy to see such great results from Dr. Lenke's work! I know I chose the right guy! And you are right, or whomever said it...it's almost as if he has an artful eye, mixed with his medical knowledge!

One question..why did you have to make 5 trips? I was thinking just the 3...the initial meeting, the pre op, then the surgery. I thought I would follow up with someone in my hometown....no?

Thank you for sharing, Sherie! (sorry for the bad pun!)

[Sherie]

We had the 3 you mentioned, plus 2 followups at 1 and 2 years. I had thought about following up with someone local but decided to just go ahead and make the trip. It is just a little more reassuring to have him look at her. The upside, she doesn't need to go back for 3 years and then every 5. They said with this amount of hardware, it is just a precaution to get it checked periodically. I think he is also academically interested to follow his patients throughout their lifetime.

You have definitely made a good decision. He was the 4th surgeon we'd consulted and right away felt he was the one. ("THE ONE", sounds like some sort of god, he is in my eyes, surgery god at least.)

good luck!

[theizzard]

I didn't gain any height (grrhhh!!). I had lost about 2 inches and my sagittal imbalance was corrected but he didn't really straighten my curve, so I am still a stately 5 footish. On the other hand, I did gain some weight and what woman doesn't love that!! So I didn't regain any height but now I stand straight and don't always look like I am leaning to the right and about to fall on my face. Who needs to be tall anyway?
Happy New Year everyone.
Avis

[RitaR]

Hey Doodles,
Before you had surgery with Dr. Lenke, with my 90 degree curve, did you experience a lot of pain, muscle spasms and to be frank it just seems my stomach doesn't have as much room as it used to. My jeans are significantly tighter in the middle than they used to be recently and when I look in the mirror - WHOA!!!! What a mess! Sitting here right now and muscle spasms abounding in my back - I can feel my back literally jumping. I hate to consider muscle relaxers as I have experience with thos ein the past and only makes you feel goofy, doesn't really alleviate the spasms. And, with pain pills, I hate to take any more medicine - I'm not a medicine person anyway. I used to think being in pain was better than taking pain pills, but it has gotten to the point now that I just cannot exist without them, so I stretch them out as much as I can and still be able to function. I just started with the muscle spasms in the last month and have a lot of numbness and tingling down into the legs. Surgery is not until July with Dr. Lenke so I could really use some encouraging thoughts here....
Thanks much.

[Doodles]

I had pain that I managed with Aleve and several different homeopathic-type things that I used after much trial and error. Yes, my middle and whole torso was a mess. Mine is definitely better. Janet

[Radiogirl]

I had pain that I managed with Aleve and several different homeopathic-type things that I used after much trial and error. Yes, my middle and whole torso was a mess. Mine is definitely better. Janet

Janet - what homeopathic stuff did you take? What worked and what didn't? I'm into that type of thing and would love to switch to that kind of pain relief from the hard drugs asap after my surgery with Lenke in March. Also, I wonder if there are any homeopathic things we could take before the surgery to prevent swelling, bruising, etc. I had some surgery done (not on my back) a few years ago and was told to take bromalain to reduce the bruising. Bromalain is also found in pineapple...so I ate TONS of pineapple and never bruised! ... Any ideas???

Thanks!
Laura