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  • Questions for doctor

    What specific questions should I be prepared to ask the doctor at my son's appointment. He was screened at a scoliosis clinic last year and refused to wear a brace. He's now 16 yrs old, very active physically and complaining of back pain. I need a followup appointment and don't know what to ask concerning surgery or other alternatives. Thanks.



    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...lcharlie13.gif
    Last edited by luvmyson; 11-05-2004, 06:26 AM.

  • #2
    Have you tried typing into search "Questions to ask Surgeon"?, I tried and a number of different threads came up, one I particularly liked was

    http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...to+ask+surgeon

    I know it seems difficult not to, but you always have to be wary of taking "lists" of questions into surgeons, because sometimes the surgeon will rush through question lists without explaining stuff properly. My mum often used to take a tape recorder or a notebook. One thing you could do is make a small list, and give one to the surgeon so he knows what kind of stuff you want to go through. But i can understand that you want to have an idea of what kind of "avenues" to be talking about with the surgeon

    From memory I think spincon58 (I think thats her username :-), made a three page list of questions to ask her surgeon, you could try private messaging her and seeing if she would send it to you.

    Some questions that pop to immediate mind include:

    : What are the degree of curvatures
    : How much growing does your son have left;(they look at things such as growth plates to determine this)
    : How much likely are the curves going to increase in the future
    : What are alternatives for pain management
    : If surgery was considered how much vertebrae would be fused
    : What are alternatives for surgery

    Even though I was a "complient brace child", I can understand where your son's refusal to wear a brace completely. I honestly think wearing a brace is more difficult for a guy then it is for a girl in many different aspects and it seems to be a very very hard thing to go into wearing a back brace as an adolescent (I always wore a back brace from 15 months so I saw it as "normal" and didn't know any different :-). And they are pretty gross to get used to, you need different clothes, people ask weird questions, you feel "self conscious" wearing a brace, plus lots more other stuff (many to list).

    Best wishes to you and your son

    Alison

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