Hello, everyone. I'm scheduled for staged anterior/posterior surgeries taking place two days apart in about 3 1/2 weeks. I'm 64 years old, have been retired for about a year, and live alone. I have no kids and no family. I have had other kinds of surgeries in the past (appendectomy, etc.) with no problem, but this one has me rather scared. My support network is fairly thin; most of my dearest, closest friends have passed away. Only one remains, and he is very supportive, though quite concerned about the decision to go ahead with the surgery. I'm active in my church and had been counting on them for some kind of support, but most of them cannot seem to wrap their minds around the seriousness of the surgery. They seem to think it's going to be like disk surgery, and that I'm making too big a deal of it. This leaves me with a sense of being fairly alone and unsupported in this.
Like many of us, I've had scoliosis since early adolescence, but mine wasn't diagnosed until I was 18, so they couldn't stop it. Currently I have two major thoraco-lumbar curves that are progressing fairly rapidly and one minor, compensatory thoracic curve. The main curve is now 65 degrees (it was 45 degrees four years ago). It starts at about T10 and goes down through the lumbar area. There is another curve below it at 35 degrees. The compensating curve in the thoracic area is only 23 degrees, although I do have a noticeable rib hump on the left side. I'm having difficulty staying upright; for the past year or so, it has been increasingly painful to stand for more than 10 or 15 minutes or to walk for more than a block or two. I can feel my ribs digging into my right hip, it's a burning sensation. Sometimes the hip goes numb, if I've been too active. I've gone from 5'5" to 5' 2 1/2" in just a few years.
The surgeon is going to fuse my spine from T10 to S1. On the first day, they are going to do an L2-S1 anterior spinal fusion with graft placement (he mentioned cadaver thigh bone). Then I'm going to be laying there in the hospital for one day,which is almost too weird to contemplate. On the third day, they are going to do T10-ilium instrumentation, T10-S1 posterior spinal fusion, iliac bone graft, and the scoliosis correction. I believe he said he hopes to take the 65 degree curve down to 20 degrees, which almost seems like a miracle. The doctor says I'll be in a clamshell brace for four months but should be able to drive in about six weeks.
My insurance will pay for several weeks in hospital rehab or skilled nursing care, for which I'm very grateful, but I don't know what to expect when I get home in a month or 6 weeks. My doctor says they will provide me with a grabber, raised toilet seat, etc. Again, I live alone, have two cats to take care of, and am having a hard time imagining what it will be like to be unable to bend at the waist. My doctor is not sure that it is wise to give blood, since it depletes your supply going in, but if I'm going to do it, it should be soon, as the surgery is now less than a month away.
As for the folks at church, I think part of the problem is that I do not look very deformed, as the major curves are so low, and I don't wear form-fitting clothes. I never complain about the pain. I think it would help if I could explain what scoliosis surgery is, but most people don't understand anatomy very well, so it's difficult.
Any and all advice would be welcome. I bought and have read David Wolpert's "Scoliosis Surgery" book, and it has been helpful. I recall that someone said there is a thread here for those who live alone, but I can't locate it. It would probably be a good place to start. Thanks -- I'm glad this forum is here. I don't know anyone in real life who has had the surgery.
Like many of us, I've had scoliosis since early adolescence, but mine wasn't diagnosed until I was 18, so they couldn't stop it. Currently I have two major thoraco-lumbar curves that are progressing fairly rapidly and one minor, compensatory thoracic curve. The main curve is now 65 degrees (it was 45 degrees four years ago). It starts at about T10 and goes down through the lumbar area. There is another curve below it at 35 degrees. The compensating curve in the thoracic area is only 23 degrees, although I do have a noticeable rib hump on the left side. I'm having difficulty staying upright; for the past year or so, it has been increasingly painful to stand for more than 10 or 15 minutes or to walk for more than a block or two. I can feel my ribs digging into my right hip, it's a burning sensation. Sometimes the hip goes numb, if I've been too active. I've gone from 5'5" to 5' 2 1/2" in just a few years.
The surgeon is going to fuse my spine from T10 to S1. On the first day, they are going to do an L2-S1 anterior spinal fusion with graft placement (he mentioned cadaver thigh bone). Then I'm going to be laying there in the hospital for one day,which is almost too weird to contemplate. On the third day, they are going to do T10-ilium instrumentation, T10-S1 posterior spinal fusion, iliac bone graft, and the scoliosis correction. I believe he said he hopes to take the 65 degree curve down to 20 degrees, which almost seems like a miracle. The doctor says I'll be in a clamshell brace for four months but should be able to drive in about six weeks.
My insurance will pay for several weeks in hospital rehab or skilled nursing care, for which I'm very grateful, but I don't know what to expect when I get home in a month or 6 weeks. My doctor says they will provide me with a grabber, raised toilet seat, etc. Again, I live alone, have two cats to take care of, and am having a hard time imagining what it will be like to be unable to bend at the waist. My doctor is not sure that it is wise to give blood, since it depletes your supply going in, but if I'm going to do it, it should be soon, as the surgery is now less than a month away.
As for the folks at church, I think part of the problem is that I do not look very deformed, as the major curves are so low, and I don't wear form-fitting clothes. I never complain about the pain. I think it would help if I could explain what scoliosis surgery is, but most people don't understand anatomy very well, so it's difficult.
Any and all advice would be welcome. I bought and have read David Wolpert's "Scoliosis Surgery" book, and it has been helpful. I recall that someone said there is a thread here for those who live alone, but I can't locate it. It would probably be a good place to start. Thanks -- I'm glad this forum is here. I don't know anyone in real life who has had the surgery.
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