Today was had our consultation with the surgeon as a second opinion from our orthopod.
No surprises but some interesting opinions.
First, as expected, S will have posterior spinal fusion surgery over Easter break. She will be in the hospital 5-7 days and home for 3 weeks. No bracing or casting at any point. Back in school afterward. No gym for 8 months.
After her surgery and recovery, she is DONE DONE DONE D-O-N-E with scoliosis. Done. So her entire experience with the condition will be a little over a year counting to the end of her not being able to do gym. If I count it to the end of her recuperation and her return to school, it is a scant 8 months. A pretty good deal I think. Maybe as good as it gets.
W will go into a night-time bending brace although she was given only a 20% chance that it will allow her to avoid surgery. She may need to wear that for two years. And, as mentioned, there is an 80% chance it will not hold her curve enough to avoid surgery. So she is looking at a far longer involvement with scoliosis compared to S. Were I her, I would forgo the brace and get the surgery as soon as I was a candidate but it is her decision. I support completely whatever it is.
And for some random opinions that came out during the consult:
1. The best evidence for bracing for W's particular case is some recent work done with the night-time bending brace. No other braces are predicted to be effective for her. The results are new and the "n" is small but it is the only promising bracing alternative for W at the moment.
2. I asked about Spinecor and there was some suspicion that the results reported by the inventors might be overly "rosy" as compared to a report done by a more dispassionate researcher without an intellectual or financial stake.
3. W, at ~ 31 degrees, is likely not a candidate for Vertebral Body Stapling (VBS) though our surgeon is not an expert on the technique and has never done it.
4. I asked about the minimally invasive surgery and our surgeon actually had some training in it. He said the technique/instrumentation/hardware aren't there yet in his opinion. Too new. Not effective enough. I am hoping it will be developed enough if/when W needs surgery.
I think that's most of what I remember.
No surprises but some interesting opinions.
First, as expected, S will have posterior spinal fusion surgery over Easter break. She will be in the hospital 5-7 days and home for 3 weeks. No bracing or casting at any point. Back in school afterward. No gym for 8 months.
After her surgery and recovery, she is DONE DONE DONE D-O-N-E with scoliosis. Done. So her entire experience with the condition will be a little over a year counting to the end of her not being able to do gym. If I count it to the end of her recuperation and her return to school, it is a scant 8 months. A pretty good deal I think. Maybe as good as it gets.
W will go into a night-time bending brace although she was given only a 20% chance that it will allow her to avoid surgery. She may need to wear that for two years. And, as mentioned, there is an 80% chance it will not hold her curve enough to avoid surgery. So she is looking at a far longer involvement with scoliosis compared to S. Were I her, I would forgo the brace and get the surgery as soon as I was a candidate but it is her decision. I support completely whatever it is.
And for some random opinions that came out during the consult:
1. The best evidence for bracing for W's particular case is some recent work done with the night-time bending brace. No other braces are predicted to be effective for her. The results are new and the "n" is small but it is the only promising bracing alternative for W at the moment.
2. I asked about Spinecor and there was some suspicion that the results reported by the inventors might be overly "rosy" as compared to a report done by a more dispassionate researcher without an intellectual or financial stake.
3. W, at ~ 31 degrees, is likely not a candidate for Vertebral Body Stapling (VBS) though our surgeon is not an expert on the technique and has never done it.
4. I asked about the minimally invasive surgery and our surgeon actually had some training in it. He said the technique/instrumentation/hardware aren't there yet in his opinion. Too new. Not effective enough. I am hoping it will be developed enough if/when W needs surgery.
I think that's most of what I remember.
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