Aussies with Scoliosis

[LEELEE85]

Hi Lee

I will put your surgery date on my calendar!

I am in such a quandry! My curves are nowhere near as bad as yours. 39 right thoracic and 39 left lumbar. So I end up with my head in line over my pelvis as it should be. I still have flexibility so my Doctor says, but I haven't had recent bending xrays done and the curves are progressing slowly and simultaneously.

Do I wait another 10 years when the curves will be worse and so will the pain and I'll probably have arthritis and God knows what else 'cause I'll be near 70!!

Or do I get the surgery done now when the curves aren't so bad and my spine is still flexible so I should get a good result.

I feel so wimpy and shallow when I read about other people's curves and associated problems. But then, the Doctor wouldn't have agreed to operate if he didn't think it would be worth the cost and pain and long recovery.

Paula

Well if your surgeon said that maybe you should look into more, but i would go see Dr Cree as i heard his pretty good, my surgeon here in Melbourne has a really good name too his Dr Peter Turner from Epworth. I'm getting this done for the fact im only 21 yrs old and gravity a lone can cause your curve to move, so i'd rather have it done now then wait 10 yrs even though ill only be 31 yrs old, i just don't want this to be hanging in the back of my mind for years.

Lee - Godd Luck with decision and ill keep in contact about my situation :-)

[katiev25]

Hey I'm Katie from South Coast NSW. Had my surgery july last year with Dr Angus Gray at Prince of Wales Hospital Sydney. An amazing Dr. Excellent bedside manner, sense of humour and easy on the eye.haha. No really he is a genius. I also recommend Dr Michael Ryan at Royal North Shore in Sydney however he only looks after private patients. He was my first consult but my surgery got cancelled due to lack of public beds hence why i went to Dr Gray. Things always happen for a reason. All the best.

[MadeinMelb]

me too

Hello to all the Aussies
Gen

[Aussiemum]

Hi there,

I've only just joined this site. So glad to hear from some Aussies. I'm in western Sydney and have recently been to see Dr Cummine for a first consulation at Westmead.
Does anyone know of him? I'm thinking of seeing Dr Cree for a second opinion as well.
I've had idiopathic scoliosis since my teens, I'm 57 now and the constant pain, the uncomfortable feeling all the time and the rib hump and the slow worsening of the curves have finally driven me to see a specialist to find out if an operation is for me.

Hi there Paula,

My 12 year old daughter is seeing Dr Cree at Westmead with a 37 Thoracic curve and 23 reciprical lumbar. I have also talked with a mum in sydney who has 50 degree thoracic and her daughter now has Scoliosis and is seeing Dr Cree also. Dr Cree is always telling the mum that he could fix her - so as long as the rest of your health is good - go for it!!!
Yes - he sees adults as well!
cheers and good luck
Del

[cathydownunder]

Paula, I wanted to ask you about the pain you're getting now.
I'm nearing your age at 46y/o, been diagnosed with scoliosis since age 13. Thoracolumbar 35 degrees and not progressive. Never been braced, just the 'wait and see'"
The last few years I've had a lot of back and hip pain. X rays only ever found the scoliosis and it wasn't till I had an MRI last year that I found my pain was from badly degenerated discs at L3/4 and L4/5. I've since had fusion at one level and a total disc replacement below.The surgery was only partly succesful I;m afraid. It seems most of my spine is in various stages of DDD (degenerative disc disease) attributed to my age but definitely worse than what is expected from a person without scoliosis.
Although it's never too late to have corrective surgery for scoliosis please be aware it might be something else causing your pain as was my experience.
My wonderful surgeon here on the Gold Coast said he would fuse me from T2 to sacrum only as a last resort and would do everything to avoid it.
Take Care

[discombobulated]

Hi everyone,

I'm 20, from a couple hrs north of Brisvegas :-) Juvenile scoliosis due to spina bifida. Had T2-L3 (I think) fusion when I was 12, extension into pelvis when I was 15, & now need further revision as the pelvic instrumentation didn't take, so it's just wobbling around, chopping up bone (easy because I also have osteoporosis). This is causing a 75 odd degree curve that's still progressing..My surgeon doesn't know what he's going to do, but I'm in a brace for now.

Anyway, sorry to ramble. Hope everyone's well. All the best to those soon having surgery :-)

michelle.

[misspaula]

Pain

To Cathy down under

Sorry, I haven't answered sooner, I haven't been following the forums lately.

Once you get to my age (57), it's hard to know whether the pain is from the scoliosis or the degenerative changes.

I have pain in different places depending on what I am doing. Sitting at work and typing is painful across the middle of my back and in the hump area. I have an hour driving in peak hour traffic to and from work every day and that causes pain in my concave side and I spend most of the trip trying to stretch up high in my seat to relieve the pain. Bending over to make a bed or weed the lawn or twisting to sweep up or trying to control a wayward shopping trolley, all that hurts. Sometimes the pain in my lower back is so bad, I feel like I'm going to break into two halves.

I don't take many pain killers or anti inflammatories because nothing seems to work anyway. I just stretch ( and then I don't know if I'm making it better or worse!) or lie down. I get very tired and I think that's because I'm forever trying to stretch up tall to ease the constant nagging pain.

I have a second appt. with Dr Cree in a week's time. I've had the MRI and bending xrays done, so I'll know more after that.

[misspaula]

Dr Cree

Dear Aussiemum

Thanks for the reply. I have an second appt with Dr Cree in a week or so.

Surgery is a such BIG step, taking so much time off work, the out of pocket expenses, being helpless for a while (which I would HATE), relying on other people, not to mention the pain and then not being sure that the pain and deformity would be appreciably better after the surgery.

[cathydownunder]

Paula, glad to see you had an MRI,it can show so much more than X rays, especially with the discs.
Don't apologise for not being on the boards, only here occasionally myself, I'm usually on a disc replacement site, they were a great source of help when I had mine done last year, as are the folks on here.
Yes, surgery is a BIG step as you said, but I can honestly tell you I have never been so calm as the day I went in for my op. I think once you make that decision it's like a weight has been lifted.
Then again, if I knew what awaited me in the following days, I would have been a wreck. Sometimes ignorance is bliss!
Good luck with your appointment next week, I'll be soaking up the sun in the Whitsundays for a few days.

[emmalouise]

Another Aussie!

Hi there,

I've only just joined this site. So glad to hear from some Aussies. I'm in western Sydney and have recently been to see Dr Cummine for a first consulation at Westmead.
Does anyone know of him? I'm thinking of seeing Dr Cree for a second opinion as well.
I've had idiopathic scoliosis since my teens, I'm 57 now and the constant pain, the uncomfortable feeling all the time and the rib hump and the slow worsening of the curves have finally driven me to see a specialist to find out if an operation is for me.

Hi Paula, I used to see Dr Cummine as well when I was young. He originally braced me. I couldnt tell you much about him though as I just used to think of him as "the evil one" haha.

I couldnt recommend Dr Cree highly enough though. Hes very reassuring in the way he explains & discusses everything. Woops I just read that you've already seen him! Hope the second app goes well for you.

I'm hopefully going in for surgery in July, depending on when I can get time off work. But I already have all the paperwork sitting on my desk waiting to be signed I'm pretty excited to get it done, of course a little anxious but pretty excited

Best of luck everyone.
Yay for the Aussies!

[Jimbo]

hi

Another Aussie here. I hope everyone is keeping any exess weight off because that will cause the curve to progress - thats what my doc said anyways. Which part of Asutralia are you all from by the way. I am in Newcastle NSW

[Aussiemum]

Let's start an Aussie List here...

Del - Sydney - Elysia 12 - 37 Thoracic 23 Lumbar - Dr Cree - Brace 2 weeks!