October25 surgery date and terrified

[gardenia]

surgery on Nov 27th with Dr Bridwell

I hope all turns out well. I am not concerned about the surgery as I am confident that after all the years of being crooked, having some rods show will be a minor inconvenience to all the pain we have suffered.

Gardenia

[jrnyc]

gardenia, the point is whether the patient feels the rods, and screws. not whether they are visible...if rods or screws cause pain after
healing and fusion, they are sometimes removed, as the bones
are fused and the hardware is not needed to maintain that anymore...

jess

[gardenia]

feel the rod?

Jess, I am confused. Feeling the rods and the screws? I presume that the screws will be in the bones and we don't feel the bones. Now as to the rods, do you mean the rods protruding thus the skin would feel the bump?

I guess one have to go thru this to know.

[jrnyc]

people have written about certain spots on spine where they seem
to feel things more than in other places....for example....

"I had my single iliac screw removed during my revision surgery for broken rods. I had trouble with persistent pain over the left buttock where my iliac screw was, which is why I wanted it out. Dr Hart told me that was no problem to remove after one year post-op..."

if you type in "feel screws" or other such phrases, you can find posts
that discuss this

jess

[debbei]

I'm also in the group where my expectations were worse than the actual pain. That pain management person has no right giving out that 'advice.'

[Emma Plum]

I may be talking nonsense, but here is a thought. I think there is pain you remember, and pain for which you have no recollection whatsoever. For example, immediate post-surgery pain. The Pain Dr. may be reporting on patients whom he observed to be in terrible pain, but if he did his job properly, and gave the patient the meds they needed, the patient had no recollection of that stage of the pain.

Your memory isn't great right after anesthesia, and this can be a blessing.

I base this on working for a short time as a Recovery Room Tech; plus people who have said to me, after minor surgery, "Yes, I came in and saw you, and we talked for about half an hour," and I say, "What? When???"

Keep your spirits up, and be trustful that the pain --or the remembrance if it--will be under control.

Aunt M.