19 Year Old Male. Scoliosis Progressing.

[jrnyc]

i have complete faith that you will, indeed, return to a pain free life & to school, with all your activities...
it is great that you took care of this so young!

hope you get some sleep & have a great wkend...
jess

[JDM555]

i have complete faith that you will, indeed, return to a pain free life & to school, with all your activities...
it is great that you took care of this so young!

hope you get some sleep & have a great wkend...
jess

Thanks a lot Jess. Appreciate it. I'm glad I had the surgery, I just wish I had summers recovery time, but I didn't wanna wait or waste my summer lol. The weather would of definitely helped instead of the winter.

[MitoMom]

Don't over due the tylenol

Be careful going on to tylenol. It is not processed well in your liver. You don't want to solve your pain problem at the expense of your liver.

[Radiogirl]

Hi John....can we get an update from you? I take it as good news we haven't heard much in the past day or so???? Did you ever find out your curve degree before and after?

[JDM555]

Hi John....can we get an update from you? I take it as good news we haven't heard much in the past day or so???? Did you ever find out your curve degree before and after?

Hey, sorry about that. My curve before was 53-55 Lumbar. I will show before/after x-rays (I posted the before many pages back) when I get the after pictures from my doctor. After, he said around 15 degrees. I took a peak at the x-rays after I took them, but I want a copy. I will ask him to remeasure it at the next appointment (Feb. 8) and tell me what it is now.

I am doing good. Recently I've been doing a couple of things I am happy of doing for 2.5-3 weeks out of surgery.

Was able to drive my car a bit.
Went to an Engagement party from 5-10:30 and didn't need any meds besides my 10mg oxycontin every 12 hours.
Walk a lot better and straighter than before.
Able to go downstairs and play video games with my brother by sitting up in bed for a couple of hours.
Can last in a car ride 30 minutes no problem.


I feel a lot better than before. My back is still a little sore and tight, but it will take time.

I wanted to ask, when people were discharged from the hospital, did they give you like "bandaids" to put over the scar? My doctor said I can shower the day after going home but I had to take off the bandaid and then not "submerge" myself under water, I can only shower. First time, I covered my scar with a clear wrap and taped it. Second time, I didn't cover it and I just showered normally. My question is, how long did you stop wearing the bandaids? They are nasty bandaids causing my whole entire back to get that nasty "sticky" gook that takes forever to get off my skin. It's been a while, do I still need to wear bandaids or can I remove them?
John

[JDM555]

Oh, doctor just emailed me the x-rays. Hmmm, my back looks OK. I'm guessing since he left L4 and L5 the curve wasn't fixed 100%. I see around 15-20 degrees I guess.
John

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...eforeafter.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...48/john112.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...148/john11.jpg

[sarah105]

Hi John
My x-rays look kind of similar to yours. My doctor stopped my fusion at L2 and I also have a curve in the bottom 3 vertebra. I was worried about it at first but I talked to my surgeon about it at one of my follow-up appointments. He said that the most important thing was that I was balanced. He said there is always a chance that it could progress but he was fairly confident that it wouldn't. He also said he is watching it closely to make sure he doesn't see any progression. I'm sure your surgeon also had good reasons for his decision. It should save you a lot of flexibility! I'm glad to hear that your recovery is going well! The x-rays look great!

I didn't have any bandaid or covering to use in the shower. He closed my incision with some kind of surgical glue and that seemed to be enough. I was also told not to soak it or take a bath though until it was completely healed.

[Job]

I hadnt checked back on this thread in a while but it sounds like you are doing great. I dont think you need the bandaids anymore. Sounds like you are progressing alot faster than I was after my surgery. I figure you will be going back to class soon and I hope the return goes well. If you can, try and be off the meds before classes start so you can pay better attention during lectures.
When it comes to those meds, ask your doctor about the proper way to cut down on them. I just stopped and went cold turkey from a fairly high dosage and I am pretty sure I went through a withdrawal period that would be nice if you can avoid (I was a pretty irritable person for a week or so). Keep up the good work recovering!

Oh I also checked out those x-rays. Looks like you had a shorter fusion than mine (I was T5-L3), so hopefully your return to working out and athletics will come faster than it did for me.

-Job

[JenniferG]

I agree, you don't need the bandaids any more. My incision was left uncovered from day 4 and I showered on day 5. Mind you, I didn't have a drain, so perhaps that's why you were asked to keep it covered?

[jrnyc]

Hey John, sounds like you are making a really fast recovery! your Xrays look like Mr Skeletor

congratulations on healing so well!

jess

[mbeckoff]

I have a question. Why do some people get a drain and others don't?

Thanks

Melissa

[JDM555]

I hadnt checked back on this thread in a while but it sounds like you are doing great. I dont think you need the bandaids anymore. Sounds like you are progressing alot faster than I was after my surgery. I figure you will be going back to class soon and I hope the return goes well. If you can, try and be off the meds before classes start so you can pay better attention during lectures.
When it comes to those meds, ask your doctor about the proper way to cut down on them. I just stopped and went cold turkey from a fairly high dosage and I am pretty sure I went through a withdrawal period that would be nice if you can avoid (I was a pretty irritable person for a week or so). Keep up the good work recovering!

Oh I also checked out those x-rays. Looks like you had a shorter fusion than mine (I was T5-L3), so hopefully your return to working out and athletics will come faster than it did for me.

-Job

Thanks man. I started out with 5mg fast acting oxycodone every four hours, then I had a bad problem with my first shower, so I started taking 20mg oxycontin twice a day. I took that for 10 days, then I went to 10mg twice a day and so far so good. This weekend, I will go back to 5mg fast acting every four hours and if it's all good, I will have my dad fill me out a few more 5mg fast acting oxycontin and take them for a week or 10 days and hopefully by then I will be off all pain medication.
John

I agree, you don't need the bandaids any more. My incision was left uncovered from day 4 and I showered on day 5. Mind you, I didn't have a drain, so perhaps that's why you were asked to keep it covered?

Ok, I took them off. That gook was sticking to my back very badly and it was hard to remove. My scar looks better now, just needs time to heal. They didn't tell me "keep it covered", they just said for a couple of days, don't go under water, and after a shower, maybe cover it for a day or two. I just went a little over board because I wanted to make sure it was covered and nothing would happen. I won't wear them anymore since it's over 3 weeks post op now.
John

Hey John, sounds like you are making a really fast recovery! your Xrays look like Mr Skeletor

congratulations on healing so well!

jess

Haha, thanks Jess! I appreciate it.
John

I have a question. Why do some people get a drain and others don't?

Thanks

Melissa

Hmm, I'm not too sure. I had the back drain and the front drain (If you know what I mean lol). I had the back drain removed at day 3 I think. Then they came back on that day saying how I needed revisional surgery, but I remembered they didn't have to put in the drains again. Or it was removed day 4, one of those two.
John

[JenniferG]

I have a question. Why do some people get a drain and others don't?

Thanks

Melissa

I've wondered the same thing.

[loves to skate]

I have a question. Why do some people get a drain and others don't?

Thanks

Melissa

I'm guessing it depends on whether there is bleeding or not. I bled quite a bit and I had a drain in the back for, I think, three days.
Sally

[jrnyc]

is it bleeding or other kinds of fluids? or both?

jess