19 Year Old Male. Scoliosis Progressing.

[rohrer01]

John, thanks for all the updates! I'm so glad you are doing well and able to get wet now. I'm sure that shower was like pure heaven. There are sooo many things we take for granted. It's good that you are able to cut down/eliminate pain meds on some days. You'll be back to a new and improved self in no time! Take care.

[jrnyc]

wow...the X rays look great! and the screws do look deeper....
your back looks straight...
i am so glad for you...al the X rays look terrific...

nice that you are cleared for light cardio and for going in the water.....

do you think you will head for the gym right away...??

congratulations to you...and your wonderful surgeon!
thank goodness there are some doctors who actually believe their patients!

jess

[LindaRacine]

But driving did cause my lower back some discomfort/soreness, lying down in bed for an hour or so definitely helped. I can finally take a shower, yay.

Please tell me that you didn't actually drive yourself. Even if you feel like your head is clear, if you get stopped, or are in an accident, and your blood is tested, you'll get a DUI.

--Linda

[JDM555]

John, thanks for all the updates! I'm so glad you are doing well and able to get wet now. I'm sure that shower was like pure heaven. There are sooo many things we take for granted. It's good that you are able to cut down/eliminate pain meds on some days. You'll be back to a new and improved self in no time! Take care.

It felt amazing. I just had to be careful still with my back incision. I was standing facing 10 o'clock the whole time so my incisions wouldn't get too much water. I can't wait for my hot shower tonight lol. Thanks Rohrer.

wow...the X rays look great! and the screws do look deeper....
your back looks straight...
i am so glad for you...al the X rays look terrific...

nice that you are cleared for light cardio and for going in the water.....

do you think you will head for the gym right away...??

congratulations to you...and your wonderful surgeon!
thank goodness there are some doctors who actually believe their patients!

jess

Yes, back looks straight, screws are really deep, and for the first time, my ribs and back is 100% aligned. Even after my first surgery, I still had a rib hump to the right side, and it progressed after 2 years. But for the first time, my waist/ribs are completely even from left to right. And my back is 100% flat. I just hope it fuses quick and stays like that. I'm not going to gym anytime soon lol. I'll walk and what not, but think it will be a few weeks before I feel ready to hit the cardio and swim daily. I remember swimming, the water was a little cold, so now with this weather and what not, I'm sure just taking off my clothes to get in the water will make me freeze to death, let alone getting in the cold water lol. There's always jacuzzi and steam room.

Please tell me that you didn't actually drive yourself. Even if you feel like your head is clear, if you get stopped, or are in an accident, and your blood is tested, you'll get a DUI.

--Linda

You have PM.

[titaniumed]

John

Looks like you have spacers....you can see the radiopaque markers. Those are the white dots.

Fig 10C, and Fig 10D

http://radiographics.rsna.org/content/27/6/1737.full

Synthes uses 3 markers
http://www.synthes.com/MediaBin/US%2...c-ARJ4143G.pdf

Was that a termite hole I saw? he he

Ed

[JDM555]

John

Looks like you have spacers....you can see the radiopaque markers. Those are the white dots.

Fig 10C, and Fig 10D

http://radiographics.rsna.org/content/27/6/1737.full

Synthes uses 3 markers
http://www.synthes.com/MediaBin/US%2...c-ARJ4143G.pdf

Was that a termite hole I saw? he he

Ed

Yes, that was a terrible hole. That is the wider screw that Cheng used, that ended up getting so loose that it grinding in the bone and caused "cracking and popping" pain and sounds in my back. It's 3 times as big as the L2 hole.


Yes, I have spacers, PEEK spacers in fact. Remember, I had XLIF performed at L1-L3. With XLIF, you remove discs to add spacers. Yes, those 4 dots on each level are markers, just like you said.

[titaniumed]

John

Why don’t you put your surgical dates in your sig? Original and revision dates. I have a pretty good memory, but brain cells are dying every second....

I don’t know if you mentioned, but do you have scars on your side? How large are they and how many? Both sides?

Thx
Ed

[JDM555]

John

Why don’t you put your surgical dates in your sig? Original and revision dates. I have a pretty good memory, but brain cells are dying every second....

I don’t know if you mentioned, but do you have scars on your side? How large are they and how many? Both sides?

Thx
Ed

I'm too lazy, and there's too many to list, makes my sig look cluttered. Not a fan of that lol.


Dec. 28, 2009.
Dec. 31, 2009.
Nov. 11, 2011.
Nov. 15, 2011.

I have an anterior scar on the left side. It's not the typical vertical 1-2" XLIF scar, it's the ordinary angled down horizontal scar you see on most anterior cases. It's roughly 4-5" long? Healing extremely well. He said something about laser incision or something, forgot, but the scar is already beautiful and I'm only 3.5 weeks post-op. So, I'm guessing in a year, it'll be hard to see. And same incision in the rear, little bumpy, but still looking good for 3 weeks post-op, my post-op scar from first surgery looked disgusting. This has staples though, and have all those little dots from the staples.

[JDM555]

Hey guys. Thought I'd update the thread a bit since it's roughly 1 month post-op. Time sure does fly.

I walked a lot last friday, and my back/muscles were all sore and I ended up having a couple of rough nights. Had to take valium and oxycodone for 2 of the worst nights. Then last night I tried not taking anything, and it wasn't the best sleep, but it was OK. Woke up a few times and ended up waking up late. I want to stay away from valium, it's super addicting and hard to wean off of. I'm starting to run up the stairs, at 2-3 steps at a time. It's crazy how fast I'm recovering. It's already been 1 month since my surgeries. Time flies. Beginning of January, I'm going to start doing light cardio and swimming/spa/steam room. Should be great in these cold months. I just want to gain my weight back by lifting. Have been wearing my bone stimulator religiously. Haven't taken it off since my doctors visit last monday. Found a way to wear it while sleeping without it annoying me, so that's a plus. But other than that, I have stayed away from all pain killers and just for the record, 5mg oxycodone/325mg apap doesn't do anything, like whatsoever haha. I took some pictures of my scar, and I have to say I'm impressed. It's healing very nicely.

And before taking showers, when I look at my back from the side angle, honestly it's 100% even, no rib hump. I've never seen that before. I hope the bone fuses quickly, and everything stays solid, and the pain stays away. I'll try uploading pictures of scars tomorrow.

[debbei]

Hey guys. Thought I'd update the thread a bit since it's roughly 1 month post-op. Time sure does fly.

I walked a lot last friday, and my back/muscles were all sore and I ended up having a couple of rough nights. Had to take valium and oxycodone for 2 of the worst nights. Then last night I tried not taking anything, and it wasn't the best sleep, but it was OK. Woke up a few times and ended up waking up late. I want to stay away from valium, it's super addicting and hard to wean off of. I'm starting to run up the stairs, at 2-3 steps at a time. It's crazy how fast I'm recovering. It's already been 1 month since my surgeries. Time flies. Beginning of January, I'm going to start doing light cardio and swimming/spa/steam room. Should be great in these cold months. I just want to gain my weight back by lifting. Have been wearing my bone stimulator religiously. Haven't taken it off since my doctors visit last monday. Found a way to wear it while sleeping without it annoying me, so that's a plus. But other than that, I have stayed away from all pain killers and just for the record, 5mg oxycodone/325mg apap doesn't do anything, like whatsoever haha. I took some pictures of my scar, and I have to say I'm impressed. It's healing very nicely.

And before taking showers, when I look at my back from the side angle, honestly it's 100% even, no rib hump. I've never seen that before. I hope the bone fuses quickly, and everything stays solid, and the pain stays away. I'll try uploading pictures of scars tomorrow.

I don't know John, maybe it's the 'mother' in me, but hearing that you are running stairs at this point makes me nervous. You wouldn't want to trip and fall.

I would just stick to regular walking, but just be careful, ok?

I'm glad you feel like you're recovering better this time.

[JDM555]

Hahaha I knew I was going to get that. I wouldn't say "running", more like slow leaps toward the ends of the stairs. I feel good, and didn't really plan on doing it, just naturally did it and was like wow, did I really just do that? Lol. I'm taking it easy, but just thought I'd share because I think it's impressive to be able to do that and walk/sit/etc. with lower pain levels. I can't wait to start swimming.

[LSKOCH5]

So thrilled for you John! What a turnaround. From one fitness buff to another - do.not.overdo. Baby steps as you start back into each phase of exercise. It feels good, but just monitor yourself as if you were advising someone else who was coming back from injuries. Or you'll find yourself where I am - joking that it's not called working out at this phase, it's just continual rehab haha. End of lecture. Truly so very happy for you Let us all know how you're doing please.

[leahdragonfly]

That is just wonderful news, John! I have not heard you sound so upbeat and happy in I don't know how long.

Congratulations on such a good recovery. I love reading your updates even if I don't comment often. I am very happy for you.

[Elisa]

You do sound great John! Ohhh, scar pics tomorrow eh? Will check back for those, haha.

[mabeckoff]

Glad to hear you so happy and doing so well

I wish that I felt as good as you do

You are in my prayers