Surgery with Dr. Lenke

[jrnyc]

so glad you went to this doctor, Doreen...
how scary that a diagnosis can be so different, doctor to
doctor...
i hope this can be fixed without any surgery on any part of you...
and i am so glad you do not need surgery on your neck!

Happy 4th!

jess...and Sparky

[Doodles]

Doreen--
Oh, that's really good news! Janet

[Doreen1]

So Happy the Forum is Back Up!

So sad I couldn't get updates from my scoli peeps. :-\
Doing the happy dance now! :-D

There have been so many exiting things happening recently. Details and pix on my blog, but some of the highlights:
Competed in another tourney
Training to tryout for state archery team
Solo travel to STL (I didn't have time to get together with you, Karen, some day!)
Attended first high energy concert post op

[golfnut]

Hi, Doreen,
I am going to go straight to your blog and read more details. You are an amazing lady! Good luck with your archery.
I see Dr. Lenke on Jan. 10 for my 3 year anniversary. I'm feeling great and hope to get a good report. I won two golf tournaments and had my 4th hole-in-one this summer. I would never have imagined that would be possible being fused T4 to sacrum. I also went shopping today and no longer have to buy clothes that camouflage a rib hump. Keep in touch!

[Doreen1]

Busy Living Life!

Howdy, howdy!

It's been a while since I've posted and a lot has happened. I don't remember if I shared this already, but I made the cut and am officially an athlete! I'm a classified Para archer on the Georgia Archery Team and have been medaling in competitions. The most recent updates is that I will find out in a few weeks if I set a national indoor record. Next tourney is in Louisville, KY, then off to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista CA followed up by event in Hamilton OH. The head coach for the Paralympics team has been helping me and the next 5 months are crucial in scoring MQS (minimum qualifying scores) to be selected this year for the 2015 USAT (United States Archery Team) and then the 2016 Paralympics. I'm still shocked I'm doing this because none of it is possible without my fusion.

Me and my daughter:
Likness Ladies (2).jpg

I hosted Thanksgiving dinner last year; something I haven't done in 7 years. It was wonderful having family come together. We traveled to Richmond, VA for Xmas and had a wonderful time. In January, we went to Salt Lake City for Sundance and skiing (I did not ski but my family did). Flying is getting so much easier.

Just wrapped up two tourneys over the past two weeks and continue to train hard. It's been a busy year and it's only Feb!

[susancook]

Congratulations! Wishing you hig scores!
Susan

[Doreen1]

Do You Ever Become Not Aware of The Hardware?

As I near the 2.5 year postop milestone, I still am very much award of my hardware on a daily basis. This occurs with most movements throughout the day. For those of you fused to sacrum, have you reached a point where you don't think of your hardware every day?

[JenniferG]

As I near the 2.5 year postop milestone, I still am very much award of my hardware on a daily basis. This occurs with most movements throughout the day. For those of you fused to sacrum, have you reached a point where you don't think of your hardware every day?

Yes, Doreen, but I am past my 5 year anniversary. Not sure when it happened exactly, but they became "part of me" as opposed to "the metal rods inside me" after about 2 years. I don't think much about them any more and nobody mentions it to me, unless they haven't seen me for a long time and they ask how my back is. It's all fading and the timeline of my recovery is getting fuzzy. However, never does a day go by that I'm not incredibly grateful for my surgery. You never really get used to going from years of daily pain to no pain. In a very good way of course!

[Doreen1]

Hit by Car While Walking

Hi Everyone!

Had a crazy event occur the other day. While out on a walk, as I was crossing the crosswalk, the car that had stopped for me (so I thought), actually accelerated and hit my leg which spun me around and twisted my back. The only thing that saved me from going down and under the car was a new cane I got last month. The cane is a SideStix customized in Canada. I ordered it specifically to give me more support while cross training. It can take full weight and has a shock absorber in it. When my left leg got hit, I leaned full weight onto the cane and I spun on it out of the way of the car, minimizing more damage. This cane literally saved my life. Things could have been SO much worse!

Nothing was broken and CT scan shows no issues according to local hospital. I have to pick up CT images tomorrow and send off to Dr. Lenke for review. Yesterday the pain was horrible, radiating from my lumbar down. Today was the first day since the accident where I feel slightly less pain. Praying Dr. Lenke doesn't see any damage.

ride.jpg

[golfnut]

I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers and hope that Dr. Lenke doesn't see any damage from the accident. What a freaky and frightening thing to happen!Did the driver stop? I hope your pain decreases each day and that your x-rays look fine tonDr. Lenke.

[jrnyc]

Doreen...so glad you are OK...
thank goodness....but so sorry for the pain you have been in..
i hope it is short lived and gone very soon...

hope you stay safe...and that Dr Lenke gives you
a good report on your spine....for no damage done...

jess...and Sparky

[tae_tap]

Oh my goodness! That is an awful experience! I will be praying that the pain alleviates itself and is just from muscle strain and nothing else. Get some rest and feel better quickly.

Tamena

[Doreen1]

Had to do physical therapy for a while and learned some great stretching techniques that I do daily now. So out of the three issues resulting from the accident, only one was completely resolved and have been told I'll probably have the other two for the rest of my life. The sciatic pain is no more; however, I still have grinding/popping sound coming from tailbone area when I stand up from sitting position and the worse is sitting hurts my tailbone area, tremendously. *sigh* I'm looking forward to the lawsuit coming to a close soon.


Becoming vegan almost one year ago has resulted in MAJOR improvements:

1. Daily spasms which would sometimes last up to one hour each now only occur a couple times a week and only last a few minutes.

2. Debilitating arthritis pain which prevented me from race walking/hiking for almost 2 years has tremendously improved. I am off ALL pain meds. Am I pain free? No, but I have found specific supplements that keep pain under control.


3. Doctor just discovered that the few suspicious lumps I've had issues with for years are completely gone.

God is good.

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." Hippocrates

[mabeckoff]

I am glad that you are doing so well

Melissa

[Doreen1]

Revision Surgery on Radar

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while since I've posted. Am curious to know if anyone here has had revision surgery with Dr. Lenke in NYC. I currently have two broken rods and a fractured vertebae which occurred in July and August. Local ER misread my initial set of xrays and said nothing was broken and that I just had a lumbar sprain. This same doctor also said I "...have Harrington rods throughout my spine..." Uhhh, hello, does he even know what Harrington rods look like and that they haven't been used in a long, long time! Definitely don't have Harrington rods. I finally got the July xrays and am unable to get the images to open on my computer so I sent it to Lenke. Very curious to see these xrays because I'm not sure how someone can miss a broken rod.

Lenke confirmed two weeks with new xrays (taken at same local hospital) what broke/fractured. I'm SO upset with the local doctor and his error because I could have been on the other side of surgery at this point. I'll be 5 years post op end of Nov 2016.

The hardware broke when I did the most simplest movement, raised my arm slightly to the side while reaching for something... both times. The first rod broke in July and the second broke three weeks later making the same movement with the other arm. Lenke said nonfusion is the culprit.

I'm waiting for the phone call with a surgery date. We are praying for a mid December date. Currently, a patient is scheduled for that day but is having insurance issues so I'm on standby for that date.

Any feedback/suggestions/tips for revision surgery? Any experience at Allen Hospital with Lenke?

ThxOct Xray I.jpgOct Xray II.jpg