Back to school

[jc3]

hi susanna
wow, thanks for that link. Did he tell you about that website?? I bet that is what he used on nicole. I guess i'll ask when we go. Our next appointment is March 10th. It looked like what was in the x-ray that we saw. Nicole is continuing to do so great! Not one complaint from her i hope it continues! I am very pleased.
marylou,
if you looked at that website i think that is also a pedicle screw am i right??
jennifer

[susannajon]

Hi Jennifer,

When we had our initial consultation, I asked Dr. Boachie what brand of instrumentation he was going to use, why he wanted to use it, and how long he'd been using it. I had never heard of Monarch before. As soon as we got home, I looked it up online.

Susanna

[jc3]

hi susanna
you are good you probably asked more questions then i did! Just wondering if he said what the difference between those are. How are you guys doing. The date is getting closer. One more month right? What is her date of the surgery again. I remember it is in the beginning of March if i'm correct?
Jennifer

[susannajon]

Hi Jennifer,

Yes, I had this huge list of questions, and Dr. Boachie was so patient with me. I grilled him for about an hour! Our surgery date is March 9th. I guess you guys will be there for your appointment while we're in the hospital. If you have a spare minute, you should stop by and say hello!

We've be watching your daughter's progress and we're so thrilled that she's doing so well. It makes this whole thing easier for us. I hope we're in the same place a couple months from now.

Susanna

[jc3]

hi susanna
you will be in the same place that we are. Did i tell you the last time we went for our 3 1/2 week check, there was this woman there and i could just tell by the way she was looking at us that she had the surgery. I whispered it to nicole and nicole said no. We went in our room and the lady was in the next room from us and she started talking to me about nicole, etc. Needless to say she had the surgery and was 6 months post op, but she said she had a few surgeries prior not by boachie and had so many problems and finally found him, she said when she went to meet him she couldn't even sit on a chair to talk to him, she had to lay down and she went on to say how he was the only one who fixed her. It was great hearing that.
I thought that was your surgery date but i wasn't sure. I originally had an appointment on February 28th, but my husband wouldn't be able to go with me so i switched it and they didn't have anything available for the first week in march and the 10th was the only date they had. We will definitely try to come and give you a quick visit since the hospital is just across the street!
stay in touch
jennifer

[Mary Lou]

Hi Jennifer,

I did check out the website and I think you're right, they are using pedicle screws, just using a different way of caping the rods. I don't think they used this procedure on Jamie because I remember reading in her surgery report where they bent her rods in the O.R. Sounds interesting though and now I'm curious to see if that is what they used on Nicole!

Susanna,

You will be in our shoes come May. You are doing so well right now with trying to learn as much as you can before surgery, and you'll see, it helps to be prepared. Jamie and I were prepared for the worst and got the best, but I felt it was very important to be prepared for anything. Keep doing what you are doing, but remember to take care of yourself also. Your daughter will need you. How is your daughter dealing with the fact of upcoming surgery? Thanks for the support on the steri-strip issue. As you will find out, to people who haven't gone through this or aren't facing surgery just don't understand what we all are going through. That's what's so great about this forum--everyone understands and no one ever puts us down for what we are feeling. Good luck and please know that we're here for you and your daughter.

Mary Lou

[jc3]

hi marylou and susanna
susanna is using the same dr. that we used so i would bet that those are the screws that he used on my Nicole.

It is very true that people really don't understand how we feel and i really find that nicole's friends just don't understand either, but what can you expect they are 14. Since she looks fine they think that she is all better and can do everything she used to be able to do.
This forum is great to be able to talk to people going through the same thing and i thank you all for being there for me!
jennifer

[susannajon]

Hey Mary Lou,

Thanks for your support. It means so much! My daughter is doing pretty well. She feels really good about Dr. Boachie and (typical teenager) is thrilled to be missing school instead of missing summer break to have the surgery. We have a bad family history with back surgery... My husband's brother died on the operating table during routine back surgery, so we have a higher degree of stress than most familes with this type of procedure. That's one of the big reasons I've researched this so thoroughly.

Jennifer,

Yeah, kids can be so insensitive sometimes. My daughter's kind of lucky because it's a really small school, and a kid died of brain cancer last year, so everybody is really tuned in to taking care of a kid who's going through a tough time. I am so glad we're not facing anything as serious as that! The teachers (except one "b" from hell) and the students are very supportive and understanding. It would be great if you guys could stop by. I'll bet my daughter will be needing to see a kid who's on the mend.

Susanna

[jc3]

hi susanna
we will definitely try to stop by and find you guys. I'm sure your daughter won't be thrilled to see anyone, but we won't stay long and it may be good for her to see someone who's been through it and walking around and everything. When we went for pre op tests we met another family who's daughter was having surgery two weeks before nicole, and we were in the waiting area with them talking, we all said goodbye and good luck, etc. and that was it. Well, nicole had just gotten out of surgery and she was still in the recovery area and they came and found us. They didn't even remember our last name or who to ask for, they only knew nicole's name and that we used dr. boachie. It was so nice of them to come and see us. nicole was still out of it but they came in and saw her and it was good for her to see another girl just 2 1/2 weeks post op who was walking around and doing great.
Now what do you do about your pre op tests? Do you do them in ny or by you?
jennifer

[marym]

Hi

I just happened upon this forum after checking out some websites I hadn't been to in years. My son had spinal fusion surgery in 1999 at 12 years old, 55 degree curve. Thought it might help to know that 5 1/2 years later all is well! I still check my 3 girls( ages 19, 14, 12) and they show no curvature. We had done a lot of research since we had no history of scoliosis in either family. We talked to several different doctors and surgery was the only option. In pre surgery tests, his lung capacity was already down considerably - something I wasn't even aware of. His surgery went well, up walking the next day, back to school within 3 weeks. He couldn't do sports or ride his horse for 9 months. After that he had no restrictions, except for tackle football which wasn't something he wanted to do anyway.

He' ll graduate this spring and heads to college this fall, majoring in equine studies. He does get occasional back aches from sitting in the school desks which cannot move, but otherwise no complaints. The surgeon was able to correct his curve to 18 degrees which was much better than hoped.

We took pictures of him before and after surgery, standing up and bent over, as suggested by a friend who had the surgery 20+ years ago...the difference is amazing. The scar has faded so much it's hard to see.

I still have had reason to hold my breath in the past few years when he's been thrown while doing cross country horseback events, but he wears a helmet and jumping vest and he's had no problem with his back. The most telling aspect may have been when he was taken to the emergency room after a fall at an event (ambulances are always at pony club events for cross country). He was taken as a precaution, since they weren't sure if he had blacked out for a moment. The emergency room Dr. was asking him routine questions as he checked him out... your age, any prior medical conditions? to which our son said no! My husband and I said Steve,what about your back? and he said oh, yeah, I guess. The doctor had to laugh, and said he probably would have noticed when he checked out his back, but said, in the future son, consider your surgery as a prior medical condition!

Anyway, just thought it might help those of you going through this now to hear of good results years later. Good Luck!

[jc3]

hi mary
thanks for writing about your sons surgery and recovery experience. It really makes me feel so good hearing these sucess stories from people years later that are still doing good. My daughter just had surgery nov. 3 and is doing great so far. It also makes me feel good to know that even with a fall off a horse, everything in there still remained in tact. That's what i worry about alot, what if she falls, etc., will it be okay. So thanks so much for writing and i'm glad to hear he is doing so well.
Jennifer

[Kell Bell]

life as normal

after my surgery my parents and I were worried about how actions would be limited in the future. I can still do all the things I want to do...ride rollar coasters, play sports, have kids (although I have been told that because of my curvature that if I have kids they'll need to be delievered c-section) the only thing my doctor said I should try to avoid is bungee jumping (which I don't know if I would do it anyways) and that's just because of the snap, he said I could do it once or twice but not to make a habit of it.

I find that my back hurts more when I've been stuck in one position for a while, more than when I'm checked in a soccer game or knocked over.

My college teachers were very cool with me when I went. First day after class I explained that I had rods in my back and that sitting for long periods of time in a desk could really bother me, all were cool and said if I needed to stand up or walk around the back of the class, that was fine.

Good luck to your son in college. My first surgery was my senior year of High school, my second the summer between my freshman and sophmore year at college (going back made me nervous for some reason, I was highly sensitized) and my third I really pushed it and had it the week before my senior year started, I had my boyfriend drive me to class and carry my bookbag into class and waited for him to come get me after. Going back to school a week after surgery was really pushing it, I wouldn't recommend it, it may be why I'm having problems now. But I thought, hey I'm a pro at this, I can bounce back quickly, not a problem, so when the only appointment they had was for that week, I felt cocky enough to take it.

I hope your son does well in school, and don't worry about him getting tossed around, I have even made it through Mosh Pits I got caught in and come out fine.

[pat]

kell bell!

Thank you for posting, I laughed and smiled! My 13 year old is three months post-op. Pat

[jc3]

hi kim
again, another story that is great to hear since my daughter is only 3 months post op. It is great that you can do all those things. Just a question, from your post it seemed like you had more than one surgery, did you? If so if you don't mind me asking why?
thanks jennifer

[Kell Bell]

More than 1

Is the note addressed to Kim for me? I'm the only one I can see with a K in the name, my name is Kelli though. If it's not to me then pardon me, I'm going to answer anyway....

Yes I had three surgeries. The first surgery I was 17 and it was to put the 2 rods in. I had posterior so I have a 15inch scar down the center of my back, and anterior so I have a 10inch scar that wraps around my right side. They removed a rib so they could get to the front. If they hadn't done that they would have had to crack my sternum and go in through the front. I had two 77 degree curves. I still have very severe curves (top 59 and bottom 67) but they are stabalized and that is what matters since the surgery was to keep my spine from crushing my heart and my lungs.

My second surgery, when I was 19, was because I was having pain in my shoulder, and my doctors figured that the top of the posterior bar was poking my trapezius muscle on my right side. So they went in and to took a 3 inch section of the bar out.

My third surgery when I was 21 was because I was having pain again and could even feel a bump mid-back. See when they took the top section and its bolt, they left the new top section unanchored, the next bolt was 3 inches down from the new top. So it kind of turned and was poking out my back that you could feel it when you ran your hand down my back. Needless to say, we had the rest of that bar removed.

I now only have one bar, the one in front. The doctors say that's ok because it's actually doing all the work. It's stabalizing things, the posterior bar was just kind of "hangin out"

I kept both sections of the bars, and my uncle who blacksmiths made them into really cool wall hooks. Also, the doctors told us they were titanium but before blacksmithing them, we checked and they were actually surgical steel. Wonder how much a price difference that is that the insurance paid. I guess they don't think many people would check something like that. But we are science geeks and engineers in my family and we do stuff like that.