A little of both
Hello everyone! I was diagnosed with mild scoliosis at 13 years old. I had no pain or issues (really never gave it much thought) until my mid-thirties when I hit pre-menopause. My curves began increasing as did my pain albeit slowly. By the time I reached my early 40's, I decided I'd had enough. I had my first fusion surgery (fused T-10 thru L-5) in June 2008 with Dr. A. L'Heureux at the Spine Hospital in Oklahoma City. The surgery went fine, as did the days I was at the Spine Hospital. After 4 days, I was transfered to Valir Rehab Hospital in OKC for 7 days. As great as the nurses, care, facility and food were at the Spine Hospital, everything was just as HORRIBLE at Valir. By the time I was 9ish months post-op, I began telling Dr. L something wasn't quite right. This continued until I was about 16 month's post-op and had a severe forward sagittal imbalance, flat back and junctional kyphosis at the T-9/T-10 level. He just would not listen or acknowledge my concerns. RESULT-UNHAPPY I HAD SURGERY.
I began getting other opinions, and after 3 wonderful scoliosis specialists giving me the same information, I decided to have revision surgery at Baylor Hospital in Plano, Tx. My revision surgery was done June 27, 2011 (T-4 thru S-1 with pelvic anchor screws). The sagittal imbalance has been corrected as have the flat back and junctional kyphosis. However, I am still taking a significant amount of narcotic pain medication, much more than I should be at this point. Also, my back is incredibly sensitive to touch, to the point I won't let anyone touch it, and my pain level hovers around a 6 most days. If I still have this much of an issue with pain at the 12 month post-op mark, I will have a CT Scan done and try to find the cause of the pain. An additional surgery is not out of the question if the pain does not subside by 12 months post-op. RESULT-VERY VERY HAPPY I HAD SURGERY! My surgeon was able to fix 3 significant issues which did improve my quality of life somewhat. I believe I just drew the short straw when drawing for spines.
And there you have it!
Last edited by allycat; 10-16-2012 at 03:33 PM.
Becky
51 years old
Married 28 years
3 kids ages 23, 21 and 17
Fused T-10 through L-5 June, 2008
Developed junctional kyphosis, flat-back and sagittal imbalance
Revision Surgery June 27, 2011
Fused T-4 thru S-1 with pelvic anchor screws
Take 2 revision October 15, 2013 to locate source of continued pain
Pseudoarthrosis at L-3, 2 screws removed