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  • Combined anterior posterior?

    Hi everyone,

    I joined a little while back and then tried to forget about surgery so I disappeared...

    I'm back now and, after seeing Mr Tucker at the Wellington in London, seriously considering surgery if my private health insurance will pay.

    Mr Tucker has suggested combined anterior and posterior surgery (in one session) and fusion from T4 to L4. Just wondering if anyone else has had this done? My initial consultation with another surgeon was for anterior lumbar fusion T11 to L4 but Mr Tucker doesn't think this will be stable enough as my curves are 47 upper and 62 lower and I am 32 years old.

    It just seems like a lot to go through and, like everyone else who faces this, I'm getting scared.

    Wondering about other people's experiences and looking for some words of encouragement!

    Thanks
    Kaybee

  • #2
    Someone gave me the following advice when I was thinking about this stuff: Find the surgeon that you completely trust, and then do whatever s/he says. I did that and don't regret it. I had recommendations all the way from "hold off on surgery for a while" to "fuse T10-L5" to "fuse T4-sacrum." The last and largest surgery was recommended by Dr Lenke. I decided to go with it because the man knows what he's doing, and hopefully this will be a "one and done" thing for me. Good luck! These are extremely difficult decisions.
    age 48
    80* thoracolumbar; 40* thoracic
    Reduced to ~16* thoracolumbar; ~0* thoracic
    Surgery 3/14/12 with Dr. Lenke in St. Louis, T4 to S1 with pelvic fixation
    Broken rods 12/1/19; scheduled for revision fusion L1-L3-4 with Dr. Lenke 2/4/2020
    Not "confused" anymore, but don't know how to change my username.

    Comment


    • #3
      Best of luck with your decisions. Finding the best surgeon possible is crucial. I doubt that there are many of us who were not totally scared of taking the plunge to have this surgery.
      Karen

      Surgery-Jan. 5, 2011-Dr. Lenke
      Fusion T-4-sacrum-2 cages/5 osteotomies
      70 degree thoracolumbar corrected to 25
      Rib Hump-GONE!
      Age-60 at the time of surgery
      Now 66
      Avid Golfer & Tap Dancer
      Retired Kdgn. Teacher

      See photobucket link for:
      Video of my 1st Day of Golf Post-Op-3/02/12-Bradenton, FL
      Before and After Picture of back 1/7/11
      tap dancing picture at 10 mos. post op 11/11/11-I'm the one on the right.
      http://s1119.photobucket.com/albums/k630/pottoff2/

      Comment


      • #4
        Hi Kaybee

        I had an A/P, 4 years ago. T2-Pelvis. I think that this was the best route since I came out so well. I also had a procedure called “partial corpectomy” and PEEK spacers inserted from the front from L1-Sacrum. This is the heavy duty version of fusing.....they fuse the front and the back, it balances it out. After all the nerves were cleared out, all the old nerve pain quit. It was quite a relief.

        I consider my surgeries a total success and never thought that it would work out as well as it did. Now, I do really dumb things like lift super heavy television sets.....(smiley face) I guess you could call it “the test”. Testing out my million dollar spine.....I do have permission to lift 100# or 45 kilo’s.

        The first few weeks will hurt....It was an experience that I could have lived without, but now that its in the past, I’m super glad that I did it. You have to have a positive attitude and always look ahead. Always think about how well you will be doing down the road.....

        Welcome back
        Ed
        49 yr old male, now 63, the new 64...
        Pre surgery curves T70,L70
        ALIF/PSA T2-Pelvis 01/29/08, 01/31/08 7" pelvic anchors BMP
        Dr Brett Menmuir St Marys Hospital Reno,Nevada

        Bending and twisting pics after full fusion
        http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...on.&highlight=

        My x-rays
        http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...2&d=1228779214

        http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...3&d=1228779258

        Comment


        • #5
          I also had anterior/posterior performed in one surgery. Many surgeons are now using a posterior-only approach, but I did get a fantastic correction that's holding up great. It was a challenging recovery but well worth it. From what I've seen and heard, it looks to me as though surgical procedures are constantly evolving and recovery times seem to be getting quicker for many people. Good luck to you!
          Chris
          A/P fusion on June 19, 2007 at age 52; T10-L5
          Pre-op thoracolumbar curve: 70 degrees
          Post-op curve: 12 degrees
          Dr. Boachie-adjei, HSS, New York

          Comment


          • #6
            I was fused T4-L3 20 years ago, and had A/P surgery all in one day. It's a lot to go through, but it's nice to get it done all at once.

            --Linda
            Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
            ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
            Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

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