Peggy's Scoliosis Surgery: the journey begins on 10/27!

[susancook]

Same thing happened to me, but in decreasing pain of the repair of hernia from the ALIF incision. Keep the area clean. My doctor put a patch over it and that decreased the pain.

You will get better, you will have less pain.

Things that might help you feel better [aside from good pain management]:
- Music
- Getting outside
- shower
- Pet
- Movie DVD
- Your favorite food

Here is hoping that things are controlled better soon!
Gentle hug, Susan......still arollin' along in my red wheelchair

[Lizardacres]

Hoping i can go home today. Very hard to write and can!t get comfortable anywhere 0
Ff
C

[PeggyS]

Hoping i can go home today. Very hard to write and can!t get comfortable anywhere 0
Ff
C

Liz, I hope you're pain is under control today. I wasn't prepared for how much my entire body hurt and how difficult it was to move - like dead weight. It gets better. The first 6 weeks are very slow. Hang in there! Sending prayers for healing!

[PeggyS]

Hi Peggy, I too burned .myself with a blister a bout that size . Be very careful with the burn area. Keep it covered and have someone watch it. Mine got infected and I had to have emergency treatment. It involved special dressings to pull the infection out.I did not know that I had burned myself until the blister broke and my shirt kept getting caught. BE Careful .you don need an infection so close to surgery.

My family dr didn't want to see me - just told me to continue with neosporin & change bandage. It's been a week & I went to my Derm. It's a 2nd degree burn. I have antibiotics to take & 2 ointments along with a follow-up appointment in a week. No infection - just trying to prevent one. No pain, but if I wasn't numb, it would be awful! What a dumb thing to be dealing with!

[susancook]

My family dr didn't want to see me - just told me to continue with neosporin & change bandage. It's been a week & I went to my Derm. It's a 2nd degree burn. I have antibiotics to take & 2 ointments along with a follow-up appointment in a week. No infection - just trying to prevent one. No pain, but if I wasn't numb, it would be awful! What a dumb thing to be dealing with!

Shame on your family doctor! Call me dumb with you! I did not know that I had burned myself until 2 days after it happened. I was dressing in my brother's bathroom and I looked in the mirror and saw 2 big blister on my numb lower abdomen! Was I surprised!

Glad that you are in the healing phase. Susan

[jackieg412]

Peggy I am glad there isn't an infection. Keep treating it. I was told when I did it that it would heal slowly in around a four week period of time.when I called my primary care doctor, mine was already infected. I told them that. They said the next appointment available was in two weeks. I went to quick care. Mine required what they said was a wet to dry dressing. It pulled the infection out. It worked. Can you just imagine what waiting. Two weeks would have caused. Even in the medical field, there is little understanding of what a fused spine means. My favorite fight is with a mammogram. Since my cervical is also fused I can not get it out of the way of the machine. There isn't any turning further.It might rip a breast off!

[fifa]

My family dr didn't want to see me - just told me to continue with neosporin & change bandage. It's been a week & I went to my Derm. It's a 2nd degree burn. I have antibiotics to take & 2 ointments along with a follow-up appointment in a week. No infection - just trying to prevent one. No pain, but if I wasn't numb, it would be awful! What a dumb thing to be dealing with!

Hi, Peggy!

I'm sorry it has been so long since I posted, but I've been thinking about you tons and praying! I'm so happy you went to your dermatologist - can't believe your family doc didn't want to see you after all that surgery!

Hope you're well - will post more later.

Love and hugs,
Fifa

[PeggyS]

My 3 month + 1 week check up is this afternoon. I'm expecting a good report!

[PeggyS]

Yea! All the hardware is where it's supposed to be! My weird sensations/odd pains/twinges are all normal - I thought so, but it's reassuring to have confirmation.

[jrnyc]

Peggy....i am so sorry your family doctor
was so ignorant and useless for help...i hope from now on that
healing is steady, smooth and uneventful....
and i hope, after you are healed and have some energy, you might
be able to find a new, more useful and helpful family doctor.

jackie412....can they be satisfied with ultra sound for the mammogram...
????? sounds as if they should accept alternative approach due to
special situation that your spine presents to them...????

jess...and Sparky

[jackieg412]

Thanks Jess for bringing that up. I will approach that question to the Dr. It does seem that we will have to use an alternate method. I am almost 3 months from the last cervical surgery so it will be soon that we will try.

[Lizardacres]

Yea! All the hardware is where it's supposed to be! My weird sensations/odd pains/twinges are all normal - I thought so, but it's reassuring to have confirmation.

Congrats on a good checkup! The healing process seems so slow, it's good to have confirmation you have been doing all the right things to help it along.

[golfnut]

Peggy,
Congratulations on a good checkup! It is reassuring to have your surgeon look at your X-rays and confirm that everything is as it should be. It is hard to believe that strange aches, pains, numbness, tingling, etc. is all normal. Best of luck during the rest of your recovery.

[PeggyS]

Afterwards, I thought it was odd that my surgeon didn't ask me to stand or walk & he didn't look at my incision site. I guess it IS all about the hardware! I do have permission to use the treadmill & recumbent bike in PT. I'm up to walking a mile on an indoor track.

[fifa]

Afterwards, I thought it was odd that my surgeon didn't ask me to stand or walk & he didn't look at my incision site. I guess it IS all about the hardware! I do have permission to use the treadmill & recumbent bike in PT. I'm up to walking a mile on an indoor track.

Hi, Peggy!

Glad to hear everything is in place! (smiley) Sorry I haven't posted for so long - I'm battling fatigue and depression. I had put off my checkup with Megan, and when we went to see her last month, it turns out that a LOT of things I thought were okay to do were NOT okay. That started (or continued) the depression for me. I'm scheduled to see Dr. B the first week of March. I'm not looking forward to it, but truly, I'm not really looking forward to anything at this point.

Since I haven't posted in my own thread for some time, I will do that now.

Can't even imagine navigating airports and planes, plus Barnes is such a HUGE place. We're seeing Dr. B in Chesterfield. It is a little bit shorter of a drive for us plus less walking. I'm forced to use a wheelchair at Barnes...it is just too much walking for me at this stage. Tomorrow is three months. I can't believe it - seems like I've spent my entire life in this bed!!!

Glad you are doing well. Has your burn healed by now? I did the same thing years ago (burned butt). Our heating pad was very old and didn't have an "automatic off" feature like they do now. It's easy to burn, especially when you're numb. Hope you tossed it and got a new one!

Take care - praying for you and thinking of you every day!

Love and hugs,
Fifa