First day home from the hospital

[Jjohnsonphd]

Hi Golfer,

You just had the largest orthopedic surgery a human being can have! It is a massive undertaking for your body to heal and it is a given you will have a lot of pain. I would be totally pissed off if my doctor left me in a lurch. You are not drug seeking, you need pain medication after major surgery.

You could try again at his office and explain you are needing adequate pain control. I would also call the nurse out on the ibruprofen, in a polite way, that you are not allowed to take that after a spinal fusion. Many peopleswitch to a pain management doctor, if you have one in your area, that would work as well. Don't give up!

Jana

[1998golfer]

From the new x-ray, can you estimate my new curve?
Also, I've been off of pain medicine for a few days, and feeling much better. I keep accidentally twisting, I hope I haven't harmed anything.
-Golfer

[1998golfer]

And also.. I called my surgeon and asked him about the ibuprofen and he said that it's fine to take, and anyone recommending against it is 30 years outdated. He also gave me a lecture on addiction to prescription drugs, etc etc. Anyways, I'm pain free now and it's been almost 2 days since I've taken anything at all.

[titaniumed]

He also gave me a lecture on addiction to prescription drugs, etc etc. Anyways, I'm pain free now and it's been almost 2 days since I've taken anything at all.

I had a feeling he wanted to see you. ...Well, this is really good news! and off everything at 11 days at age 18. I am going to try to remember that.

Throw your x-rays up, would love to see them.

Ed

[LindaRacine]

I called my surgeon and asked him about the ibuprofen and he said that it's fine to take, and anyone recommending against it is 30 years outdated.

If you get a chance, would you ask your surgeon for a reference on this? I can't remember ever hearing that a surgeon gave approval for ibuprofen before the 3 to 6 month postop mark.

[leahdragonfly]

Glad to hear how well you're doing! Remember to take it easy and not overdo things for a bit.

I'm guessing your curve at around 10 degrees or less. Looks beautiful!

[1998golfer]

Titaniumed - X-rays are in the first post of this thread

LindaRacine - I got the impression that he was irritated at me for questioning him on it, because of stuff found online (I'm sure they get similar stuff a lot). He does only pediatric patients, I'm probably one of the oldest people he's ever done this on, might that have anything to do with it?

[LindaRacine]

Titaniumed - X-rays are in the first post of this thread

LindaRacine - I got the impression that he was irritated at me for questioning him on it, because of stuff found online (I'm sure they get similar stuff a lot). He does only pediatric patients, I'm probably one of the oldest people he's ever done this on, might that have anything to do with it?

Hi...

Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory. Research has shown that anti-inflammatory medication inhibits fusion. I searched yesterday, when I saw your post, and couldn't find anything new on the subject. Kids do heal faster than adults, but as far as I know, they have the same restriction usually.

--Linda

[mabeckoff]

And also.. I called my surgeon and asked him about the ibuprofen and he said that it's fine to take, and anyone recommending against it is 30 years outdated. He also gave me a lecture on addiction to prescription drugs, etc etc. Anyways, I'm pain free now and it's been almost 2 days since I've taken anything at all.

I cannot believe that my surgeon , who is in early 40's, is 30 years outdated regarding ibuprofen. He operates on both adults and children.

[1998golfer]

I cannot believe that my surgeon , who is in early 40's, is 30 years outdated regarding ibuprofen. He operates on both adults and children.

I don't know. He's been doing this for 30 years, and only once had anyone with bad complications (and it was a kid with a 100° curve, bladder something trouble). When I heard it from him, I decided to trust him on it. Anyways, I'm off of them now so.. I'm guessing no harm done, at worst delayed the fusion by a bit.

[titaniumed]

Titaniumed - X-rays are in the first post of this thread

That’s right..... Its such a good looking x-ray, I forgot. I am going to say the same thing as Gayle, 10 degrees or less.

11 days after surgery, age 18, off meds. I find this amazing.....

What kind of pain do you have now? Do you really need to take anything at all?

Do try to take things easy for a while....you don’t want to have any setbacks.

Ed

[1998golfer]

That’s right..... Its such a good looking x-ray, I forgot. I am going to say the same thing as Gayle, 10 degrees or less.

11 days after surgery, age 18, off meds. I find this amazing.....

What kind of pain do you have now? Do you really need to take anything at all?

Do try to take things easy for a while....you don’t want to have any setbacks.

Ed

No pain... Had a little yesterday after I used my legs to push down the footrest thing on a recliner, but that's my fault and seems to have gone away already.
And awesome @ th under 10° I'll ask my surgeon at the follow up appt (I'm assuming they'll also take another x-ray then?), but that's not for another week or so

[1998golfer]

I went in for my check up today, 22 days post, and he said everything looks good, cleared me to ride my bike, swim, and lift up to 20lbs. Had a good 45min bike ride, my back was sure sore after that.
He told me that in addition to scoliosis, I had kyphoscoliosis, my back was too straight and that he fixed that too.
However, my shoulders are very out of whack and my neck is now curved. He said to work on my posture and try to keep them level, and that he might have to extend the fusion up to straighten it out if it doesn't on it's own. He seemed baffled at why it's doing what it is.
Here's the before/after on the same type of xray, and the side view. I'm curious how bad the kyphoscoliosis was.

Before back: http://i.imgur.com/mdaDMmw.jpg
Today back: http://i.imgur.com/33VXUt3.jpg

Before side: http://i.imgur.com/MdpN4cC.jpg
Today side: http://i.imgur.com/VbRcwdY.jpg

Thanks for the help!

[titaniumed]

He told me that in addition to scoliosis, I had kyphoscoliosis, my back was too straight and that he fixed that too.

I see that. In the before side view, your spine was very straight from around L1 going up into your thoracic.

Hard to say, your kyphosis element didn’t look terribly bad. I can show you a WHOLE lot worse as far as kyphosis goes.

The thing is that he had to stop it. Kyphosis is serious, and yes many kyphosis patients can suffer with neck issues.

I don’t know how one would classify your kyphosis.....possibly a “high” kyphosis? Lacking the typical “mid thoracic” round back that many have.

I don’t think I’ve seen any classification for kyphosis. Like a King or Lenke classification for scoliosis.

Next time you see your surgeon, ask him if your kyphosis was more serious than your scoliosis.

Ed

[LindaRacine]

I'm surprised that he called it kyphosis. You were actually hypokyphotic. That is, you had too little kyphosis. It's relatively common in teens with thoracic curves. The postop sagittal films look really good.

I hope that you're successful in straightening out your cervical spine. It looks pretty uncomfortable.

--Linda