10 years post-op

[Karagirly]

Hi everyone. It been 10 years in March since my scoliosis surgery. During those past 10 years a lot has happened in my life. I was appointed by the California governor to the California state council on Developmental Disabilities, had reconstructive foot surgery on my right foot. My grandma passed away of natural causes. I traveled to South Dakota to visit family and go to Mount Rushmore

[titaniumed]

Kara, Congratulations on 10 years!

Cane we assume that your back is fine?

And how is your foot?

Ed

[Karagirly]

Yes my back is doing fine.
It’s doing better but its now prefect.

[Pooka1]

Kara! Thanks for coming back here and letting us know how you are doing. I think about you and how much you have contributed to the forum.

I am sorry bout the loss of your grandma.

It sounds like you are keeping busy and traveling. You are a fusion success story like both my daughters.

I hope you come back here from time to time to let us know how you are doing.

[golfnut]

Hi, Kara,
I know this is late, but congratulations on your 10 year anniversary! I just celebrated my 10th year anniversary on January 5. There aren't many names on the forum that I recognize. Best of luck!

[Tina_R]

Hi, Kara,
I know this is late, but congratulations on your 10 year anniversary! I just celebrated my 10th year anniversary on January 5. There aren't many names on the forum that I recognize. Best of luck!

If you stick around you might make new forum friends.

[golfnut]

If you stick around you might make new forum friends.

That made me smile! For the year before my surgery and several years afterwards, I never missed a day of checking the forum. It seemed like most of the people on the forum at that time also checked in daily to either ask or answer questions. Now, it seems like many of the posts are several months old and there is not as much activity with questions and replies. I honestly don't know how I could have made it through the surgery without the support of people on the forum. I am going to make an effort to check in more frequently instead of wasting so much time on Facebook!

[Tina_R]

That made me smile! For the year before my surgery and several years afterwards, I never missed a day of checking the forum. It seemed like most of the people on the forum at that time also checked in daily to either ask or answer questions. Now, it seems like many of the posts are several months old and there is not as much activity with questions and replies. I honestly don't know how I could have made it through the surgery without the support of people on the forum. I am going to make an effort to check in more frequently instead of wasting so much time on Facebook!

Activity or the lack thereof is contagious. If a forum is active people come back, if it's not, most give up. And of course they initially show up when they need support the most and slack off when they are doing well and don't need the support. I can't blame them. They probably don't want scoliosis to define their lives forever.

This is a good forum, or could be, I wish it were busier. There's another very active forum I know of, but it's mostly juveniles who just discovered they have scoliosis.

You were lucky to have a lot of people going through the same thing you were at the same time. It's good to see people check back in now and then and report, whether anything changed for them or not. Data is data. I can't even imagine how I'm going to feel at 10 years.

I should read more of the older threads here.

[titaniumed]

NSF was quite active years ago.....and we sure have seen a lot of different cases over the years.....mostly adults over 40. We had a few Brits, Kiwi's, and a few Aussies posting also.....Macky from Launceston, Tasmania, the first Harrington done in Australia, and Jen from the Brisbane area are just a few from down under.

The British Scoliosis Support forum was also quite active back in the day. My user name was Rod Stewart on that one. They had a lot of serious cases, and many of them were kyphosis cases. Tonibunny was very active, along with Mark, Spinals, Bendy Bill, and Jaymoe.... They had a few European members also. I am having trouble remembering everyone these days.

Around the time Golfnut was getting ready, Elisa had her son Elias delayed by the BC Canadian system, and was done by Shriners. He had a 115 degree T curve in which his Chiropractor said nothing.... They sent a bus up to Vancouver right away and put him in halo traction in Portland for about 2 months. He came out great after surgery....It sure would be nice if we knew how he was doing......maybe at some point he will chime in. He has to be about 26 now.

In the old threads there is a MOUNTAIN of material....It's unfortunate that many of the links and photos were lost due to software updates on the server.

We have had posters from: UAE, Oman, Moldova, India, Corfu (Greece) Argentina, Israel, UK, Australia, Singapore. I can't remember any other countries, maybe Linda or Sharon might remember more. We had Dr Anand chime in once who is a Minimally Invasive Scoliosis surgeon from LA. We even had an actress from Hollywood! She admitted this to me by e-mail, not on the forum. I don't watch television so not really in tune with that sort of thing....No, it wasn't Zsa Zsa.....(smiley face)

We also have had a few seniors post that were done back before hardware, before the Harrington era (1962) spending a year in plaster casts. Karen Ocker being one of them was actually operated on by Dr Cobb around 1957....Dr Cobb established the angular system for spinal curves that we use today.

I have always tried to help out as a scoliosis can be daunting....Years ago before the forum, we had to forge our own paths alone. The older members know what I am talking about....there was nobody to talk to, and non scolis just don't understand.

Ed