Hi Forum Members,
My son, Alexander, had his fusion surgery on July 12th & it seemed to go really well. The whole operation took less than 4 hours, although between pre-op & post-op stuff, he was gone for 7 hours. He was fused from T8-L3, which is two fewer vertebrae than originally planned. He was in the hospital just over 4 days & we've been home almost a week. His recovery has been steady, with daily improvements in eating, walking, attention span, etc. I kept really good notes about everything the whole time we were in the hospital (it helped me stay calm & focused) so I can answer any questions anyone has with lots of detail.
Alexander had a fever for a day or two in the hospital. We also had many scary moments with his pain & nausea & itchiness there. He had the morphine pump for the 1st two days & has been on oral pain meds since then. Since we've been home, his pain has mostly been manageable & I was able to lower his narcotic dose by 1/3 a few days ago. That really helped him to stay awake & to eat more. I'm actually a little concerned that he's doing too much already & I don't know how much to encourage him to do or not to do. He seems to feel he needs to push himself a little more each day, esp. to walk & eat. On one of our walks today he walked about 3/4 of a mile. I've had a lot of family visiting who aren't helpful & who don't seem to understand that moving too quickly isn't necessarily the best thing for him.
I do have a concern about his posture as well. I spoke to a nurse at our hospital who said this was normal but I wanted to ask any of you this too. Alexander's back looks much better now - it's flatter, longer & he grew over an inch from the surgery. I was told that his lower, more severe curve was improved by at least 20 degrees. BUT, his posture is still not great. He still seems to hold one shoulder higher than the other, to lean on one hip like he used to & he doesn't stand up straight. Straighter than before but still leans a bit forward & to the side. The nurse said it will take 2-3 months for his muscles to adjust to his new capacity for standing straight. Does this seem right/correct to you all? I thought our days of telling him to stand up straight were over but they're not? I'm trying not to worry that the surgery didn't completely fix Alexander's scoliosis & if anyone has any reassurance about this, I'd appreciate hearing it. I was really happy that the Dr. came out of surgery saying he didn't need to fuse higher than T8 but now I'm hoping that he did enough. I really don't want another surgery, ever, for Alexander & I can only hope that the Dr.'s positive/successful report about the surgery is accurate.
Despite my concerns about posture, etc., I am SO glad the surgery is over. It is such a relief not to have this hanging over our heads. I would love to answer any questions anyone else has about our experiences & about what I've learned throughout this ongoing process.
Sincerely,
My son, Alexander, had his fusion surgery on July 12th & it seemed to go really well. The whole operation took less than 4 hours, although between pre-op & post-op stuff, he was gone for 7 hours. He was fused from T8-L3, which is two fewer vertebrae than originally planned. He was in the hospital just over 4 days & we've been home almost a week. His recovery has been steady, with daily improvements in eating, walking, attention span, etc. I kept really good notes about everything the whole time we were in the hospital (it helped me stay calm & focused) so I can answer any questions anyone has with lots of detail.
Alexander had a fever for a day or two in the hospital. We also had many scary moments with his pain & nausea & itchiness there. He had the morphine pump for the 1st two days & has been on oral pain meds since then. Since we've been home, his pain has mostly been manageable & I was able to lower his narcotic dose by 1/3 a few days ago. That really helped him to stay awake & to eat more. I'm actually a little concerned that he's doing too much already & I don't know how much to encourage him to do or not to do. He seems to feel he needs to push himself a little more each day, esp. to walk & eat. On one of our walks today he walked about 3/4 of a mile. I've had a lot of family visiting who aren't helpful & who don't seem to understand that moving too quickly isn't necessarily the best thing for him.
I do have a concern about his posture as well. I spoke to a nurse at our hospital who said this was normal but I wanted to ask any of you this too. Alexander's back looks much better now - it's flatter, longer & he grew over an inch from the surgery. I was told that his lower, more severe curve was improved by at least 20 degrees. BUT, his posture is still not great. He still seems to hold one shoulder higher than the other, to lean on one hip like he used to & he doesn't stand up straight. Straighter than before but still leans a bit forward & to the side. The nurse said it will take 2-3 months for his muscles to adjust to his new capacity for standing straight. Does this seem right/correct to you all? I thought our days of telling him to stand up straight were over but they're not? I'm trying not to worry that the surgery didn't completely fix Alexander's scoliosis & if anyone has any reassurance about this, I'd appreciate hearing it. I was really happy that the Dr. came out of surgery saying he didn't need to fuse higher than T8 but now I'm hoping that he did enough. I really don't want another surgery, ever, for Alexander & I can only hope that the Dr.'s positive/successful report about the surgery is accurate.
Despite my concerns about posture, etc., I am SO glad the surgery is over. It is such a relief not to have this hanging over our heads. I would love to answer any questions anyone else has about our experiences & about what I've learned throughout this ongoing process.
Sincerely,
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