What is surgery like?!

[dapsbounce8]

I agree with Amber's mom on most points. For my physio, I was taught some leg exercises to do in bed - ankle stretches and muscle contractions for various leg areas to build up muscle. Other than that, the physio depended on my day by day progress. As I said, the first day I just stood up and took a couple steps, and each day I walked a bit further and a few more times a day. Near the end of my stay, I climbed up and down stairs. At the hospital I stayed at, the two physio requirements for leaving are that you can walk around the entire unit, and climb up and down one flight of stairs.

[mumof5]

The hospital that we stayed in didn't have any stairs. There were ramps everywhere. But Amber had to be able to manage the toilet and walk around the ward, no temperature for 3 days and to have eaten a proper meal.
Cheryl.

[Boo]

thanks you guys i have some more questions

This 1 is peronal and you dont hav 2 answer:

what if you Are on ur menstral cycle on the day of the op?


i am scared that an evil nurce might try to kill me. Did any 1 else feel this way? 9a nurce killed some one on the news the other day)

[mumof5]

If you are female and having surgery you are very likely to have your period while your there (in hospital). Even if you haven't started yet you may get 'it'. Don't be embarrassed. It happens to most girls/women. The nurses deal with it all the time. I said to Amber while she was in the hospital, 'wouldn't you much rather have it now, while your in bed and they are doing all the work and chances are you won't remember it anyway.'
Are either of your parents staying in the hospital with you? I don't think you need to worry too much about evil nurses. We have things like that happen in Australia as well. There will always be someone with you. Whenever you are about to go through a major time in your life (not only surgery) you take on everything that you hear and try to apply it to yourself. When the things that you are hearing are bad, you frighten yourself. Think of how many people get through things successfully and let that be your guide. The negative stuff doesn't happen that often. That's why it makes the news. Talk to your parents, siblings, friends, teachers about how you feel. You need their support too.
Keep positive and best wishes.
Cheryl.

[Boo]

ok then i dont feel so bad now

[Peggy]

Hi Boo,
My daugher started her period the morning of her surgery. They let her wear a pad during pre-op and the nurses took care of it from that point after. It was fine. It did take about 7 weeks post surgery for her to get her next month period. The trauma to the body and all. Good Luck, don't be afraid, everything will work out fine!

[Boo]

hi every one i havent been on here for a while an i thought i'd just say hello. My surgery is a month away and i am kinda lookin forward to it.

Today i was at my mates house and we were playing with her next door neighbor. I went to blow on the boys whistle and he shouted "DON'T I'LL CATCH YOUR DISESE!" I said what disese and he said your scoliosis thing. Then i shouted ouT "HOW DOES HE KNOW?" And my freind confessed that she told him.
i Dont know if this sounds stupid but i hardly knew this boy and my best freind told him somthing i didnt want him to know, She really upset me because usually i foget about it but every sec of the day she reminds me and it really makes me feel bad. Why do i hav to hav scoliosis what did i do Wrong?

[mumof5]

Obviously your friend didn't know what she was talking about when she told 'that boy', otherwise he would know you can't catch 'it'. Maybe he said it to get your attention. You know you have a back 'problem', you live with it. Maybe you should sit down with your friend and tell her that you haven't forgotten about it so she doesn't need to keep reminding you. It could be that she is scared for you with your upcoming surgery and she needs to talk about it. I think it's normal that you want to keep it to yourself and the people close to you. But really how much difference does it make if other people know? They will find out anyway while you are in the hospital and while you are recovering. Most people will be supportive and the ones who aren't are just misinformed selfish people anyway who are not worth bothering about.
Cheryl.

[Boo]

I dont y, but my friend wants scoliosis! once she said to me that she had it. She bent over and pulled one of her arms back deliberatley!
she goes around telling every one that i've got it. She seems to be proud of it.

[mumof5]

Maybe your friend is jealous of the attention that she thinks you are getting and is feeling left out. I don't think she really wants to have scoliosis, she probably hasn't even thought about the problems it would give her. It is just an attention thing. Do you have brothers or sisters? Have you ever noticed when one gets sick someone else has 'copycat' things! Some people like to 'hang around' with people who have 'something wrong' with them so that they get the attention as well. Personally I would just ignore it things may change after you have the surgery.
Best wishes.
Cheryl.

[kylie-ann]

Hello Cheryl (mumof5)

I too live in Australia and will be going for surgery in October. WHich hospital was your daughter in adn who was the surgeon? I will be heading to the Mater in North Sydney under Dr Andrew Cree. I am really scared to tell you the truth - more so worried about my children and not being their for them. I didn't realise that i would have so many tubes hanging out of me - do you know if this is the same for all patients? When do you recommend that my 4 and 2 year old come and visit me in hospital? Will someone (husband or family) need to be with me 24/7 for the first couple of days?

Thanks for all your advise - its wonderful!

Oh - where do you live? I am in Thirroul (Wollongong)

Kylie-Ann

[mumof5]

Hi Kylie-Ann,
We live in Swansea Heads, 30 mins south of Newcastle. We went to Westmead Childrens Hospital. Under Dr. Andrew Cree. He was wonderful, he actually has a very dry sense of humour that doesn't come out at first meeting.
How old are you? Obviously older than my daughter that had surgery. What degree are your curves? Life is going to change a lot for you after surgery and you will have to make a lot of adjustments. Learning new ways to do things will I would say prove a challenge. I hope in the time to come that I can help you with this but you have enough to deal with at the moment and it will be a while before you have to worry too much.
I went to Sydney with Amber and being away from my other children was very hard.
Dr Cree likes you to be in a full week before he will let you go home. Amber was done on a Wednesday (12th) and we went home on the next Thursday (20th).
Tell your children what is going on to the extent that they will understand. My 3 year old knows that Amber had to go to hospital for an operation on her back. We went to Sydney and we would look for 'NEMO' while we were there. She did not come to visit in the hospital, mainly because my parents who were looking after the other kids thought that there may have been a problem getting her out of the hospital again. Now that Amber is home Shayleigh (3 yr old) knows that Amber can't do some things because she has a cut on her back! She is very interested in it but will not touch it.
When is your surgery?
I personally wouldn't bring the kids in until day 4 or 5. Before that you will be sleeping alot ( and dropping off while talking like Amber did) that could scare them. You will also have in a catheder, fluid drip, drainage tube (from your back), morhine drip and usually a spare canula. Most of this gone around day 3 or 4, so I would leave it until then until you see the kids.
I took lots of photos while we were in the hospital and the kids do like to look at them. I took photos of the xrays which Shayleigh loves to look at even though she doesn't really understand that she is looking inside Amber's back.
When you get home you will need someone to help you move in bed, get up, shower (use a chair), getting dressed ( the kids could help with that, make a game of it). You should be 'ok' enough for your husband to duck out and shop etc.. but not for a great length of time. I asked people to ring me before they came to visit and I told them what groceries we needed and they picked them up on they way. It made life that little bit easier.
I hope that this has helped a little.
What else do you want to know?
Best wishes.
Cheryl.

[nanmccune]

I know it's hard to imagine before surgery, but the rest of your life will benefit from it. My daughter did not get her period while she was in the hospital, and she did not get one after surgery until 2 months later. I stayed at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh with my daughter the whole 5 days that she was there, and the nurses could not have been nicer to her! They are specially trained nurses that help people through this type of surgery and are good at making them feel better. I would advise you though if you have long hair, french braid it or something so that it is not a mess to comb out after nearly a week. It is doubtful that you will feel like having it combed.

nanmccune

[nanmccune]

I'm sure that surgery is different for each person, but here is what my daughter went through. When she went in for her surgery, the nurse asked her if she wanted something to relax her, she said yes. They gave her a pill that made her groggy. Natalie is very afraid of needles, so we asked them to wait until she was sleeping to give her all but the one IV that she needed for the anesthesia. They agreed. Her surgery took 8 1/2 hours and she only lost about a tablespoon of blood, so she did not need any of the blood that we had donated for her. When she came out of surgery, her face and body were very swollen from the anesthesia and laying flat. This is normal and goes down in the first 8 hours after surgery. She was upset about having a catheter in her and it burned the first couple times she peed. The doctor wanted her to lay flat for 24 hours without getting out of bed. Natalie has never been able to sleep on her back, so this was uncomfortable. The nurses brought me pillows to prop her up so that she was not completely flat, but she was not allowed to roll over, unless they were changing her dressings. The next day, her doctor said that she could turn on her side if she wanted, he just said 24 hours so that the nurses did not try to get her up before then. She had a morphine pump, but was still some pain for the first 48 hours. Once that time passed, it was like night and day and she felt much better. When the nurse came in to get her out of bed on the third day, Natalie put the top of her bed up the whole way and got out of bed on her own and sat in a wheelchair for the nurse to take her for xrays. She started sitting up in bed for short periods and ate some jello. They took her IV and catheter out and she had to use the bed pan. Natalie was embarrassed and did not want to call the nurse every ten minutes when she had to go, so I put her on the pan when she needed it. On the fourth day, Natalie walked around the unit and a nurse helped her get a shower and wash her hair. We watched TV and Natalie ate Chicken strips and French fries from Wendy's. She did not eat much, but she was starting to want regular food. Natalie was able to leave the hospital after 5 days. The ride home was very uncomfortable for her. Once we got home, Natalie was able to get around on her own, but she needed help getting up. When her best friend's dad stopped in front of our house to ask about her, Natalie ran outside to see him. He was shocked to see her moving around so well. Natalie used baby wipes to wash herself off until she could get a shower, and could do bathroom stuff without help. At her own request, and with her doctor's approval, she went back to school after 30 days. The school nurse worked with us and arranged for Natalie to have a book in each classroom for her and a full set of books at home, so that she did not have anything to carry. She was given an elevator key and one of her friends walked with her to her classes 10 minutes before the bell so that she was not in crowded hallways. If she got tired, she went to the nurse's office to lay down, or twice I went and got her. She did very well and being back in school with her friends helped her a lot. Good luck with your surgery, and I hope this helps to answer some of your questions.

nanmccune

[Boo]

hi guys, my op has been moved to the 10th of August! Its somit to do with insurance