Any Advice?!

[scoliosisat12]

Hey! I was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was 11. Now I'm 13 and in June I'm having surgery after 2 years of wearing the brace. It will be the first time I ever have a surgery, and I am scarred. Can anybody give me some advice??? It would be appreciated Also can someone let me know what I'll be going through, like how much pain I'd be in and stuff like that..


Thanks much,,
Jodi

[RitaR]

Hey there. You keep a stiff upper lip! I've had surgery - some back surgery as well as others. It's always scary! You just have to remember, you will have pain, won't be anything you can't stand because you ARE STRONG! You have to be! And, you want to get better - that is the first hurdle! And, you just keep that in your head and there's nothing you cant handle. The first few days will be a lot of pain, but it will NOT be intolerable. They have drugs for htat.... Ha! And, don't be afraid to take advantage of those either. That's what their for! I know it's scary - we'd be fools if we didn't admit that! But, it's just osmething we have to deal with - and you just know we're ALL behind you! You are NOT in this alone! Be sure and come back on as soon as you can and let us know how you're doing. Vent to us as much as you like.
I'm relatively new to this site - but, having had scoliosis since was 11, I feel your pain! I'm not as far to be scheduled for surgery yet - I almost wish I was that far along.... instead of putting mine off until the dr gets a mind to do it.
You go girlfriend! You're a trooper and you can handle it!!!!!

[Basketballboy]

My son had the surgery 2 weeks ago and he was worried about the pain too. After surgery he had a PCA- patient controlled pain medicine that was in IV form. He pressed the button and had very good pain relief. If it was not enough he was able to have a nurse give him an extra dose. Four days post op he switched to a long acting pain tablet and short acting tablets for discomfort. He was comfortable. Now that he has been home a week he is down to one long acting pain tab at night and has only taken 2 percocets during the day. Each day he uses less. I guess you could say he feels a cramp like sensation that comes and goes, but often if he sits or stands in one place too long. But it is not so very uncomfortable.
Hope you have a sucessful surgery too.

[Beckymk]

One piece of advice is to make sure with the pain medication when you are taking them by mouth, make sure you EAT.

We had a hard time with that until we figured out the problem. DD kept getting dizzy all the time, so never wanted to walk like she was supposed to because she was dizzy. Basically it was a catch-22 cycle she had going on for a while.

She barely ate while she was there & we found out around the last day after we changed her pain meds that she should have been eating a whole lot more with the first pain meds. She wasn't too fond of the food there either though so that might have had something to do with it.