19 Year Old Male. Scoliosis Progressing.

[JDM555]

Hey everybody. Well today I went from 12 to 4 on pain mess but from 4 to 11. I was sleeping and I lost track of time. I don't even get relief from oxycontin unles I sleep. I woke up with a hurt butt and lower back so I had to take it lol. Dizziness and lightheaded is because I lost a third of blood during surgery. My hemogolbin or w.e is like 22 when befor surgery it was in the 40's. My blood count is very low I don't eat enough fatty foods and I am dehydrated. My blood pressure went from 145/85 to 115/60 just from standing. I just need to drink a lot of Gatorade and eat some hamburgers and take iron pills.

Even with all my crap I can probably walk a quartermile by myself right now. Maybe more.
The problem is just whenever I get out of the car at night I shiver like a madman. It's horrible and I can't stop it what is causing this?

Also my hips are very very sore. I sleep on them a lot but I dont think that is causing it like the bone is so sore is it from crrecting the spine and while doing that the hips got curved a little bit too?

Also I took my pics and my upper body got stretched hardcore. I'm even skinnier looking than before. But I had a little concern. My whole back is flat Thank God, but the place of the incision sticks out a bit. Is it from my back being swollen or because I am so skinny or what? My scar is ugly too. I'll post pictures tonight
John

[JenniferG]

"Well today I went from 12 to 4 on pain mess but from 4 to 11." I'm not sure what you mean by this John.

Did the hospital tell you to drink Gatorade or water? Just wondering, not critical. I've never heard of that before, that's all.

Swelling at the incision site is fairly normal. The tops and bottoms of my rods were swollen for several weeks. Now, there are a couple of bumps at the top which my surgeon says is the hardware. I am 64 kilos, not fat nor thin so possibly if you're very thin, your hardware might show more. Don't worry about it if it shows, it's a mark of your bravery!

Keep up the good work John.

[JDM555]

"Well today I went from 12 to 4 on pain mess but from 4 to 11." I'm not sure what you mean by this John.

Did the hospital tell you to drink Gatorade or water? Just wondering, not critical. I've never heard of that before, that's all.

Swelling at the incision site is fairly normal. The tops and bottoms of my rods were swollen for several weeks. Now, there are a couple of bumps at the top which my surgeon says is the hardware. I am 64 kilos, not fat nor thin so possibly if you're very thin, your hardware might show more. Don't worry about it if it shows, it's a mark of your bravery!

Keep up the good work John.

What I meant about 12-4 and 4-11 was. At 12, I took 10mg Oxycodone, then at 4 I took 10mg again. But from that 4PM dosage, I didn't take the next 10mg until 11pm at night. Pretty much instead of every 4 hours, I took it 7 hours after. I woke up feeling a little sore/in pain in the lower back/hip section. I think it was because I took my first shower today and it wasn't that comfortable and I had a long car ride. I feel better sitting in a computer chair now, I can stay in it for over an hour and not be too uncomfortable.

I will try to post the pictures tonight or tomorrow, most likely tomorrow since I don't feel like doing too much on the computer right now.

[JDM555]

Uhhhh I feel like crap. Last night was hands down worst sleep ever. I was in soo much pain. I took oxycontin at 11 then woke up every hour till 4 to take another and couldn't sleep in ANY position. My hips and butt where hurting soo bad, they hurt more than my back. They were throbbing in pain and OMG it hurt. I had to call my mom to help me. I couldn't sleep for an hour I guess till thr pain kicked in. Then I woke up at 8:30 with a nasty headache and inability to sleep in annnnnyyyy position. Sides no. Stomach no. Back no.

What do I do? I want to sleep! Give me some ideas please.

All this new pain is from that bullshit 2.5 hours spent in the car yesterday. My progress just decreased and tonight my family wanted to go out to a family gathering hut Noe I can't handle this.


Please help, any tips or ideas please!

[debbei]

Uhhhh I feel like crap. Last night was hands down worst sleep ever. I was in soo much pain. I took oxycontin at 11 then woke up every hour till 4 to take another and couldn't sleep in ANY position. My hips and butt where hurting soo bad, they hurt more than my back. They were throbbing in pain and OMG it hurt. I had to call my mom to help me. I couldn't sleep for an hour I guess till thr pain kicked in. Then I woke up at 8:30 with a nasty headache and inability to sleep in annnnnyyyy position. Sides no. Stomach no. Back no.

What do I do? I want to sleep! Give me some ideas please.

All this new pain is from that bullshit 2.5 hours spent in the car yesterday. My progress just decreased and tonight my family wanted to go out to a family gathering hut Noe I can't handle this.


Please help, any tips or ideas please!

Go out for a gathering at this stage of your recovery? Good Lord, I coudln't have. This next week or week and a half will be the worst in your whole recovery. The Dr. told me that at 2 weeks, most patients have a brfeakthrough and start feeling better. He was right for me. Until that time, it seemed like I was constantly changing from bed, to walking a few laps around the house, to chair, to back to bed, with at least 4 naps during the day. Make sure you take your meds on time and dont' try to cut back until you're feeling a little better.

You'll get there.

[Hannamom]

Debbe is right! The breakthrough for my daughter was 3 1/2 weeks. It wasn't until 6 weeks out we made a trip to the diner.

John, sounds like you are having a very off day. Tomorrow will be better. Hang in there.

Ann

[JDM555]

Oh God the pain is insane. I can barely lie down. I tried standing and my back was soooo sore and stiffer than the first day of surgery. My hips/butt are also very very painful. I think it is from the shower yesterday. I might of vent in some bad ways and that caused my back to hurt this bad. I told my dad to get the slow release 12 hour medication which I forgot the name of. But hopefully something works. My head is going to explode no kidding horrible horrible headaches and I can't do anything to treat it. I hate my life right now.

[debbei]

Oh God the pain is insane. I can barely lie down. I tried standing and my back was soooo sore and stiffer than the first day of surgery. My hips/butt are also very very painful. I think it is from the shower yesterday. I might of vent in some bad ways and that caused my back to hurt this bad. I told my dad to get the slow release 12 hour medication which I forgot the name of. But hopefully something works. My head is going to explode no kidding horrible horrible headaches and I can't do anything to treat it. I hate my life right now.

Did the Dr. prescribe both the slow release 12 hour and the short acting medication? You'd probably do best to take them exactly as prescribed while your pain is this bad. I know that I needed it at first. I had 1 slow-release (long acting) every 12 hours, plus 2 short acting every 4 hours. If you're taking the meds as prescribed and the pain is still too bad, call the Dr. Maybe they can adjust something for you or switch to something else that might help.

Be careful with that bending; it's way too soon for that.

[JenniferG]

My meds were similar to Debbe's. Two 12 hour long acting Oxycontin, and four Endones (shorter acting) that is Endones every 6 hours. I combined them with Paracetamol, which the surgeon told me makes the drugs work in two separate ways.

And I also agree, the first 2-3 weeks are the worst. I shuddered when you said you were pushing out the meds from 4 hours to 7, it's too early John, and you need to keep ahead of that pain. Once your pain is under control, you will be able to lie comfortably in your bed and sleep, which is the most important thing right now.

This time won't go on forever, it won't be long before you're reporting on improvements, only a couple of weeks. Sleep through it as much as you can (get the pain back under control first) and the time will fly by.

[kt2009]

Definitely check with your doc about pain meds. I was a "clock watcher" for 4-6 weeks. I also wrote down everytime I took a dose (my memory was horrible)...but it's a good way to show your doc what is working and what isn't. I tried weaning at 2 1/2 weeks from 2 pills to 1 1/2 and even that was horrible. I went back to two pills and couldn't believe the difference. But one week later I was able to wean down.
I only slept on my back b/c I had a side incision. It wasn't easy, but it did keep me from twisting. I used all kinds of pillows to prop up my head, feet, shoulders...whatever felt good. not sure if it's too soon for a heating pad, but now at 4 months post-op I can't live without it!

[JDM555]

Guys you have to understand that todays pain is not from "weaning" off of pain meds. Two days ago I was feeling fine taking the meds and I dropped the oxycontin which is 20mg and used only oxycodon which was the 4 hour 10mg dosage. I felt fine for the whole day. No discomfort and I had no pain. This damn pain that is new is from my stupid shower last night. I'm pretty sure I was bending too much to grab the soap or change the water temp or w.e. But the pain feels likes its from that. Incredibly sore and that is what happens when you bend too much. Not because I weaned off the meds too early I could of stopped all the short acting oxycodone during the day and be able to handle the pain fine. I guess I need a couple of days with upped dosage for my stupid mistake in the shower.

[jrnyc]

O.K., then do it..do whatever you need to do for now..you probably over did it ...too much too soon...doenst sound like a shower would be so much...but it was!!!! so change the pain meds back to the way they were for now to handle this...then maybe go back to less if you can..i would follow the doctors orders for at least the first 2-3 weeks to the letter! just my opinion...but from everything everyone who has been thru this says, the first 2-3 weeks most patients want to kill their doctors...it takes a while for them to love their doctors! you are in the "kill him" phase...
why are you pushing yourself too fast??!! i think your EXPECTATIONS of yourself & healing are way too HIGH!!!!!

please, john..slow it down & humbly try to follow doctor's orders & stop cutting the pain meds back to below where they can help you!! the human body is frail at best...no matter how much time you spent in the gym...your whole body was just traumatized! give it a break!!

jess

please...

[JDM555]

Again, you're still not getting the picture. I am not cutting back on medication, I just happened to not get the prescription from walgreens for the slow release when I was discharged from the hospital. I lived on the 4 hour fast reacting meds and sometimes (NOT because I wanted to "wean" off the drugs") I would take it at hour 6 or 7. I would be sleeping or I wouldn't have the pain meds or I wouldn't even be in pain. Trust me, I know what you guys think, I'm an arrogant little prick who thinks he can handle the surgery just cause I'm young and went to the gym, hell no. I'm not like that, I just did what my body tells me to do. I rarely was in pain, I wasn't even IN pain, I was just discomfortable. How do you think I was able to post updates daily while in the hospital? If I was in pain I wouldn't even hold the iPhone for more than 5 seconds let alone write out paragraphs of how I feel. The pain I had from last night till now is new, it's from the bending in the shower, I promise you guys it's not from meds. I did return to full meds because of the pain. I will be on it for 2 weeks for sure, but Just remember, it's NOT because I tried to get off them and ended up in pain, it's the damn bending that ruined my recovery. My back is stiff as a board, if I didn't take pain meds, I would still be able to move as I use to, it just would be that my pain is higher, right? Well I'm a lot stiffer cause of the stupid bending I did. I bent a lot now that I remember, I felt fine then, but now I understand how stupid of a mistake that was. Hopefully I will return to just 4 hour pills or just rely on 12 hour short release because with both, I throw up anything I eat.

My mom just made me a nice steak/veggie/rice meal and she said you HAVE to eat and I'm like I don't feel like it on all this meds, but she forced me. And not even 30 seconds after eating it, it all came back out. My freakin' $150 medication 12 hour long lasting probably came out too. YAY!

Anyways, my pain is kind of getting better than in the morning, I can walk a little better and sit up better. My headache is going away and I'm eating oranges now. I'm going to take my Multivitamin and Iron pill now. I will rest some more.


AGAIN! PAIN ISN'T FROM WEANING OFF MEDS, I NEVER DID WEAN OFF, I JUST DIDN'T GET THE MEDS ON TIME! PAIN IS FROM BENDING IN SHOWER!

Lol

[jrnyc]

O.K....i believe you...so sorry food is so difficult for you...hope your vitamin stuff is gentle, cause i know some can be very hard on the stomach...

hope you get someone to put a shelf up in the bathroom...no more bending!

jess

[titaniumed]

John

Don't bend over in the shower anymore. Surgery or not. LOL Get some soap on a rope.

Eating is important. Trust me, I lost my gall bladder because of not eating enough. Eat smaller amounts, more often. Get yourself some yogurt. Sliced roast beef is an easy way to get some protein.
Protein (whey) smoothies are great and good for you.If you need a recipe, let me know. Drink water, and make sure you don't get constipated.

Do you have foam on your bed? If not, I highly recommend it 2 inches thick. It doubled my sleep time.

This is a tough time.I know what your going through. My first 4-6 weeks were hell, period.

Keep daily notes on meds.

Hang in there. Take it real slow right now.

Ed