Re:Contemplating Surgery for my Scoliosis

[Guest guest]

Daws,

I had the surgery at age 11 & the following 20 years

were 'normal.' One would never have been able to tell

from my dancing, roller-coaster riding, hiking,

bicycling, swimming, sex life, etc. that I had a rod

in my back. What limited back flexibility I had was

only seen as good posture. I was even a dancer who

went to regular dance clubs when bands were performing

& danced (with my boyfriend)on the pedestals, etc to

get the rest of the crowd up on the floor. I gained 4 "

on the operating table. I still had a prominent rib

hump, but with my style of dress & long hair, you

couldn't tell it unless you hugged me.

75 degrees thoracic is a pretty prominent curve, so I

think it's good to be considering your options. Do you

have an S curve? I'm not quite clear on your lumbar

description and your addressing just the thoracic

curve. What is your age?

Also, I've had 13 surgeries in my life. 2 heart

surgeries prior to the back surgery and the remaining

surgeries followed once I was grown for various issues

like gastro, hernia, etc., so they were in no way

related to or caused by the scoliosis or its surgery.

The rod has not affected any other medical procedures

I've ever had done-except for making a small portion

of the MRI unreadable. Many ppl think you can't have

an MRI-you can, but sometimes the hardware will make

parts undetectable. You don't attract lightning &

don't make metal detectors buzz at the airport. You

can still have ultrasound heat treatments & diagnostic

procedures. Those are the only issues that come to

mind at the moment.

My curve was 77+ at time of surgery & was corrected to

52. I led a very active life until a car accident in

97 which made everything turn a 180. If I hadn't had

the surgery, my curve would've progressed rapidly (as

it already was doing), & would've continued to crush

my right lung & cause me to look like I was bent to

the right. Yes, there are complications, but there are

with any surgery. One must evaluate the pros & cons to

determine if it is the right thing for you at this

time. If it is not right now, that doesn't mean it

won't be right later and vice versa. I wish you much

success. ~Moonbeam

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

Never miss a thing. Make your home page.

http://www./r/hs

[Guest guest]

Yeah it's pretty S'y. I wish I could figure out out to pull the images

off this cd they gave me... I'm 27 now. It's good to hear a successful

stroy with no problems. I often worry that these groups attract the

possibly rare people who have something gone wrong to complain about,

thus giving a disproportionate picture.

What was the nature of your correction, that is, do you remember where

in the spine they straightened/put in rods? And what was your curvatures?

>

> Daws,

> I had the surgery at age 11 & the following 20 years

> were 'normal.' One would never have been able to tell

> from my dancing, roller-coaster riding, hiking,

> bicycling, swimming, sex life, etc. that I had a rod

> in my back. What limited back flexibility I had was

> only seen as good posture. I was even a dancer who

> went to regular dance clubs when bands were performing

> & danced (with my boyfriend)on the pedestals, etc to

> get the rest of the crowd up on the floor. I gained 4 "

> on the operating table. I still had a prominent rib

> hump, but with my style of dress & long hair, you

> couldn't tell it unless you hugged me.

>

> 75 degrees thoracic is a pretty prominent curve, so I

> think it's good to be considering your options. Do you

> have an S curve? I'm not quite clear on your lumbar

> description and your addressing just the thoracic

> curve. What is your age?

>

> Also, I've had 13 surgeries in my life. 2 heart

> surgeries prior to the back surgery and the remaining

> surgeries followed once I was grown for various issues

> like gastro, hernia, etc., so they were in no way

> related to or caused by the scoliosis or its surgery.

> The rod has not affected any other medical procedures

> I've ever had done-except for making a small portion

> of the MRI unreadable. Many ppl think you can't have

> an MRI-you can, but sometimes the hardware will make

> parts undetectable. You don't attract lightning &

> don't make metal detectors buzz at the airport. You

> can still have ultrasound heat treatments & diagnostic

> procedures. Those are the only issues that come to

> mind at the moment.

>

> My curve was 77+ at time of surgery & was corrected to

> 52. I led a very active life until a car accident in

> 97 which made everything turn a 180. If I hadn't had

> the surgery, my curve would've progressed rapidly (as

> it already was doing), & would've continued to crush

> my right lung & cause me to look like I was bent to

> the right. Yes, there are complications, but there are

> with any surgery. One must evaluate the pros & cons to

> determine if it is the right thing for you at this

> time. If it is not right now, that doesn't mean it

> won't be right later and vice versa. I wish you much

> success. ~Moonbeam

>

>

>

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

> Never miss a thing. Make your home page.

> http://www./r/hs

>

[Guest guest]

Daws,

I had a thoracic C curve to the right at 77+ degrees

(the last month I went without my brace & it increased

into the 80s, but I'm not sure of the exact degree, I

just remember clearly the point at which they decided

to operate). I had a Harrington rod inserted & was

fused from T3-L1. My curve was only reduced to 52

degrees because they were concerned about

paralyzation. I have a very long straight scar down

the middle of my back & one about 4 " -5 " across on my

right hip due to the bone used to fuse the graft.

I was originally diagnosed at age 7 & wore the

milwaukee brace 23 hours a day from ages 7-11. After

the surgery I was in bed for a month & then wore a

cast for a year, but they don't do that anymore. This

was back in 1977. That's about all of the

particulars.

You are wise to do your research. And it is more

common for ppl posting to any health related site to

post with problems. One doesn't usually go on & on

about what a nice healthy life they are living...it's

when there are problems that that happens. I have my

share of those, but I did well for a very long time.

~Moonbeam

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