Feisty Flatback Group

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I appreciate the interest in my group. My name is Rasche

(Eliana Refaya), and I am still the group owner. I recently

enlisted some volunteer help with this forum and was fortunate to get

some -- so Blackledge comoderates the group and pinch-hits when

necessary, which I appreciate. The Feisty group is specifically for

adults who have flatback or other problems associated with previous

scoliosis surgery.

My professional background is primarily in medical writing. I have

written a number of medical news stories and features, most for a

readership of health care professionals, for publications such as the

Journal of the American Medical Association, Medical World News, and

the New York State Journal of Medicine. More recently I obtained a

law degree, was admitted to the bar, and have focused more on

medicolegally oriented articles.

I myself had a first fusion at age 13 (T5-12) and a follow-up fusion

for scoliotic deterioration in my late thirties. The second fusion

involved installation of a Harrington rod extending to L-3. There

were some late modifications to the Harrington procedure in use by

this time, so my surgery also entailed the use of Moe hooks and

sublaminar wiring.

Over a period of years, I developed flatback syndrome which

ultimately became severely deforming and totally disabling. About

one year ago, I underwent two revision procedures one week apart (a

total of about 16 hours of surgery) to restore sagittal balance. The

results have been outstanding, and people continue to congratulate me

on the outcome (which is visually quite obvious, especially to anyone

who saw me before I got " fixed " ). In my experience so far, post-op

recovery continues for quite some time after a revision. It may be a

bit slow, at least at my age (53), but it seems steady, and life

continues to improve.

I welcome anyone who might be interested to join the " Feisty " folks.

We are at " " with all the other " groups " including this one.