Re: 2nd Revision

[Guest guest]

Honestly, I wasn't angry either, but my mother blamed alternately the

doctor or me, and that was tuff. Re:Ed: Of course we will! And I will

be curious about others answer about the recovery post-#2 revision.

Take care, Marty

" thegouldianlady2004 " <alpine@...> wrote:

My husband is really angry with Dr. LaGrone. I'm curiouis, would any

of you be angry with the doctor? For some reason I'm not angry with

him. ... Would you pray for my husband Ed?

Those of you who've had a second revision, were you as sore and worn

out as the first time around? How long were you in the hospital? How

long was your surgery? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for listening. Alpine

[Guest guest]

Alpine...I wonder if the problem is that your husband somehow thought there was a guarantee that the revision surgery would be the absolute solution. I'd be really surprised if Dr. LaGrone didn't tell you that there were no guarantees. As I'm sure you know by now, this is a very complex surgery, and no one treatment works for everyone. It would be really nice if the solution were black and white, but that's just not the case in medicine.The good news is that it seems to me that recovery from subsequent revision surgeries is usually MUCH easier. I hope that yours is so.Regards, [ ] 2nd Revision

Wow, what a gambet of emotions this is. I've been up since 1:00 am. I

was unable to sleep, so I got up and started puttering around the

house. I'm exhausted! I can't believe this is happening. My husband

is really angry with Dr. LaGrone. I'm curiouis, would any of you be

angry with the doctor? For some reason I'm not angry with him. My

husband and I are both grieving. Unfortuately I'm not able to carry my

husbands burden as my burden is so heavy. Would you pray for my

husband Ed?

Those of you who've had a second revision, were you as sore and worn

out as the first time around? How long were you in the hospital? How

long was your surgery? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for listening.

Alpine

[Guest guest]

Hi Alpine,

I'm so sorry to hear that you're going to have to go through it again, and so soon. I wanted to address your question about anger though.

To this day, although it is no longer the corrosive and consuming rage it used to be, I am absolutely furious with my original surgeon. My surgery was in 1994, with segmental hardware, and he knew all about flatback syndrome yet failed to do any pre-operative side view xrays to check what lordosis I had already and thus how to balance it adequately, and did not do any post-operative sagittal xrays either until my discharge nearly 2 years after the original surgery - at which point although the kyphosis he created was clearly visible, he just told me to go off and live my life.

By 1999, I was starting to be in serious trouble with pain and searching for answers and it took me until 2002 to get the revision surgery. I found a great surgeon (largely thanks to Dr Hu actually!) and like so many of us by that point it was the choice of give up having any vague semblance of life, or have the surgery (original fusion T10-L2, new fusion T3-L4 with massive osteotomy @ L2). I haven't the immediate problems that you have - I recovered slowly but well, and 10 months after was in the best shape I'd been in in years. Unfortunately since then I've developed increasing problems with stenosis and facet arthritis (which I'm sure was kicked off by the stresses of the flatback), and am well on my way to the next surgery to decompress and take the fusion to the sacrum. Before the revision surgery, I was really scared of not being fused to the sacrum and getting it all over and done with, and even when things were going well afterward, that fear never left. Funnily enough the discs are still intact and it's a different problem forcing the issue this time. Some of my family are very angry that this has happened when there had been the option of doing everything in one go to avoid the need for future surgery, but I'm not. Sometimes things go wrong, or change/deteriorate faster than expected, not everything can be accounted for. I know my surgeon did his best for me, and I have confidence that although things have changed and there are new problems, nevertheless they'll be easier to fix and I've got great hope that this time around - when it happens - it'll be a long term fix. I just have abominable luck - if things are going to happen, it's likely to be to me *lol* So this, I'm not holding against anyone any more than I held the lazy leg that followed revision against my surgeon. The complexity of the surgery just means that some people will have to have more than one go through.

I do remember being very scared before the revision - it seemed as though everything hinged on " when you're fixed " - when you're fixed, we'll do this, we'll do that, we'll go there. Of course I hoped for that degree of fix, but knowing the possibility of complications, it was very uncomfortable feeling that everyone's hopes were pinned so thoroughly on a perfect result. Like you, I didn't have the strength to carry my husband's burden as well as my own, and the only way he was able to carry his was by clinging to the idea of perfection. With as slowly as I recovered initially that put an enormous strain on him, and I do suspect that if I'd had earlier problems he would have been similarly angry. I know that combined with the other stresses we had at the time, it took so much out of him that it's only now, 4 years later, that he's actually *ready* for me to have another surgery and perhaps amusingly is currently more eager for me to get it over and done with than I am! I'm sure a lot of your husband's anger is related to feeling so helpless and I'd guess he'll deal just get on and deal with it once the reality is actually here with you.

I'm sorry about the length of that ramble, but I just wanted to say I don't think it's odd not to hold that anger. It's also perhaps a self-protection mechanism - anger takes a lot of energy, and that energy is better used to get you through the situation. In any case, I hope you can get things sorted nice and soon, and that the recovery this time around is that much faster and easier.

titch-- The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it's just sort of a tired feeling - a Poundstone

[Guest guest]

Dear Alpine,

As I said I have been through a second revision. Right now both of you are in the " Shock" stage, for me that lasted about a day, ( I tend to accept that for me, things don't always go smoothly). Then for me, was lets get a plan developed and fix this thing. My need for a second revision just wasn't something I could put in the lap of my doc, just an unlucky event, cracking my Harrington Rod fusion mass, a part of my spine they didn't touch during my revision. Needing a second revision did turn our lives upside down, because we were to leave Denver and move to California, we had given notice on our rented house, had a moving company set up etc. There was no way I was moving to California with that over my head and try to find a new doc out there. So all was stopped and we stayed, our Landlord was glad to keep us. So it did cause a fair bit of uproar in our home. I just look at things differently, this happened for a reason, something I had to learn from it, and learn I did. I really don't think I would have had the overwhelming feeling of just what a gift it is to be better without that challenge. It changed me profoundly, going through a serious challenge made me a more caring compassionate person, something I was of need of in my life. Would I have liked to have learned it another way, sure, but this was how it came to me.

The second surgery was posterior only, they removed all my hardware from the first revision( my Harrington Rod was completely removed during a previous Decompression Surgery), did an osteotomy above L-3, installed all new Stainless steel Hardware, and fused up from T-5 to T-1. I was glad they didn't have to go in anteriorly again, they could reach everything from the back due the rotation my spine has. Was it easier, in some ways yes, and others no. I think the healing part is easier since you know what to expect and when. I had a horrible time with the Fentanyl patches, vomitting and constipation, while they gave me excellent pain control, they wreaked havioc with my bowels and stomach. Ended up in the emergency room twice for I.V. fluids while on the patch, they even thought it was my Gall Bladder, not fun. I got off them at about the one month timeframe, and it took a week for everything to resolve. I lost a ton of weight, about 40 pounds, needed but not that way!

I was in the hospital a week, same as the first. My surgery was ten plus hours, Kumar doesn't stage his surgeries unless the blood loss is too bad. It sucked, and was tough, but I got through it. I know I really appreciate my outcome and I'm glad I opted to get it done. Dr. O'brien, the second surgeon who worked with Kumar on me told me I could wait, and not do it right away, and deal with my pain from falling over to the right with pain management till I was ready, and I said a big " No " to that. I hate how med's make me feel, and couldn't imagine doing that for a prolonged time when a surgical fix was possible. So I went ahead with the surgery, and after the surgical pain was gone, was painfree at about the three month mark, and still am. My first revison was January of 02, and my second was Dec of 02. I also had a Decompression surgery in Dec of 00, so I had all three in two calendar years. I will say that the decompression and Harrington Rod removal was much more painful than either revision. So for me it just wasn't two BIG surgeries but three , all fairly close.

My husband wasn't mad at Kumar or O'Brien, just a freak thing that happened. He did jokingly say to them that maybe a structional engineer should look at their plans, HAHA.It was all a blur, and went fast, had to deal with a move and job stuff that didn't come off, and at the same time my daughter was diagnosised with Scoliosis, so we were also seeing how her " C" type curve was progressing. So in the scheme of things while hard, I actually was more worried about her than me. ( We have followed her curve for years, she was braced, and has finished growing, and ended up at 28 degrees, and it looks like we made it through, but she does have quite the rib hump). I just got through it, just had to, I wanted to be better, and I got my wish, and I'm SOOOOO thankful for it.

Colorado Springs

[ ] 2nd Revision

Wow, what a gambet of emotions this is. I've been up since 1:00 am. I was unable to sleep, so I got up and started puttering around the house. I'm exhausted! I can't believe this is happening. My husband is really angry with Dr. LaGrone. I'm curiouis, would any of you be angry with the doctor? For some reason I'm not angry with him. My husband and I are both grieving. Unfortuately I'm not able to carry my husbands burden as my burden is so heavy. Would you pray for my husband Ed? Those of you who've had a second revision, were you as sore and worn out as the first time around? How long were you in the hospital? How long was your surgery? I would love to hear your thoughts.Thanks for listening.Alpine

[Guest guest]

, Another great post. I am amazed at those members that have gone

thru' so much and still are here to encourage and support others.

Thanks... Marty

<.Kirkaldie@...> wrote: Dear Alpine, As I said I have been

through a second revision. ... Needing a second revision did turn our

lives upside down... It changed me profoundly, going through a serious

challenge made me a more caring compassionate person, something I was

of need of in my life. Would I have liked to have learned it another

way, sure, but this was how it came to me.

.... I will say that the decompression and Harrington Rod removal was

much more painful than either revision. So for me it just wasn't two

BIG surgeries but three , all fairly close. My husband ... did

jokingly say to them that maybe a structional engineer should look at

their plans, HAHA.... I just got through it, just had to, I wanted to

be better, and I got my wish, and I'm SOOOOO thankful for it.

Colorado Springs

[Guest guest]

Thanks - I really needed that pep talk. Your so right, I have to think positively if I expect a positive outcome. I know that to be true, I just have to talk myself into it. I guess the doubt comes from expecting to be straight after the first surgery and it not being so.

Even with dealing with a bad outcome, I always knew that I would try again if I could find a surgeon that I felt could do the job. Anyway, thanks again - it feels good to know that I'm not the first to experience a second revision and that you're all behind me!!

Elaine

[Guest guest]

Thank you for your concern, - I know I talked with you about being upright again and I think you had some concerns a while back. If I have the right person, I hope you have resolved the problem. I have done what I think is a thorough check on my doctor and I am satisfied with his professional status as a surgeon. He comes with good references from other patients. I guess the problem with my confidence lies with expecting to be better the first revision surgery and it not happening. I just have to think positively and expect a good outcome and work with my surgeon. Thanks again, Elaine