Any one on here got Scoliosis, Or had the operation to correct it?

Question

Just wondering :)

Answer 1

I just had scoliosis surgery August 11th.

I'm still very sore, and I need to go rest soon but if you want to email me, email me at paige.pagnotta@yaho..com

Answer 2

my friend had it. It is not fun. you cant do a lot really. it hurts to just walk a block.

Answer 3

Many people here have scoliosis and many have had it corrected.

I've posted the following a few times for other people with questions. I hope I'll answer the things that have you concerned.

Let me talk about the hospital stay.

You'll have meds to help with the pain. You'll start out with stronger meds and then wean yourself from them over time. So, yes, it does hurt, but you shouldn't be left hurting.

The size of your scar depends on how many vertebrae need fusing and the technique used to do the fusion. A four-level fusion will have a smaller scar than a 12-level fusion. Some surgeries (probably not yours) need both anterior and posterior (A/P, or front and back). Lastly, some people may be candidates for "minimally invasive" techniques. So, this is a hard question to answer without knowing more about your situation.

Your hospital stay will probably be between four and seven days. Teens typically heal quicker than adults and so their hospital stay is less.

As for what they do, each case is different. Here's one possible scenerio. Its incomplete as I'm describing things pretty quickly. The amount of time spent doing things will probably differ. Maybe even the order that things are done will differ. But it will give you kind of an idea of what happens. Just take it with a grain of salt.

You'll arrive at the hospital early to check in. You'll change into your gown and get an IV hooked up. You will talk to your nurse(s) and perhaps a couple of other staff members. You'll then get put to sleep (injected through the IV that you had put in earlier). The operation then happens. You'll wake up, probably in the ICU, but possibly in your hospital room. Probably on the first or second day after surgery, you'll be shown how to sit and then stand. You'll be able to take walks up and down the hallway but you'll tire quickly. Your IV will be removed in a couple of days as will the catheter you've had in you since the surgery. You'll be allowed to go home once your stomach starts rumbling, you're eating, and going to the bathroom. When you are in the hospital, your scar will be checked by a doctor each day.

You will feel like a truck ran you over for the first couple of days. Once your body starts to recover, you'll feel better.

When you wake up from surgery, your bed will have a machine that gives measured doses of pain meds (morphine or something as effective). You're self-medicating, so if you're hurting, just hit a button. The machine won't let you overdose yourself, though.

You'll be weaned off of the meds from the machine and given oxycontin (or the like). This is what you'll be taking for the first few weeks you're at home.

Bottom line is that you'll be hurting, but you'll be given pain meds to take care of the pain. They'll do the job for you.

It still takes two months to be doing basic things. You'll be cleared to do more things at six months. At one year, you'll be able to do about anything you could do before the surgery. Take it easy. This is major surgery. It takes a while for the spine to fuse.

There's a couple of things, off-topic, that will make life easier for you.

o Make sure you has a robe in case you gets up in the middle of the night when the house is colder. The surgery may mess up your body's temperature control.

o Get a toilet seat extender so that you don't have to squat as far. These also have handles and certainly made my life a lot easier. Since your chest muscles are fine, you'll be able to use them to raise and lower yourself.

o It might be nice to get a "grabber" which will help you pick things up from the floor.

o You may or may not have a walker when you get home from the hospital (probably not, but...). I did and discovered that I had to meneuver through the bathroom door sideways because the walker was too wide. This works, but it may be a bit more difficult.

o You will be sleeping an awful lot. This is a combination of your body needing rest and the pain meds knocking you out. Expect it.

o When I was in my bed, my wife made kind of a "nest" with pillows so I wouldn't roll out. I don't normally roll but I think it made both of us feel better. You might want to do the same.

o It will be helpful to sit in a chair with arms when you're having his meals and is sitting at the dining room table. Since your chest muscles are fine, you'll be able to use them to raise and lower yourself.

Please email me if you have questions.

Answer 4

I had it due to another condition which i already have which causes me to have weak muscles called Spinal Muscular Atrophy. My spine started to curve when i was around four years old and got much worse, i ended up with my spine shaped like an "S". When i was 7, i had growing rods inserted which was an 8 hour operation. After that i had to have my rods lengthened every 6 months until i was 14, when i reached my full length and started my periods. When i was 14 i had my spine fused, this was a 12 hour operation where they take the growing rods out and put a new rod in which will stay in forever, the bone from my spine then grows around the rod which makes it more stable. My spine is now straight and i can now sit straight in my wheelchair without needing cushions to support me :D

Answer 5

Yes to both. : )

If you have scoliosis, you should probably talk to your doctor, but here's what happened to me:

When I was eight, they found it during a physical. The top curve was 47 degrees and the bottom curve was 53 degrees. The normal cutoff for surgery is thirty degrees.

I wore a back brace for four years, got incredibly depressed, and had the surgery when I was twelve (seventh grade). I woke up in the children's ICU and was on pain meds, which stopped working after three hours because I adjust to drugs very quickly. (Probably won't happen to you if you end up getting it.) Got into physical therapy and out of gym for a year (one good thing about that!). Cured my depression in eighth grade with no pills or therapists. (NOT a recommended treatment, trust me,)

Answer 6

Yes to both parts of your question.  Not sure what info you're looking for, so I'll keep it short...

In 1984, I was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was 12 during one of those junior high screenings. I was very scared at first, but got in with a good group of doctors at Shriner's Hospital and they put me so at ease. I wore a Wilmington brace from under my arms to just over my hips for 10 mo., then had surgery shortly before I turned 14 (1985). My top curve was fused using stainless steel Harrington rods and bone chips from my hip. I had to go back into a brace about a year after my surgery for 10 mos. until my bottom curve was completely stabilized.

I'm as normally functioning as anyone (are any of us really "normal"?). I never got off schedule with school. Graduated college at 20 and have been an OR nurse for 16 years, one of the most physically demanding areas of nursing (lots of lifting and lots of standing in one place for long periods). I've had 2 children without difficulty (didn't even use an epidural). I love to travel (I don't set off metal detectors), yoga (though the fusion prevents some positions), and SCUBA dive. I can pretty much do anything I want...but don't tell my husband I use the scoliosis to get out of vacuuming :) My bottom curve aches now and then, I'm supposed to take 1-2 Alleve at bed time, but us nurses are awful patients, so I don't do it regularly.

Answer 7

I have it, but i never had it corrected.  The docs said it wasnt bad enough to go through any surgery.  i wish i had had it fixed though, because now my body looks asymetrical.  on of my hips is bigger than they other.