What's It Like To Have Scoliosis Surgery?

Question

I have scoliosis and I will need the surgery to straighten it because it's a really large curve. So I was wondering, for the people who've had the surgery, what it was like, and what it is like to have the rods in your back. What happened? I'm just curious because I don't know what to expect and what it will be like after with the rods. So if you could tell me, thank you. Oh, and just in case, no pictures!!! I'd rather not see anything!

Plus, I was wondering if your curve stops growing once you stop growing???

THANKS!!!!

Answer 1

You don't really notice the rods in your back.  Perhaps one pokes into the muscles next to my right shoulder blade.  Thats about it.

Your curve may or may not stop growing once you stop growing.  If your curve is greater than 30 degrees, it may slowly continue to get worse.  So if your curve is greater than 30 degrees and you can avoid surgery now, there's a good chance that you'll need surgery in 20 years or so.  None of these numbers should be considered accurate.

What's life like after surgery?  You can't bend the way you're used to.  After going to the bathroom, wiping is harder.  (That's one activity that you need to bend.)  You're likely to forget that you have to get into a car differently and bump your head.  You'll have to be smarter about the activities you do because you wouldn't want to fall hard or often because the chances of you braking your fusion increase.  You'll miss some of the things you used to do but shouldn't (like horse riding, skiing, sky diving, riding fast amusement park rides, etc.).

On the other hand, you should be out of pain, perhaps a bit taller, and able to get on with your life without always thinking about whether it will hurt too much or whether you'll get too tired.

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  

Answer 2

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). They prefer that you have had your period for two years before they do it to let you grow as much as you can, but my curve was getting too severe. 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. because my bottom curve was not completely stabilized.

There are risks with every surgery, even minor procedures (I'm an OR nurse now). You and your folks will have to make an informed decision about surgery. If your curve is severe and you are not corrected it can affect your ability to breath or carry a pregnancy.

On average, you'll be in the hospital 3-5 days, taking care of yourself in about 7-10, back driving in 4-6 weeks, weight restrictions for 6 mo. It takes about 6-12 mo. to completely recover.

Talk with your physician about this. He'll prescribe weight and activity restrictions based on how he is going to the surgery (posterior approach? trans-thoracic approach?) and your lifestyle (do you have to walk a lot at school/work? carry a heavy load? need to dive to work or school? etc.).

I'm as normally functioning as anyone (are any of us really "normal"?). I never got off schedule with school (had surgery over summer break). 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 :) I don't feel my rods, but my bottom curve does ache 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.

Are you being treated at a Shriner's Hospital/Clinic? Absolutely the best place for scoliosis patients under 21! If you are, ask the docs/nurses if they can arrange for you to visit/talk with other patients or people who will be involved in your care. Other places may do this too, but I think Shriner's goes above and beyond for their kids.

Answer 3

i had scoliosis repair when  i was 12....im now 20 years old....i have to tell you it was painful. every surgery is to some extent....if you have to get it done like i did then you dont realy worry bout the pain till after...i had 3 curves in my spine...i had scoliosis and kyphosis (think thas how you spell it) kyphosis is when you have a hunchback....i had to have what they call emergency surgery because my spine was turning at such a fast rate if i didnt have it soon my lungs would collapse...i dont know where your curves are in your back so therefore cannot determine if you actually are going to have rods...for me my curves were towards the middle of my back and they put kind of like lil brackets together with some pins and wires...therefore giving me SOME movement in the affected area. whenver the weather changes is the only time i actually notice having metal in my back....i still get a tinge of pain occasionally under my right shoulder...its almost like a pinching pain....but just to ease your  mind about the scar....when i first had my surgery the scar was dark and purple....about 2 years later and it was the same color as my skin....when they closed my back up they didnt put stitches or staples...they closed my back with a little glue and some steri strips....i took the steri strips off about 5 days after coming home from the hospital.....oh yeah i had to stay in the hospital for 5 days also.....hope this helped....if you need more info feel free to email me [e-mail]