[earle58]

Originally Posted by Sehsun

Leslie,
WOW, 84 degrees - that is a very extreme case - I cannot believe how fast it progressed! The amount of correction that was done was wonderful! Glad to hear that your back is doing fine.

- Iris

omg, it was incredible, iris.
dr. k told me that at the rate i was slipping, i'd be totally crippled within one year.
in months time, i noticed my shoulders were uneven, as were my hips.
big protruded scapula.
no pain, but even i noticed the physical deformities.
and they decided against hardware when they saw the correction they could get w/o it.
(when i was a youngin', my back was very flexible. i could almost touch my head to my bum.)

anyways yeah, it was a pretty remarkable time in my life.
back in 1973, we were in the hospital for 5-6 months...
and bedbound in a full body cast, for 4-5 months- some even 6 mos.

it seems times have changed?

leslie

[Sehsun]

5-6 months, wow.....and a body cast for almost that amount of time!

I agree that times certainly have changed! One can get scoliosis surgery with just a few "holes" in their back, instead of having a long scar down their spine. They can be out of the hospital a week after the procedure and be back to normal activities anywhere from 2-4 weeks post-op. Some may not even have to wear a brace afterwards.

Had to look most of this up at this website:

http://www.iscoliosis.com/treatment-surgical.html

Back in my brace-wearing days, I learned all I could about the surgery and was able to spout out facts about it, but I have forgotten a lot about it so I had to have a little help.

Thank you for sharing your story, Leslie.

- Iris

[Selke]

I had a 98 degree right thoracic curve that was straightened to about 30 degrees after weeks of halo-femoral traction, fusion (T6 to L3), and Harrington rod, then another year in a Risser body cast. earle58 and I were treated back in the dinosaur days .... The surgery did not take away the huge rib hump on my back or improve my respiratory function much. My shoulders and hips were even. Since then (1971) my curve has worsened to near 70 degrees, my shoulders and hips are not even, and I've developed pretty bad low back pain. I've seen one of the UCSF surgeons who wants to put off revision surgery as long as possible because the fusion will need to be extended upwards into my cervical vertebrae and my sacrum fused. This will disable me from nursing, that's for sure. He said he can reduce my rib hump and the correction might restore some of my height, but not much. I would be 5'11" if I had a straight spine. I'm 5'5" now.

[Sehsun]

Wow Selke, you have been through a lot. It is scary when scoliosis starts to affect your other organs. I know scoliosis usually does not cause pain (something that other people don't really understand), but when the degree of curvature is that severe, it will. I believe the pain is seen commonly in adults who were diagnosed when they were younger, but I'm sure some younger ones have pain too.

It's amazing how much one can grow when they have a severe curve and have surgery for it.

I hope that things go well for you with your spine.

[earle58]

Originally Posted by Selke

I had a 98 degree right thoracic curve that was straightened to about 30 degrees after weeks of halo-femoral traction, fusion (T6 to L3), and Harrington rod, then another year in a Risser body cast. earle58 and I were treated back in the dinosaur days .... The surgery did not take away the huge rib hump on my back or improve my respiratory function much. My shoulders and hips were even. Since then (1971) my curve has worsened to near 70 degrees, my shoulders and hips are not even, and I've developed pretty bad low back pain. I've seen one of the UCSF surgeons who wants to put off revision surgery as long as possible because the fusion will need to be extended upwards into my cervical vertebrae and my sacrum fused. This will disable me from nursing, that's for sure. He said he can reduce my rib hump and the correction might restore some of my height, but not much. I would be 5'11" if I had a straight spine. I'm 5'5" now.

i was in a room w/5 other scoli pts.
the ones who had a lower fusion, had casts that went down to their knees.
mine went from jaw down to pubis.
lower fusions, neck to knees.
i gained 4" in height...actually 4.5.

i'm so sorry that you're having trouble again, selke.
why does the spine continue to curve, despite a rod and fusion?

leslie