Scoliosis surgery

I was wondering if anyone on here had spinal fusion surgery for scoliosis and if you did could you please share your experience, recover,etc? My daughter was diagnosed at 8 and it looks like she is now on her way to surgery which I am terrified about. She had brain surgery 2 years ago and recovered well but I was told this surgery makes the brain surgery seem minor! Thanks for any help!

Re: Scoliosis surgery

yes--when i was 18, was i was fused from t5-l3. just last year i had l5/s1 fused. i will send you a detailed fm later tonight or tomorrow.

for now, i will say my surgery at 18 was much harder on my parents than on me.

Re: Scoliosis surgery

I was diagnosed with scoliosis at 14 and wore a brace at first which was miserable and I pretty much refused to continue wearing after about 3 months. Then when I was 25 (6 years ago) I had a spinal fusion. My surgeon was Dr. Mermelstein and he performed the surgery at Huntington Hospital. I loved him and loved the hospital.

I was older than the usual patient who gets this procedure done so my experience will be slightly different than someone who gets it done at a younger age (younger people heal MUCH faster than old farts like me - which is what my doctor jokingly told me)

The surgery was 10 hours long and I spend the 2 days after the surgery in a step down room. I went from a 60 degree curve to a 20 degree which was a HUGE improvement. I spent 10 days in the hospital and left with a prescription for diluadid. After the surgery, the lower curve straightened itself out over time since it didn't have to compensate for the upper. I am fused from T2 to T10. I was told my recovery would be 6-8 weeks but I was back at work in 4.

Right after the surgery I had never felt anything as horrible as the pain I was experiencing. It was THE WORST. I was always uncomfortable and would just cry randomly because 1. I was so loaded up on painkillers and completely out of it and 2. because it really did freakin hurt! But that being said I did have a rod and 12 screws inserted in to my spine so it was to be expected. That level of pain had subsided by day 4-5 in the hopital, then I was just in moderate to severe pain. By the time I was ready to go home things were sore, hurt if I tried to move too much/ too suddenly. Getting comfortable was IMPOSSIBLE. Sleeping, sitting, walking all hurt. When I first got home I couldn't walk up/down stairs and raising my arms was physically impossible. I showered sitting down and my mom had to wash my hair (we won't talk about what my legs looked like). But every day it got a little better. By the end of the week I was taking stairs and getting around much better on my own. The swelling started going down and I could raise my arms a little more. By the 4th week I was still stiff but pretty much doing everything on my own again.

To this day I can still tell it's there. Every now and then my neck/upper back will feel strained and I'll have to stretch. If I exercise a lot or do lots of walking I'll notice my back will hurt and I can't carry a bag on my shoulder for extended periods of time. (Which my doc said obviously isn't really good for anyone) I stayed away from massages for the longest time because I was afraid they would do something to hurt me but they have been my best friend lately. But the days of mild discomfort are few and far between. 99% of the time I feel perfectly fine, there is just a weird presence back there, if that makes any sense but I would do it all over again. The random stiff days are a hell of a lot better than what would have happened had I just continued to let the curve progress on it's own.

Your daughter will be uncomfortable and in pain at first but even though she is young I think if you and the doctor explain to her what could happen if left untreated she will understand why it needs to be done. To this day I'll see little old ladies completely hunched over and think that could have been me in 40 years and know I made the right choice. Pain is temporary and the xrays make for interesting conversation.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you or your daughter have any questions!

Re: Scoliosis surgery

It sounds like your family is in a stressful position. What type of scoliosis does your daughter have and what kind of treatment has she had for it? If you would like to avoid surgery, I would definitely exhaust all non-invasive treatments first. Take a look at CLEAR Institute before scheduling surgery. Best of luck!