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Answers about Controversial Trends in Spine Care
Spine Health | Last Active: Jan 16, 2023 | Replies (35)Comment receiving replies
@stpchair Thank you. I'm glad I could help. I'm glad you are a healthy 73 year old so you must have made some good choices along the way! I am in my 60's and my surgery was a cervical fusion, and even with that, I needed help. I couldn't drive and was in a neck brace 3 months because I wanted a fusion without hardware which was a good choice for me. Scoliosis surgery would be a much more extensive surgery than mine, and you will need help during recovery. I'm glad you are independent and my 91 year old mom is also "independent" but needs help from family to get groceries and meds and for rides to her medical appointments. She does have osteoporosis and just had a compression fracture in her spine and is now in rehab until the end of this week. I am hoping she will be able to return to living with minimal help at home. She has some things that help like a floor to ceiling pole with "S" curves in it that she can hold when getting in and out of bed, and a special shower chair on wheels. Do you have family that can help you? You need someone to be with you for any surgery too because you will need help. I hadn't read all the discussion about mattresses, but since it was related to scoliosis, I thought it may help. I've never tried a Sleep Number bed, but yowza....5 grand? I'm still sleeping using extra pillows for support where I need it. What was the minimally invasive procedure that you didn't do years ago? Did your scoliosis progress after that?
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i appreciate the advice. I live alone and have no one who can help me. No family are close enough geographically or have the ability to take time off to help. My Mom is almost 95 and is in Independent living in a senior living community where I used to work--but, like yours, I take her to doctor appointments and help her shop, set up her pillbox, etc. She's not totally independent. This surgery will present a lot of unique challenges I haven't faced before, including not being able to help my Mom nor take her out weekly. Where did you get that S-shaped pole you mentioned? That sounds great! As long as I've been in the business, i've never seen one of those nor a shower chair with wheels. The shower chair with wheels, I'm afraid, would be seen as dangerous in the senior living industry... I suppose they lock in place, however.
The minimally invasive scoliosis procedure involves two much smaller incisions: one on the back and one on the side. The recovery period is much shorter and it's much less invasive overall, as you can imagine. I so wish I'd known about it and hadn't just left the decision up to my doctor. He really thought he was giving me the correct advice since it's a relationship of about 20 years now. i have images that go back years but I haven't asked for a comparison to see how my curves have progressed over the years. i know now mine are at 68 and 42 degrees. It's definitely in the severe category. I had to quit working because of the pain. My lowest ribs are inside my pelvic girdle and they cause me a huge amount of pain and discomfort when leaning or lifting. I can't wait for them to be lifted out of there in surgery.
I hope to hear from others who are post-op or longer to find out what life is like with rods, pins and screws, basically the length of my spine. I will have several lumbar and thoracic fusions.