Connect
← Return to Has anyone had scoliosis surgery?
Discussion
Has anyone had scoliosis surgery?
Spine Health | Last Active: Nov 14, 2023 | Replies (36)Comment receiving replies
Hi, again, Jennifer,
My 1st surgery was in CA in 2008, when he put in the rod. That surgery was actually a 2-day surgery. They kept me kind of semi-comatose between surgeries, until time for the 2nd round the next day. What real trip that was!
Anyway, I’ve had a total of seven, altogether. My last
Was in 2021, when my neurosurgeon fused my L5, thinking that may’ve been the source of my pain, but turned out it wasn’t. I still had the same old pain which I have today. I’ve also had many injections over the years, none of which have done anything. I also have a spinal cord stimulator. I was very excited to get this contraption, as I’d heard it was just fantastic. Well, again, nothing. I was diligent about keeping it charged, but, frankly, the whole ordeal was all for nothing. Very depressing, indeed, so I just gave up.
You’re probably right about needing another surgery. Maybe I should just try to get used to that possibility, instead of being in denial. I just am hopeful I won’t need it. As far as the hardware maybe being the cause of my pain, we’ll, your guess is as good as mine. Who knows the answer, except the Lord above.
I’m so glad I stumbled upon this site, where I can express my feelings, as well as learn from others. Very satisfying, indeed, to know I’m not the only one who’s been thru hell and back!
That’s funny about you not recognizing Dr. Fogelson because he’d grown a beard. Same thing happened to me when I (finally) saw my Rheumatologist. He’d grown a beard, and when I saw him, I was thinking, “Wow - who’s this guy? My appointment was with Dr Meyerholtz”. During the appointment, I finally figured out this guy WAS Dr Meyerholtz! Too funny. He said he’d had the beard five years, but I knew it hadn’t been THAT long since I’d seen him, so one of us was wrong, and I don’t think it was me! Lol.
It’s just wonderful you can still paint - truly a blessing! You’re very talented, and that too, is a blessing. My only talent is lifting weights- LOL. Not sure if that’d be considered a “talent,” but I’ll claim it as one anyway!
BTW, another woman here said Mayo had told her the same thing about not being seen until December, but then they called her to say they’d had a cancellation. If. I remember correctly, it was for spinal problems, so, who knows? Maybe the same opportunity will present itself to me too!
Take care and keep painting!
Karen
Replies to "Hi, again, Jennifer, My 1st surgery was in CA in 2008, when he put in the..."
Connect
@wascaly
Karen, I have no idea on if you would be offered surgery. They may not want to put you through another big surgery if there isn't something to change that could improve the situation. That is for the surgeon to think about. I think it is a standard question they ask and I knew there was no way out of my predicament without it, and that was the first time I was asked that ahead of a spine consult. Was your last surgery fusing L5 to S1? I can only imagine you've been through many revisions since 2008 and that was a lot of time recovering. Was that because things were changing or were there hardware problems? I know if pedicle screws are not placed at the correct angles, they can pull out and loosen the rods and there is a lot of pressure at the base of the spine on the hardware. Are you unhappy with the surgeon from your last procedure or does he not have a solution for the problems? Is your spine currently in an unusual curvature and were you looking for a better correction? Is your bone density good? I know you have a lot of pain and said you can only sit on the couch when previously you were able to use an exercise bike. Do you think it could be your hip causing this? I know alignment between the pelvis and spine and hips is really important and can be a source of pain if something is off. Sometimes they fuse SI joints if there is laxity. I do know someone who had that done after lumbar spine surgery and it didn't really help. She is in pain and rests a lot. I have some laxity in my SI joint that tends to move my left "hip bone" the illium forward and that does create some back pain when it happens, but when I work on the tight hip flexor muscles that are causing it and get it back where it belongs, it stops the pain, but I also have not had lumbar spine surgrey. Do you think a physical therapist could help improve things? What are you hoping for in seeking care at Mayo? (they will ask that too I'm sure.)
You're right, I do need to keep painting and I haven't been doing enough of that lately.
Jennifer