My journey with a T11 to L4 spinal fusion - 40 degree scoliosis curve

Hello! This is the beginning of My Journal, through my journey, to have a spinal fusion surgery that will take place on December 11, 2024 at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona.
This is my quick intro and I will add to it as the days go by.
In December 2023 after a 31 year career of firefighting and a lifetime of riding horses, I finally went to my doctor and told her that I could not handle my back pain anymore and that I need to figure out what was going on with it!!!
After x-rays, an MRI, and a CT scan, I was diagnosed with a 40 degree scoliosis curvature of my spine.
Looking at the images, made it very clear to me where my pain originated. I consulted with a surgeon at UC Davis in California and was scheduled for a T10 to L4 fusion surgery on October 1, 2024.
I research and pray about everything. This brought me to the Mayo Clinic. I reached out to the Phoenix clinic and sent them my imagery and medical files and they called me the following week and said that a surgeon had accepted me as his patient.
Their soonest evaluation appointment was a month after my scheduled surgery at UC Davis so I canceled that surgery and then met with the surgeon at the Mayo Clinic.
The surgeon was kind and attentive and very articulate as to my situation and what he thought would be best as far as correcting my curve and relieving my pain.
I left his office excited and hopeful at a future with less pain, with a surgery date scheduled for December 11, 2024 for a minimally invasive spinal fusion that would be, at the most, a T11 to L4 fusion. The minimally invasive surgery would take much longer than the open surgery, but would not do as much damage to my body and would most likely not require a blood transfusion and would quite possibly create less pain and a quicker healing time.
I am a single mom with a young daughter. We live on 5 acres with three horses, three dogs, four cats, ten chickens and two fish.
I have a list that I am working on every single day to get things in order for my surgery. My parents live on my property with us. My mom will take care of my daughter throughout my healing. One of my sisters is flying with me to Arizona, and I am prepared for us to stay in the hospital for a few days and then in a hotel for a few days to heal enough to fly home.
I am now almost 3 weeks away from surgery. I am planning to take a carry-on and a personal item. I have front button up and snap up shirts, lightweight clothing and everything else that I can think to pack to get me through the first week of surgery.
I have a room reserved at the Sleep Inn that is 4 miles away from the Phoenix Mayo Clinic. I also have a reservation at the Help in Healing Home that is on the 8 acre Phoenix, Mayo Clinic property. There are pros and cons to each facility. The sleep in provides a free shuttle on every half hour, but does not have a recliner in the room. The help and healing home, which is only $50 a night, is walking distance from the hospital but requires you to have a rental car and you share the kitchen, living room, pantry, and library with five other rooms.
The Sleep Inn has nice amenities and was the most affordable hotel that I found. After weighing out the pros and cons of having Uber, drop us off the airport versus being in pain and having to deal with returning around car, I am choosing to stay at the Sleep Inn.
This is my first entry on my journey and I am going to call it a night. I would love to hear anyone’s feedback, ideas, tips to help me and others navigate through this process. It’s scary and yet I am so hopeful. Thank you so much!

I’m not sure why Dr Orisek didn’t treat the Thoracic Spine or go up further because there is a severe curve and rotation in my Thoracic Spine. Fortunately, I have a appointment with Dr Orisek tomorrow for my Cervical Spine. He replaced a disc in C5-C6 If for some reason Dr Orisek can’t do a fusion from T 11 to L3 I will be contacting Dr. McClendon at The Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. Was this your Surgeon Dr. Jamal McClendon Jr, MD? The bone growth stimulator looked like a steering wheel for a race car video game. you put it on with a belt around your waist with the steering wheel on your back. There is one on Ebay now "Bone Fusing Growth Therapy" and yes Dr Orisek had film and said the fusion went well. You had a 40° curve in your thoracic and lumbar spine, correct? The T11 to L4 was enough to correct that 40° curve and rotation? If I could get just the fusion from T11 to L2 as I have already had L3 L4 & L4 L5 fusion I would be so grateful.
Thank You for your comments and input, it is very much appreciated.

Hello Sherry. I hope your procedure went very well. I had my spinal fusion way back when scoliosis was a new disease and testing in middle school was new. I was 14 when it was discovered I had a quickly progressing S curve from lower cervical to mid lumbar regions. They pulled me out of school to do the surgery asap. I was in the hospital sedated 7 days then a body cast and 7 more days. The cast was from my chin to my hips and weighed 40 lbs. After 5 months, the cast was changed to an under arm to hip cast. I was active and ignored the doctor's warnings to never sleep on a water bed and other silly things. The only things I have found difficult with an 18" rod in the middle of my back is doing a summersault or cartwheel and squeezing into small areas. Now that I am MANY years older, I find my spine above and below have taken the brunt of my activities and require some TLC. It never stopped me from playing broomball with a cast on, horseback riding, dog wrestling as a vet tech, having children, and all activities of daily living. I mostly forget that I have impeccable posture until someone comments on it or asks about my scar.
Live your life to the fullest and God bless, Tanya

@rwdixon4 Hey Bob, I’m sorry for late response! Life has been busy lately.
How did your appointment go with Dr. Orisek?
Yes, my surgeon was Jamal McClendon. He is the director of neurosurgery at the Phoenix, Mayo Clinic. He’s absolutely amazing and you can Google him and see different topics that he speaks on at symposiums.
I did not have a spine rotation, but I apparently had slight kyphosis which is an arch in my spine.
My scoliosis curve was mostly in my lumbar and very slightly into thoracic, which resulted in my T11 to L4 fusion.
The surgery went very well and my back is pretty much almost perfectly straight. I love that I can go to 4H meetings and other events they require a lot of standing and sitting and not be in pain! Tomorrow I am 7 months post surgery. I still have some superficial skin nerve pain across my back and also some deeper post surgery pain, but it tends to happen towards the end of the day. It’s been a long and slow recovery, but I would not have made any other decision. I am in so much less pain now than I was before surgery.
As you know if you do a t11 to l2 it will almost tie you into your pelvis after what you’ve had done your lower lumbar to this point.
Sending prayers to you to the best decision for your body to heal! 😊🥰

Hi Sherri,
This sums it up for my last appointment's with Dr Orisek ! He is a great surgeon and I like him as a person. He sent me out to get an x-ray of my thoracic and lumbar spine in March. I got that and I’m always told to bring the disc back with me. I don’t know why because it takes two months to get an appointment with him and the films are all available to him online way before that! Anyway, two months later when I got into see him, he asked me to go get the same x-ray only laying down another month and a half goes by. I get in to see him in July and he tells me he’s got to get a hold of the rep from Medtronic and makes me an appointment to come back in six weeks ! ! !
I’ve had enough, I don't feel I have another 6 weeks. I called Mayo Phoenix somebody there called up to neurosurgery when she came back on the phone she said they had my file, but they had not reviewed it and gave me their direct # told me to call them the following day and they will probably have an answer for me. She gave me a heads up, they’re extremely busy and they’re booked out for quite some time!!!

~They called me the next day ~

IVE GOT AN APPOINTMENT FOR EVALUATION WITH DR CHANDAN KRISHNA !!!!!

I am so much looking forward to going to Mayo Clinic Phoenix in September ! ! !

Thank you for all your suggestions and encouragement and most of all Your Prayers ! ! !

Sincerely,
Bob

Hello Sherry,
I am glad that you are doing well!😊🙏❤️

I know you were very happy with Dr. McClendon. Did you have idiopathic scoliosis appearing in your adolescence or was it adult scoliosis? If it was idiopathic, do you have a Harrington Rod?

Do you know whom a prospective patient could call to learn more about Dr. McClendon's experience? In particular about whether he has operated on very many patients with Harrington Rods due to idiopathic Scoliosis?

Thank you! I am thinking about Cori.
Best Wishes,
Nadine

Hello Sherry. I hope your procedure went very well. I had my spinal fusion way back when scoliosis was a new disease and testing in middle school was new. I was 14 when it was discovered I had a quickly progressing S curve from lower cervical to mid lumbar regions. They pulled me out of school to do the surgery asap. I was in the hospital sedated 7 days then a body cast and 7 more days. The cast was from my chin to my hips and weighed 40 lbs. After 5 months, the cast was changed to an under arm to hip cast. I was active and ignored the doctor's warnings to never sleep on a water bed and other silly things. The only things I have found difficult with an 18" rod in the middle of my back is doing a summersault or cartwheel and squeezing into small areas. Now that I am MANY years older, I find my spine above and below have taken the brunt of my activities and require some TLC. It never stopped me from playing broomball with a cast on, horseback riding, dog wrestling as a vet tech, having children, and all activities of daily living. I mostly forget that I have impeccable posture until someone comments on it or asks about my scar.
Live your life to the fullest and God bless, Tanya