New here

[alikat]

Hi all I am a 32 year old female -I am new to this forum - I was born with an S shape scoliois - I am about to under go surgery for the first time to correct it - I am looking for anyone who can help me - I need to know what will happen before and after the surgery - how long is the recovery - I will be having the surgery done at the new yorl hospital for joint disease - it is one of the best hospitals in the city for this - if anyone here can ease my nerves that would be great - looking forward to hearing from you all soon

[LindaRacine]

Hi... and welcome...

If you read through the messages, you'll find lots of people's experiences. Your best bet might be to start by doing a Search here in the Forums for your surgeon's name. You can also post your surgeon's name to see if anyone responds. I'd also encourage you to get the names and phone numbers from your surgeon, for at least 2-3 patients who had similar curves, and whom he performed surgery. They're really the best ones to tell you what you might expect.

Regards,
Linda

[sweetness514]

Hi Alikat,

I don't think all your questions about recovery time and concerns pre and post op can be answered, since any back operation is complex and everybody is different when it comes to pain management, and body types. I often read posts about people saying that this type of exercise has helped them, and therefore it should help most everybody, well that is simply not true. Just like any illness or disease, we all respond differently and our pain thresholds are different. I would suggest reading David K. Wolpert's Scoliosis surgery-The Definitive Patient's Reference. He covers everything in it. I think he hits the nail on the head when he says that some people can need assistance for two weeks post op where others six months. It's really personal, and many things come to play like physical stamina, strenght, build, overall health and complications. Just like scoliosis is not that painful for everybody, surgery doesn't take away everybody's pains, again it's different for everybody.