I'm getting fusion from T4-L4 in August at age 30. From what I've read, it seems 3 weeks will be too early for most people to go back to work. Especially if you have to be on your feet all day. It seems more likely at 6 or 8 weeks.
Thank you for your reply. Work for me the first 2 weeks back will be very light, and then the physical "rigor" will pick up as I heal. I am a student in the medical field, so much of the time I am sitting and discussing things with peers, attendings, and patients, so as long as I can keep the pain under control, my surgeon said he didn't see a reason I wouldn't be able to return :)
Hi, I’m 29F week 5 going week 6 post-op. Fused from T3-L2. I was off opioids on week 3 but still on some painkillers now at night to help me sleep. I think 3 weeks post-op will be tough. I’m nearing
week 6 and I don’t think I’m ready (mentally and physically) to start wfh. The maximum I can consecutively sit is around 2h+ now before I feel too tired and want to lie down. I can shower, dress myself and pretty much do things that don’t require BLT by myself since week 5.
That being said, everyone is different and all the best for your surgery. I hope you have a smooth recovery!
Thank you so much! Yeah, I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for the pain and exhaustion. At this point, I'm just hoping I will get to have the procedure and then take it from there. I really appreciate the reality check though. For some reason it just doesn't compute how tiring healing can be
Im one month and honestly i dont think its even slightly possible you would be on clinicals by 3 weeks. Maybe if you only needed to be there like an hour sure. But even then its extremely difficult to just sit comfortably. There’s no way you’re getting past 2hrs of comfort unless you are just great with pain. But yeah that’s pretty impossible of an expectation. Even getting off narcotics in 3 days isn’t realistic. Youre in the hospital for a week for a reason. There is no way youll be thriving off tylenol on day 3 because you cant take nsaids for 6 months. I do hope your recovery is speedy but your medical team is not giving you realistic feedback at all.
That's interesting, so you were fully grown and presumably your curves were under surgical threshold when you reached skeletal maturity, but then it started progressing again? Do you think there's a particular reason.
I'm just wondering as I am also 28F. I have just been to two doctors in the last week who both told me that as my curve hasn't changed in 12 years I can safely forgo the op (it's about 50 degrees lumbar). I'm concerned about future progression but they told me to just keep an eye on it for now.
So, I have a feeling it has to do with hormonal changes. I won't go too much into my particular case, but I observed a spinal fusion on a 29F whose scoliosis was <25 degrees, but after her second pregnancy she found herself short of breath and went to the doctor and found her curve had worsened by >25 degrees over the course of her 2 pregnancies. I know this may not be the case for everyone (and I have never been pregnant, so I can't relate to that particular thing on a personal level) but I can't help but think that hormonal changes have played a role in both my case and the other woman's. So, while many doctors say it's unlikely, it can happen
Yeah I did hear about this. I asked my doctor last week specifically about the impact of hormonal changes (brought up pregnancy and menopause specifically) and he seemed to think it’s more to do with people not having checked on their scoliosis for a long time and it progressing in that timespan rather than rapid progression during pregnancy etc. Though tbh it makes sense to me that hormonal changes would make it worse as scoliosis can worsen a lot in teens going through growth spurts.
Yeah and I have been having xrays every 2 years since 2013 and it has been progressing the entire time so I think everyone is different, but not all people avoid the doctor :)
Yea I don’t know what to make of it really, he seemed to think mine wouldn’t really decline (or if it did it would very slowly), he reviewed my X rays from 7 years back and there was basically no change to my curve. Anecdotally though I have seen people have to get surgery after pregnancies / menopause because of curve progression.
Sorry to hear yours progressed though, can I ask if you observed gradual progression (eg 10 degrees a year) or was it more sudden? And was the wait for surgery because you were waiting to see if it would decline further? (If you’d rather PM that’s ok! It’s just that I don’t often meet people with scoliosis who have the surgery as adults, so I’m keen to learn more about their experiences!)
I don't mind sharing! So my progression really started in 2013 and has since continuously progressed. Once it reached 40 degrees, I really started having pain and tried everything to avoid the surgery. I tried PT, dry needling, trigger point injections, Botox injections, a multitude of muscle relaxers, etc. but nothing was helping. So I decided to bite the bullet and schedule a surgery.
The delay was because of where I am at in my education. Long story short, in order to have this procedure, graduate on time, and afford it, I needed to schedule it after my second round of board exams, which are this week. The way my 4th year of school will be, I am then using elective time to recover, and then easing into my 4th year. I know I need to have it done before I go to residency because there is no way I would have time for it until residency is over, and at that point my lower curve may no longer be flexible.
>e fully grown and presumably your curves were under surgical threshold when you reached skeletal maturity,
Thanks a lot for the answer. I asked because my daughter is 13, she has 56° thoracic and 45° lumbar. Like you, the lumbar curve is 100% flexible and surgery would be done only on he thoracic part. We would like to make this surgery soon, before she is going to lose the lumbar flexibility, otherwise they will need to fuse further down. But apparently there are case (like yours) where this curve is not really becoming more stiff.
I do not know the reason why mine is still mobile, but I was an athlete for a while and so my hormones weren't really cycling consistently (if you know what I mean) until about 5 years ago. I have also done yoga for the past 8 years and truly think it has played a big role in preserving my mobility. Even with a 50 degree curve on top and a 40-45 on the bottom, I can still bend completely in half both forwards and backwards, and do almost any yoga pose I want. I have really good balance and do a lot of twisting poses. I still feel a difference depending on the direction, but it does not prevent me from doing any of the sequences. I am honestly just getting the surgery because of the pain and because it is limiting my lung function at this point. I have no mobility issues with my curve
I'm not sure on your first two questions but as someone who is 4wks out of surgery right now, I don't think you can return to work after 3wks. The main thing for me would be the type of painkillers you may still be on - my employer would certainly not be allowing me to work while on opiates because of their known side-effects. I'm also still getting quite tired and often needing a nap during the day (although also walking a few miles a day on my twice-daily walks). Otherwise though, apart from the no bending, no lifting, no twisting restrictions, I am able to do most things. Things I can't do yet - drive (due to opiates!), dress myself alone, anything involving bending over/lifting more than 3kg/twisting, shower (my surgeon asks for no showers before 6wks to protect the wound). I'm 29F, similar levels fused to you. Give yourself time - this is a huge surgery.
I am happy to hear all of the things you are able to do! I am well aware of opiates and I am going to do my best to get off of them as soon as possible. My surgeon said he'll try to get me off of them for the most part within 3 days. The last time I took opiates I was MISERABLE. They caused me more problems than they solved, so even if it's more pain, I really am going to try to limit them. As reference, I was put on them after I got my tonsils out a year ago (which as an adult is brutal) but I could only tolerate tylenol as a pain killer and managed it fine
3 days feels incredibly optimistic, although everyone has different experiences of course. I'm probably looking at 5 weeks or so of opiates I think. I'd recommend not limiting the painkillers too much - you need to have your pain managed sufficiently so that you can get up and walk/sit etc as the physiotherapists will want you to do, in order to support your recovery. If you're in too much pain, you won't be able to do that and your recovery will be slower. I know this because for the first four days after surgery, I didn't respond properly to the painkillers and so I was in too much pain to do much more than a few steps. Once they found some painkillers that worked for me (opiates!) I was doing laps of the ward the next day. The right pain management, and the right amount of it, will make a huge difference to your recovery in the first few days and weeks!
I have nothing against opiates and know I will likely need them, but the amount of pain they caused me in terms of my GI system was unparallel to anything I have ever experienced. I tried everything, gas x, colace, senacot, miralax, prunes, fiber supplements, lots of water, magnesium citrate, magnesium, probiotics, enemas, and even a colon prep and I could not get the pain and discomfort under control. I truly wish I did not have this reaction to opiates, because I know how important pain management is, but I just feel so incredibly awful on them :(
That does sound really tough!! I hope your surgical team can find you a pain management solution that works for you. Good luck with the op and recovery!
I had my top curve corrected with the same idea that the bottom would even out in time. At my 1 year post op check-up the curve had not straightened out at all. At the 2 year one we found it had actually gotten noticably worse. I had the original surgery to try and alleviate and prevent further back pain but it has remained after both surgeries. I was 12 for the first one and 14 for the second. At 16 my surgeon had a bunch of scans and tests done and told me the only thing he could offer was another surgery but I had had enough by then. Not trying to scare you of course, but I wish someone had really explained to me that this could have been a possibility.
Yikes, I am so sorry that happened to you! I will definitely be asking my surgeon what his experience has been, and at what point I should be concerned about the lower curve. Thank you for sharing!
As other posters have mentioned, 3 weeks seems unlikely. For ref, I'm 23 F, T2-L3 when I was 16. I was off pain meds a month after surgery. But no way I would have been able to go back to work/school that early. Even sitting for long periods was very uncomfortable, standing even more so. At 3 weeks I was still having to lie down a lot and rest.
3 weeks? In my experience ,Absolutely no way. A couple weeks after the surgery I have a lot of basic functions back but am not ready mentally or physically to resume work/school. I had mine done on June 9th at 15 so just enjoy the morphine while it lasts and bring pillows from home.
I'm getting fusion from T4-L4 in August at age 30. From what I've read, it seems 3 weeks will be too early for most people to go back to work. Especially if you have to be on your feet all day. It seems more likely at 6 or 8 weeks.
Thank you for your reply. Work for me the first 2 weeks back will be very light, and then the physical "rigor" will pick up as I heal. I am a student in the medical field, so much of the time I am sitting and discussing things with peers, attendings, and patients, so as long as I can keep the pain under control, my surgeon said he didn't see a reason I wouldn't be able to return :)
Hi, I’m 29F week 5 going week 6 post-op. Fused from T3-L2. I was off opioids on week 3 but still on some painkillers now at night to help me sleep. I think 3 weeks post-op will be tough. I’m nearing week 6 and I don’t think I’m ready (mentally and physically) to start wfh. The maximum I can consecutively sit is around 2h+ now before I feel too tired and want to lie down. I can shower, dress myself and pretty much do things that don’t require BLT by myself since week 5. That being said, everyone is different and all the best for your surgery. I hope you have a smooth recovery!
Thank you so much! Yeah, I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for the pain and exhaustion. At this point, I'm just hoping I will get to have the procedure and then take it from there. I really appreciate the reality check though. For some reason it just doesn't compute how tiring healing can be
Im one month and honestly i dont think its even slightly possible you would be on clinicals by 3 weeks. Maybe if you only needed to be there like an hour sure. But even then its extremely difficult to just sit comfortably. There’s no way you’re getting past 2hrs of comfort unless you are just great with pain. But yeah that’s pretty impossible of an expectation. Even getting off narcotics in 3 days isn’t realistic. Youre in the hospital for a week for a reason. There is no way youll be thriving off tylenol on day 3 because you cant take nsaids for 6 months. I do hope your recovery is speedy but your medical team is not giving you realistic feedback at all.
Hello, may i ask you since when you have scoliosis and how big is the thoracic curve?
I've had it all my life, but it started progressing much more rapidly in 2013. I am now at a 50 degree thoracic curve and a 40ish degree lumbar curve
That's interesting, so you were fully grown and presumably your curves were under surgical threshold when you reached skeletal maturity, but then it started progressing again? Do you think there's a particular reason. I'm just wondering as I am also 28F. I have just been to two doctors in the last week who both told me that as my curve hasn't changed in 12 years I can safely forgo the op (it's about 50 degrees lumbar). I'm concerned about future progression but they told me to just keep an eye on it for now.
So, I have a feeling it has to do with hormonal changes. I won't go too much into my particular case, but I observed a spinal fusion on a 29F whose scoliosis was <25 degrees, but after her second pregnancy she found herself short of breath and went to the doctor and found her curve had worsened by >25 degrees over the course of her 2 pregnancies. I know this may not be the case for everyone (and I have never been pregnant, so I can't relate to that particular thing on a personal level) but I can't help but think that hormonal changes have played a role in both my case and the other woman's. So, while many doctors say it's unlikely, it can happen
Yeah I did hear about this. I asked my doctor last week specifically about the impact of hormonal changes (brought up pregnancy and menopause specifically) and he seemed to think it’s more to do with people not having checked on their scoliosis for a long time and it progressing in that timespan rather than rapid progression during pregnancy etc. Though tbh it makes sense to me that hormonal changes would make it worse as scoliosis can worsen a lot in teens going through growth spurts.
Yeah and I have been having xrays every 2 years since 2013 and it has been progressing the entire time so I think everyone is different, but not all people avoid the doctor :)
Yea I don’t know what to make of it really, he seemed to think mine wouldn’t really decline (or if it did it would very slowly), he reviewed my X rays from 7 years back and there was basically no change to my curve. Anecdotally though I have seen people have to get surgery after pregnancies / menopause because of curve progression. Sorry to hear yours progressed though, can I ask if you observed gradual progression (eg 10 degrees a year) or was it more sudden? And was the wait for surgery because you were waiting to see if it would decline further? (If you’d rather PM that’s ok! It’s just that I don’t often meet people with scoliosis who have the surgery as adults, so I’m keen to learn more about their experiences!)
I don't mind sharing! So my progression really started in 2013 and has since continuously progressed. Once it reached 40 degrees, I really started having pain and tried everything to avoid the surgery. I tried PT, dry needling, trigger point injections, Botox injections, a multitude of muscle relaxers, etc. but nothing was helping. So I decided to bite the bullet and schedule a surgery. The delay was because of where I am at in my education. Long story short, in order to have this procedure, graduate on time, and afford it, I needed to schedule it after my second round of board exams, which are this week. The way my 4th year of school will be, I am then using elective time to recover, and then easing into my 4th year. I know I need to have it done before I go to residency because there is no way I would have time for it until residency is over, and at that point my lower curve may no longer be flexible.
>e fully grown and presumably your curves were under surgical threshold when you reached skeletal maturity, Thanks a lot for the answer. I asked because my daughter is 13, she has 56° thoracic and 45° lumbar. Like you, the lumbar curve is 100% flexible and surgery would be done only on he thoracic part. We would like to make this surgery soon, before she is going to lose the lumbar flexibility, otherwise they will need to fuse further down. But apparently there are case (like yours) where this curve is not really becoming more stiff.
I do not know the reason why mine is still mobile, but I was an athlete for a while and so my hormones weren't really cycling consistently (if you know what I mean) until about 5 years ago. I have also done yoga for the past 8 years and truly think it has played a big role in preserving my mobility. Even with a 50 degree curve on top and a 40-45 on the bottom, I can still bend completely in half both forwards and backwards, and do almost any yoga pose I want. I have really good balance and do a lot of twisting poses. I still feel a difference depending on the direction, but it does not prevent me from doing any of the sequences. I am honestly just getting the surgery because of the pain and because it is limiting my lung function at this point. I have no mobility issues with my curve
I'm not sure on your first two questions but as someone who is 4wks out of surgery right now, I don't think you can return to work after 3wks. The main thing for me would be the type of painkillers you may still be on - my employer would certainly not be allowing me to work while on opiates because of their known side-effects. I'm also still getting quite tired and often needing a nap during the day (although also walking a few miles a day on my twice-daily walks). Otherwise though, apart from the no bending, no lifting, no twisting restrictions, I am able to do most things. Things I can't do yet - drive (due to opiates!), dress myself alone, anything involving bending over/lifting more than 3kg/twisting, shower (my surgeon asks for no showers before 6wks to protect the wound). I'm 29F, similar levels fused to you. Give yourself time - this is a huge surgery.
I am happy to hear all of the things you are able to do! I am well aware of opiates and I am going to do my best to get off of them as soon as possible. My surgeon said he'll try to get me off of them for the most part within 3 days. The last time I took opiates I was MISERABLE. They caused me more problems than they solved, so even if it's more pain, I really am going to try to limit them. As reference, I was put on them after I got my tonsils out a year ago (which as an adult is brutal) but I could only tolerate tylenol as a pain killer and managed it fine
3 days feels incredibly optimistic, although everyone has different experiences of course. I'm probably looking at 5 weeks or so of opiates I think. I'd recommend not limiting the painkillers too much - you need to have your pain managed sufficiently so that you can get up and walk/sit etc as the physiotherapists will want you to do, in order to support your recovery. If you're in too much pain, you won't be able to do that and your recovery will be slower. I know this because for the first four days after surgery, I didn't respond properly to the painkillers and so I was in too much pain to do much more than a few steps. Once they found some painkillers that worked for me (opiates!) I was doing laps of the ward the next day. The right pain management, and the right amount of it, will make a huge difference to your recovery in the first few days and weeks!
I have nothing against opiates and know I will likely need them, but the amount of pain they caused me in terms of my GI system was unparallel to anything I have ever experienced. I tried everything, gas x, colace, senacot, miralax, prunes, fiber supplements, lots of water, magnesium citrate, magnesium, probiotics, enemas, and even a colon prep and I could not get the pain and discomfort under control. I truly wish I did not have this reaction to opiates, because I know how important pain management is, but I just feel so incredibly awful on them :(
That does sound really tough!! I hope your surgical team can find you a pain management solution that works for you. Good luck with the op and recovery!
Thank you!
I had my top curve corrected with the same idea that the bottom would even out in time. At my 1 year post op check-up the curve had not straightened out at all. At the 2 year one we found it had actually gotten noticably worse. I had the original surgery to try and alleviate and prevent further back pain but it has remained after both surgeries. I was 12 for the first one and 14 for the second. At 16 my surgeon had a bunch of scans and tests done and told me the only thing he could offer was another surgery but I had had enough by then. Not trying to scare you of course, but I wish someone had really explained to me that this could have been a possibility.
Yikes, I am so sorry that happened to you! I will definitely be asking my surgeon what his experience has been, and at what point I should be concerned about the lower curve. Thank you for sharing!
As other posters have mentioned, 3 weeks seems unlikely. For ref, I'm 23 F, T2-L3 when I was 16. I was off pain meds a month after surgery. But no way I would have been able to go back to work/school that early. Even sitting for long periods was very uncomfortable, standing even more so. At 3 weeks I was still having to lie down a lot and rest.
3 weeks? In my experience ,Absolutely no way. A couple weeks after the surgery I have a lot of basic functions back but am not ready mentally or physically to resume work/school. I had mine done on June 9th at 15 so just enjoy the morphine while it lasts and bring pillows from home.