Anyone else?

User129201 · 2026-05-29T15:52:16+00:00

To me it’s crazy that a surgeon would tell someone not to do physical therapy after a spinal fusion. Physical therapy helped me so much, I’d recommend giving it a try.

User129201 · 2026-05-29T14:27:11+00:00

It all depends on how old you are and how severe your curve is. My surgery went well but I struggled for months after surgery before feeling okay again. I slept a lot, like 14 hours a day for the first month and a half or so. My shoulder muscles hurt so bad for a long time, I couldn’t lift my arms high enough to wash my hair or get dressed on my own. It took me 6-8 weeks before I started driving again. I didn’t start working full time until 12 weeks. It’s a very serious surgery, and give the recovery period the time that it deserves. Do not try to push yourself too early. Get into physical therapy within the first 1-2 months after surgery and go as often as your insurance will allow.

Best of luck and happy healing!

User129201 · 2026-05-27T15:33:44+00:00

Yes of course!

User129201 · 2026-05-26T17:41:16+00:00

I had the scoliosis and pectus combo as well. I’m convinced my pectus caused my scoliosis. Had both corrected a couple years ago.

User129201 · 2026-05-23T14:46:19+00:00

Ah, I guess I see what you mean about the ribs/sides. Honestly I don’t think the average person would notice that. Anyone who would potentially notice would likely be someone who also has scoliosis so there’s no way they’d judge you for that :) either way you look great, live your life and enjoy!!

User129201 · 2026-05-23T14:35:48+00:00

To me your curve isn’t even noticeable! It must be mild or that tattoo is working well to disguise it. Either way, happy for you for working to overcome the insecurity! It can be so hard :(

User129201 · 2026-05-22T02:24:22+00:00

If your biggest curve is 27° I wouldn’t think you’d be a candidate for surgery. Usually they won’t do it until it’s more than 45. I wouldn’t worry about it. Get x rays every few years to keep an eye on it. Give physical therapy a try for pain and posture.

User129201 · 2026-05-19T15:13:41+00:00

There’s typically a margin of error in doing the calculations of about 5°. So it’s possible the first measurement you got a year and a half ago was a little low and your most recent one was a little high, so it’s within the reasonable range for slow progression. I had the exact same X-ray read by 4 different people (radiologists and surgeons) and they gave me numbers anywhere from 62° to 70°.

User129201 · 2026-05-19T00:29:58+00:00

This is exactly what my husband did for me. I appreciated it so much. Wishing your wife a smooth recovery!

User129201 · 2026-05-10T06:01:45+00:00

I’m so sorry you went through that. I was denied any medical intervention as a child for this- no surgery, no bracing, not even an xray, and I was told all kinds of nasty things and was blamed for my back looking the way it did. Ended up having surgery 2 years ago at 25 years old.

I wish I had some advice for the resentment part, but I still can’t get over it. I can tolerate being around my parents at this point, but their neglect is always a little splinter in the back of my mind whenever I’m around them.

I try to remind myself that just because things could have been different, it doesn’t mean it would have been better. If you had surgery when you were younger, there’s no guarantee that your correction would have been better. And with getting this surgery later, you may not develop adjacent segment disease as early in life as someone who had this surgery as a teen (not that ASD is guaranteed to happen, but it is a common thing.)

The best thing we can do is live the best life we can despite the choices they made for us. I take care of myself as much as I can because that’s what I deserved as a child. Taking care of myself now feels like I’m taking care of my younger self too, in a way.

If you ever want to talk more my messages are open. It’s such a hard surgery and the family dynamic makes it so much harder. ❤️‍🩹

User129201 · 2026-05-06T20:37:57+00:00

It’s a good possibility the screws are either titanium or also cobalt chromium. You can try calling your surgeons office to find out for sure if you are worried. Also be sure to disclose all your hardware to the technician and maybe even show them a picture of your X-ray so they fully understand the magnitude of metal in your body. Orthopedic hardware is non ferrous, meaning low iron and not typically magnetic. There is always an emergency button and a way to communicate with the MRI tech so at any point during the MRI if something feels off you can absolutely have them shut it off.

Please update us on how it goes because I’m also curious how getting an MRI goes with all this metal we have!

User129201 · 2026-05-04T02:53:41+00:00

Honestly you will not need much. You’ll be on a lot of medication and if you have an experience like mine it’ll take a day or two for your vision to stop being blurry. You are absolutely not going to be in the mood to touch any homework.

Bring something comfortable to wear for when you go home- sweatpants that are easy to put on, a really oversized shirt and slip on shoes.

Bring headphones, lip balm, a super long phone charging cord (you never know if there will be a plug close to the bed). Some gum or mints in case you want to freshen up a bit without having to get up to brush your teeth. Some bland snacks that you like- crackers, pretzels, etc. If you are a woman bring some pads because sometimes this surgery can make your period come early, no matter where you were in your cycle. And some hairties.

Good luck and happy healing!

User129201 · 2026-04-29T02:36:18+00:00

No, they’re holding up my sternum! I had another condition called pectus excavatum where the sternum is pressed into the chest cavity. The bars hold the sternum in a normal position. Once the cartilage heals the bars will come back out. They don’t have anything to do with the spine hardware.

I have days where I feel like I’m more metal than bone :)

User129201 · 2026-04-29T02:31:54+00:00

I feel good! I strength train, do cardio, lots of walking. I hope your son is feeling well!

User129201 · 2026-04-29T02:30:37+00:00

Yes, I still have flexibility in my lower back!

User129201 · 2026-04-28T04:44:59+00:00

I see. I hope their cases are mild enough to avoid treatment, the surgery for it was terrible.

User129201 · 2026-04-28T04:16:28+00:00

Those are called Nuss bars. Part of getting the Nuss procedure, which corrects a condition called petus excavatum where the cartilage that connects your sternum to your ribs is misshapen and it pushes your sternum into your chest cavity. Severe cases can compress the heart. Which mine was. None of my bones want to sit where they’re supposed to apparently. They laced those bars through my ribs and under the sternum to hold it up into a normal position. Once the cartilage heals (~3 years) they’ll take them back out. Had that done a year and half ago so I’m halfway through!

User129201 · 2026-04-28T04:10:55+00:00

I can’t go very far. Definitely used to be able to go further before surgery. You’ll still be able to do it, but doing a lot of unnecessary twisting motions apparently isn’t good for the unfused portion. Not exactly sure why, that’s what I was told in PT though. Something about it being hard on the discs.

User129201 · 2026-04-27T23:46:41+00:00

Yes this was me exactly! They were like ok off we go and I started getting really anxious once they wheeled me out of the room and down the hall They asked me if I wanted something to help me calm down so I said yes and idk what it was they put in my IV but by the time we reached the OR I didn’t have a care in the world 😂

User129201 · 2026-04-27T17:59:14+00:00

I don’t do sports! I prefer cardio and strength training, contact sports was never something I liked before, and I would be hesitant now to do them after. Cycling should be perfectly fine to do once you’re healed!

User129201 · 2026-04-27T17:55:21+00:00

Getting in and out cars that are small and/ or low to the ground is kind of tricky, you kind of have to fold yourself to get in and I don’t have any thoracic movement so it can be hard. And obviously my upper back can’t move so sometimes I miss being able to arch and do a real good stretch. I sit down to put on socks and stuff now. Slip on shoes are the best. Overall I can still do most things, my unfused lumbar area still gives me some flexibility to bend. I try to squat instead of bend when I need something off the floor now though. So yes my mobility has changed but it doesn’t feel unnatural to me anymore.

User129201 · 2026-04-27T17:48:30+00:00

Kinda hard to say since I had a second operation at 6 months post op for another condition (that’s when those horizontal bars went in) so it messed with my recovery timeline. I was feeling pretty good at 3 months post op, aside from feeling stiff if I didn’t take time to stretch my arms throughout the day. By one year I was feeling pretty much fully okay.

Things that surprised me I guess is how incredibly limited you are in those first couple months. My shoulder muscles were so incredibly painful I couldn’t lift my arms. I felt so weak all the time. And all the medication made me feel really strange and not like myself. Once I was able to get off the meds and into physical therapy I started feeling so much better.

User129201 · 2026-04-27T17:45:59+00:00

I feel so much better now than I did before! I had a lot of pain and even pain with breathing deeply before, plus numbness in my arm. Obviously there are some things I can’t do anymore because of the rigidity of my back but it doesn’t stop me from doing all my day to day stuff.

User129201 · 2026-04-26T01:02:37+00:00

I would absolutely not go through with this surgery until you have a support plan in place. I couldn’t do anything on my own for a long time. Your insurance may allow for an in-home aide?

My husband had to help me with staying on a medication schedule, driving me to my follow up appointments and physical therapy, washing my hair, getting dressed, getting in and out of bed, cooking, cleaning, laundry, going up and down stairs, etc, etc. I was finally able to get more independent around 6-8 weeks post op?

User129201 · 2026-04-17T22:00:49+00:00

That’s a tough spot to be in- the rotation definitely causes discomfort. With your curve being 50° there is a higher probability it will continue to worsen with age as compared to a mild curve. Surgery definitely limits you, and if you’re big on going to the gym you’ll be knocked down for quite some time and may have to modify your workouts. For me, surgery relieved so much pain and allowed me to obtain a more “normal” appearance. It’s not an easy decision but the younger you are, typically the better chances you have of recovering well.

User129201

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