Today is 2 years since my daughter had severe scoliosis surgery, which essentially consists of a whole new back.
Middle and high school was rough. The scoliosis was so bad one shoulder blade was quite lower than the other. She was obviously hunched to one side. She wore large t shirts every day. She wore two, $3,500 braces to try to stop the curve from getting worse. These braces are awful and can only be taken off 2hrs a day. It’s basically like a tourniquet that Velcro was in the back making it need someone to help take it off, yep even to pee at school.
Surgery was 9 hours. The worry and anxiety waiting in the lobby of the hospital was awful. They did call every 1.5hrs to update us. My husband was allowed to wait with me. COVID had hit hard and the rule was just 1 person allowed to wait inside the hospital but they made an exception for us.
The braces didn’t stop the the curve and the curve got to 63degrees. At 80degress it can crush organs. Surgery was the only option. The left x-ray pic was taken a bit before surgery so the curve was worse at time of surgery. Right hand pic was a few days after surgery.
Recovery was AWFUL! My kid is quite a strong willed kid. Even the nurses and doctors in the hospital said she’s a 10 for recovery. However, home without pain meds dripping in your veins changes everything. The pain meds they gave us pill form just aren’t the same. Recovery went well and on point but seeing her in so much pain was so hard. I didn’t sleep for a week. She just needed something like every hour. One day crying she said “I wish I stayed curvy mom.” She fainted in my arms once from pain as well.
On the bright side, 2 years later she’s doing great! Her confidence is back and she was so happy for little things like to see her belly button lining up to the button on her jeans now! Once you have scoliosis, you always do. We stopped the curve but with having a metal back comes with some achy times, especially in the colder months.
But, the worst is behind her. She’s in college and taking on the world! 😃❤️💪 I couldn’t be more proud.
Littleredhead 
Oh my goodness. I remember this so well! Time flies way too fast!
I am SO glad she is doing well with her “new back”!
She is a resilient young woman, a great trait to have!
I have a mild case of scoliosis, and it makes my back hurt, so I can’t imagine having as much as she did!
xo
Wendy
Hi Wendy!! Thanks so much! She really is doing great! I remember you saying you have a mild case of it, I hope it doesn’t cause you too many aches and pains. Good thing you dress warm on your winter walks! 😁
Before surgery she couldn’t even go shopping with her friends or walk at the park as it would hurt too bad and she didn’t want to low them down. So happy to see her enjoying life and being happy! I hope you had a great day today and thanks so much for commenting! 😍❤️
Oh Jackie! I am so sorry for all that your daughter had to endure – and you, your husband, and other daughter of course! Nine hours surgery would be horrific. So glad that she is doing better and has moved onto more positive challenges these days. 💞💞
Thanks so much Anne! Hubby reminded me and said remember Jackie it was supposed to take 9hrs but ended up 11hr surgery. I had forgotten. The last 2 hours were full of worry. Hard on everyone but things are doing great now so we know we made the right decision. 😃 We had a great surgeon as well thankfully!
It is amazing what we get through! I’m sure those last two hours were pure hell but it is funny how when we look back at such times it is ‘WTF! That was too unreal to happen – BUT it did’. I truly believe it all does serve a purpose in the overall scheme of things but it takes a long time to see the whole picture. 😉. I am glad you had a great surgeon! 👍💞
I’m so glad to have you a a friend, Anne! This whole procedure of all these rods put in her back is done with the assistance of a programmed laser. They embarked on a change in bone density in the top of her back. Doctor said he couldn’t put the rod where the laser said to go so he had to program the machine to where it needed to go. ( Well actually tell the programmer where he needed to direct the laser ) He said if it went originally where the laser said, a couple years later she would need to have it repaired. Very thankful!
I am so glad to have you as a friend as well, Jackie. It is amazing how good a fit the three of us are. On the surface, it wouldn’t seem that we could find any common ground. OMG that surgery sounds just brutal! I can’t imagine the pain that poor girl went through – or you for sharing it with her. It’s funny how we have all survived some brutal shit but I can’t imagine going through what you and Dwight have been through and I am darn sure neither of you would want to have gone through mine. It seems we are all ready to take whatever life throws at us – the good and the 😱.
Oh wow!! What an awful unfair saga for your family! I feel like I’ve “known” you for so long but I guess it hasn’t yet been 2 years. So happy to hear she was able to heal ❤
Hey you! It seems like I’ve known you for way more than 2 years too! Maybe somehow that post didn’t show up in your feed back then? Yeah it was super scary and the pain after surgery was like no other for her. Now that’s she’s all healed we know we did the right thing. ( Although we didn’t have much choice with the degree of her curve. ) Only one person could stay with her due to COVID and that one person couldn’t leave the hospital. She was excused from schoolwork for 3 months and then she did remote school for the rest of the year. I was a tad worried with her being without friends for so long but FaceTime and such kept her in touch. Nobody could visit for a long time because we were told not to take the chance of her getting COVID with her immune system being so down. Crazy times! Thanks for your comment and I hope you are doing well. Doing ok here!
That has gone by so fast but in some ways so much has happened. Sorry to have gone awol. I’m trying to get back here because if I’m honest I need my crew! So lovely to read your posts again my friend xx 😘 😘😘
Hey you!!! I miss you!!! ❤️ No need to apologize at all, totally understand! We are surely here for you for sure! We are family! I’m so happy to hear from you and are surely thinking of you! Reach out for sure! ❤️😘❤️😘❤️
Thanks lovely lovely lady. Hearing that my facile are still here gives me so many positive vibes 😘😘😘