Scoliosis: Life, Support & Friends

Hello Everybody!! I like to esp sat a big hello and thankyou to the lovely Simone who has helped me over the past few weeks. I am veryy happy to be joining u guys in blogging with you all. I have Double Curavate of the Spine inwards and backwards and have had eight spine operations for this....however the last operation i had i had to learn to walk again and also have a very poor immune system now due to affection i had in my spine so now i am recovering at home/hospital sometimes still tho. I was in hospital last year for 11 months and had to learn to walk again but i did it however i am in alot of pain now and each day i have to take it as it comes. i am recovering at home and keep picking up lots of nasty bugs which i cant fight of like a healthy person would do so i have to rest as much as i can. Anyway i would be so happy to answer any questions that you may have on Scoliosis or pain as best i can in anyway? or if anyone who is recovering from surgery or an illness then plea...

KEEP SMILING AND THE WORLD WILL SMILE WITH YOU! xxx :)

Spinal Cord Spinal cord injury is the most feared complication of spinal surgery. Even when the spinal cord is not exposed, it is at risk for injury during reduction of deformities and during ligation of segmental vessels, which could precipitate an ischemic spinal cord event. Decreased blood flow in the anterior spinal artery can result in infarction of a significant portion of the spinal cord. Disruption of blood flow in the artery of Adamkiewicz often has been implicated in this phenomenon. Cadaveric investigations suggests that the anterior spinal artery typically appears to be a continuous structure. However, because of the wide range in luminal size there may be functional discontinuities in anterior spinal artery blood flow. Because of the changes in diameter (0.23 to 0.94 mm), variability in resistance to flow is likely. This resistance to flow may be as high as 278 times normal in vessels with narrow lumens, resulting in regions of functional hypoperfusion of the spinal cord. ...

Scoliosis Journal posted about real time noninvasive assessment of external trunk geometry during surgical correction of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis Authors: Luc Duong, Jean-Marc Mac-Thiong and Hubert Labelle Published: 24 February 2009 Background The correction of trunk deformity is crucial in scoliosis surgery, especially for the patient's self-image. However, direct visualization of external scoliotic trunk deformity during surgical correction is difficult due to the covering draping sheets. Methods An optoelectronic camera system with 10 passive markers is used to track the trunk geometry of 5 scoliotic patients during corrective surgery. The position of 10 anatomical landmarks and 5 trunk indices computed from the position of the passive markers are compared during and after instrumentation of the spine. Results Internal validation of the accuracy of tracking was evaluated at 0.41+/- 0.05 mm RMS. Intra operative tracking during surgical maneuvers shows improvement of the...

Scoliosis Journal recently posted about unspecific chronic low back pain - a simple functional classification tested in a case series of patients with spinal deformities Authors: Hans-Rudolf Weiss and Mario Werkmann Published: 17 February 2009 Background Up to now, chronic low back pain without radicular symptoms are not classified and attributed in international literature as being "unspecific". For specific bracing of this group of patients suffering from low back pain we use simple physical tests to predict the brace type the patient might benefit from. Based on these physical tests we have developed a simple functional classification of "unspecific" low back pain in patients with spinal deformities. Methods Between January 2006 and July 2007 we have tested 130 patients (116 females and 14 males) with spinal deformities (average age 45 years, ranging from 14 years to 69) and chronic unspecific low back pain (pain for > 24 months) after the indication for bra...

I wish there was one from the left side, then you'd see the comparison between the my back ribs on the left and the right. Oh, well. Heh. My CT scan was pretty much the same; I couldn't get it to rotate like Dr. OKC did. Picture 1 Picture 2 I haven't gone through the whole story yet. Here's the short version. My curve was found during a routine exam at school in 7th grade. I was 12, my curve was 18 degrees. Eight months later, it was 36. I had several braces, I think they were the Boston type. I chose to have surgery in July 1996 (I was 16); my curve was 48 degrees, and they fused me from T10-L3. I was in a cast for nine weeks and another brace for about six months. My curve was 20 the day after surgery. I only discovered that from my medical records. As far as I knew, it was 34. No, it increased to 34 post surgery. Before last summer, my most recent x-rays were January 1998. Last summer it was 37, but Dr. Q said to ignore that, the first radiologist mus...

I set my alarm for 7am, but we didn't get out on the road until 10:30. We planned to leave at 9, but I woke up screaming in pain, so I didn't push myself. The map from the doctor's office kinda sucked, so we missed the Kilpatrick Turnpike and got lost. We ended up near the Capital building - nowhere near the hospital - but finally made it to there in time. I had a total meltdown by the time we arrived. After four hours in the car in excruciating pain, I lost my temper and cussed out my mom and Drew. I couldn't stop crying, I was just very frustrated and anxious about the whole thing. Once I got into the exam room and gave my medical records, x-rays, CT scan (on CD), and medical history forms to the nurse, I started to calm down. I met Dr. OKC. He was awesome! He was young, up-front, honest, professional, and answered all my questions (my mom's and my boyfriend's, too). Here's what I learned: No, I was NOT finished growing when my first surgery was...

I wanted to take some time out to talk about Llweyn on our Scoliosis Support Group, Llweyn is a part of the Scoliosis Association of British Columbia, Canada (Chapter 100 of the Scoliosis Association, Inc.), she is an inspiration to the members of our group, has a lot of support and help to offer. Scoliosis Association British Columbia Is the second Canadian Chapter but the first to receive, after 3 years of working with the Canadian government, Registered Charity status in April, 2008. This means that the Scoliosis Association can now do some fund-raising and issue tax receipts, along with opening a proper charity bank account that does not charge monthly business fees. They do not have a website at the moment but you can contact Llweyn on our support group or email her directly. Scoliosis Association: Llweyn Working alongside Llweyn is Marion Primeau who is associated with the other Canadian Chapter of Ontario, Marion's chapter has also applied to become a Registered Charity. Sco...

Stacy Lewis discovered at the age of 11 that she had Scoliosis, after wearing a brace for 2 years it was decided that she should have surgery. A scary future for such a promising young Golf professional, but as we know from previous Scoliosis patients, we are tough cookies and if she can cope with Women's Open Round pressure along with Scoliosis surgery, she is going to be just fine! Lewis helped the United States win a victory of 13-7 over Great Britain and Ireland, earlier this year, the flawless round that Lewis put in was a round of 67 Saturday on the 6,789-yard, par-73 layout at Interlachen. It was the best round of the day by two strokes and gave her a 54-hole total of 9-under-par 210, one stroke ahead of Paula Creamer, who shot 69, and two strokes ahead of Helen Alfredsson of Sweden and Inbee Park of South Korea. "Truthfully, I'm not really that surprised," said Lewis, a 2007 graduate of the University of Arkansas, where she was the NCAA Division I individual c...

Slightly off topic here for a Scoliosis blog but hey I have other stuff going on in my life which does not involve Scoliosis so I might as well share that too! Welcome to CupCake and her first post, nice of you to share your thoughts with us and a pleasure to write alongside you - XX I have been tossing and turning so far all night and it is now 3am so I decided to get up and blog!!!! I am not sure why I cannot sleep, it happens every now and then, to all the insomniacs out there, I sympathise with you, I really do. I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow and an early start so the last thing I need right now is to be blogging, I should be asleep! The adoption must be keeping me awake even though I am trying not to think about it, however, all the paperwork is dragging me down and we are going covering ground we have already trodden on, our adoption agency "forgot" to ask us for CRB checks from Spain so our paperwork has been delayed, due to this delay previous papers that had ...

I've been thinking about how to introduce myself to you all a lot over the past few days. I suppose I'm overthinking things. I don't have to tell you all my entire life story in one post, and my current pain level doesn't allow me to type that long, anyway. Let me start off with this, then. I had spinal fusion surgery from T10 to L3 in July 1996. I only got health insurance a year ago, so I just decided last summer to get a doctor and have a checkup and a new set of x-rays. (It had been 10 years.) Long story short, I'm having another surgery next month. It's been twelve years since my first surgery, so my memories are a little fuzzy now. I was under the impression that the first surgery would cure my scoliosis, end my pain, and not limit my activities at all. I only realized the other day when reading Simone's story that this has happened to others. I'm not quite sure if my first surgeon actually told me this, or if I just assumed it and no one ever told...

I took a quiz on ecademy "what colour are you", it intrigued me so I took the questionnaire, and according to them I am a "High Red" And here is what a High Red means: As a High Red you are driven by two governing needs: to control and to achieve. You are a goal oriented go getter who is most comfortable when you are in charge of people and situations. You like challenges, take authority, and plunge head first into solving problems. You are fast paced, task oriented and work quickly and impressively by yourself. You can be more effective by using more right brain thinking allowing you to develop more patience, humility and sensitivity and concern for others, project a more relaxed image and more. Do you think that is a good likeness of me? Join me: Simone Icough on Ecademy and take the test too Ecademy Potential Unlimited

We have blogged about the SpineCor brace a few times and had many discussions about this brace on the Scoliosis Online Support Group. For those of you that have not heard of the SpineCor brace then here is some blurb for you to get your head round, along with a link to a study that was carried out :) Rigid braces have already proven to be ineffective and a lot of surgeons do not prescribe braces nowadays. Rather, they ask patients to just have normal life until surgery is required. What's the point of letting kids go through the experience of wearing a brace for years when they are going to do surgery anyway? Last June Journal of Pediatric Orthopedic published spinecor study analyzed with new criteria set by SRS...all braces were analyzed this way so that direct comparison would be possible. SpineCore Brace Study We have a few members on the group have been fitted with this brace, below are some comments from Verda Tondevold. Connect with Verda on the Scoliosis Online Support Group...

Yes, when I went for my appointment today at the hospital, I found out that I'm getting a new brace! Hmm... I don't actually know if I'm excited about this but I think I'll miss the comfort of my old brace (Soapy) when I get it at first. Luckily, the orthotist let me stick to the thin plastic since I've been improving a lot! Now this moulding/casting/brace fitting was way easier than I last remembered! I guess it's because I'm used to wearing a brace now. :) So first the orthotist weighed me and measured me (I got taller!) and you probably know how it the routine. After many complicated measurements using various different instruments, he finally told me to get into two thin stretchy stocking dresses and hop onto the wire bed thing (sorry, I don't really know any technical terms!). When he'd lain me straight and put my legs in slings, he slid a metal ruler type thing between the material. Then he wet the dress and smoothed the plaster slowly over it....