Scoliosis: Life, Support & Friends

I'm in a bit of a miserable place right now, so I thought I would tap into some sarcasm and make myself, and hopefully you loverly Scoliotics, giggle a bit. The fact of the matter is that at some point we probably have to have a surgery. If we're spectacularly unlucky we might have two, or three. Keep in mind by the time you hit 4-9 surgeries, you should probably order yourself a plastic bubble and black out your windows. Personally, I am still waiting for my order for military grade food supplies that I can keep in my bomb shelter. So, with that in mind, how exactly do we survive a surgery? What sort of ungodly horrors await us and what can we do to make the experience a little more bearable? Follow this guide and I assure you, your hospital experience will be...average, really. I mean, none of this is going to actually make it better because, let's face it, the only way to make any surgery better is to be told that while the doctors were inside you they decided to install...

Greetings, fellow Scoliotics! As some of you may remember me mentioning, I'm currently a college student in Lethbridge, Alberta (that would be in Canada for those of you not in the 'know.) And I am proud to announce that just a few days ago the town of Sundry, also in Alberta, was named the coldest place in the world. That's right. The single coldest place in the world. Ahead of both poles and Russia. You may be wondering if that has any effect on Lethbridge and I can tell you now, without a shadow of a doubt, that yes, yes it does. And what do insanely cold temperatures do to a fused/arthritic spine? Make it hurt. The phrase 'tearing my spine out with a rusty hook' is used perhaps a bit too frequently by myself, but I can say without hesitation now that I have officially reached that level. The hook is out, the bathroom prepped, the roommates warned. Don't try to stop me because I've lost my mind and this is the only solution. Oh, also drugs. Drugs are a...

My mom and I were recalling some of our later experiences in the blood thirsty adventure that is the Alberta Health Care system, and a particular memory got me thinking more about my second surgeon. I figured I did an Ode to Dr. Elf (lord help me if any doctor ever stumbles upon this page), and now it's time to address the issue of Dr. Stoic. When I hit the tragic age of 18 I was informed that I was no longer allowed to go to the Alberta Children's Hospital as I had exceeded their maximum height allowance. Also, last time they opened me up they counted my rings and discovered I was far older than appropriate for hanging around small children (apparently clowns can do it and no one makes a sound. Go figure.) So as I stated previously Dr. Elf and I laid out three potential surgeons. He patiently went through them one by one, giving a thorough explanation for each although suspiciously leaving out their criminal records which I request from anyone I spend more than five minutes ...

Simone's last post got me thinking more about my own personal experiences with my surgeons. Not the experiences involving them explaining what exactly scoliosis is and why I should fear for my life (I was a teenager, everything is exaggerated in my memory), but the personal experiences that rose from the witty banter and crude sarcasm that was exchanged between us while my poor mother watched on while shaking her head in dismay. When I was first diagnosed back in Kelowna at the age of 11 I went, at least temporarily to a local doctor by the name of Dr. I-Can't-Deal-With-Children O'Farrell. Maybe that's a bit unfair of me, my memory of that whole time is a bit blurred, and any recollection I do carry of him generally involves me feeling about two inches tall. I'm sure he was/is a good Doctor, but his experiences were with adults who figured the high arches in their feet gave them reason to complain until they had passed out. Perhaps it was a mercy that my spine went...

The Irish Medical Times have reported about the backlog at the Crumlin Hospital. There are currently a backlog of 70 operations to correct spinal deformity and by February 2010 this backlog is expected to be cleared, with children due to be operated upon from later this month. His report below gives a greater description of the situation, written by Gary Culliton A new initiative to address the waiting list has been agreed between the HSE and Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin; Temple Street; Tallaght; and Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospitals, in collaboration with consultant orthopaedic surgeons. Click here The surgery for the 70 patients, who have had all of their pre-operative assessments completed, will be undertaken at either of the four above hospitals ‘as appropriate, based on the particular clinical needs of each patient’, IMT has been informed. The hospitals have communicated with the patients and their families regarding the arrangements. According to the Dublin crit...

Shriners Hospital for Children has been operating on and supporting children with Scoliosis for many years and not just from a surgical point of view, financial as well. A Little About Shriners Shriners Hospitals for Children is a one-of-a-kind international health care system dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing specialty pediatric care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs.Children up to the age of 18 with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate are eligible for admission and receive all care in a family-centered environment at no financial obligation to patients or families. Over the past 30 years Shriners has been treating Cypriot children with Scoliosis, free of charge. Just recently Shriners has met with the health minister seeking financial support to help operate on Cypriot children, due to the current economic climate, Shriners can no longer afford to operate on these children due to the cost of the sur...

Health Central published this story about a procedure that is helping children under the age of 5 to reverse their scoliosis! Ivanhoe Broadcast News Tuesday, December 30, 2008; 12:00 AM (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new procedure is stopping and reversing scoliosis in children -- without a brace. Doctors at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian are using a novel procedure called spinal stapling to treat scoliosis in children under 5. The procedure is not only stopping progression of the condition, but reversing it. Until now, no treatment existed to straighten the spine of children with scoliosis. "For the first time, we have a way to potentially reverse the scoliosis," Michael Vitale, M.D., chief of pediatric spine and scoliosis surgery at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian, was quoted as saying. Spinal stapling is a two-hour, minimally invasive procedure during which doctors implant staples across the growth plates of the sp...

The Center for Spine Health at Cleveland Clinic, one of the United States' top hospitals and home to our nationally ranked Neurological Institute, is hosting a FREE online health chat on adult scoliosis from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5. Cleveland Clinic: USA Hospital Register for the Online Health Chat at Cleveland Clinic During this one hour chat Douglas Orr, MD, will answer questions from patients regarding management and treatment options for adult scoliosis and other spinal deformities. Who Is Dr Orr? Dr. Orr specializes in spinal surgery at Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Spine Health and has a joint appointment in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. He is certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Dr. Orr has surgical expertise in the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spinal areas, specializing in adult spinal surgery, including minimally invasive surgery, deformity surgery and spinal tumor surgery. H...

Medical News Today Reported: Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian is one of only a few hospitals in the country to offer spinal stapling, a new treatment alternative for young people with scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine that is painful and can restrict breathing. The Center for Early Onset Scoliosis, led by Dr Michael Vitale, sees about 400 patients per year under the age of 5 with the condition. Spinal stapling is one of a number of new techniques that promise improved outcomes. Tens of thousands of children in the U.S. are diagnosed with scoliosis each year. When the curvature is moderate, spinal braces can be used to slow or decrease the chance of progression. Until now, however, there was no way to reverse progression and straighten the spine. Spinal stapling is a two-hour minimally invasive surgery that involves implanting inch-long metallic staples across the growth plates of the spine. Made of a high-tech temperature-sensitive metal alloy...

Montreal, QC - The Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center has created an academic chair in spinal deformities to be held by Dr Stefan Parent, an orthopedic surgeon and researcher at Sainte-Justine's Research Center as well as a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montreal. With the help of the $1.15 million in funding from DePuy Spine Canada, the research team will focus on clinical research and teaching as well as the development of innovative surgery techniques for the treatment of scoliosis. The primary objective of the chair is to develop new approaches to assess the risk of scoliosis progression through the use of 3D measurements of the vertebrae and the pelvis taken during the first medical examination. Orthopaedic Clinical Chair - click to read more