Fusion on a 10 year old.

[Guest guest]

Hiya ,

I had a fusion around that age and area; when I was a little over 11yrs.

This was in 1981 and I also had 2 rods attached to my spine; and had to wear a

protective trunk (plastic or whatnot) cast for 6 of the hottest months of summer

*whew*.

I could not take off the cast, had to bathe and sleep with it.

So it depends on what the doctor says, your son my have no problems and just may

have to take it easy for a while till the fusion melds. Or he (like myself)

might have to change his way of life.

I was not allowed to do anything in the way of " falling " like off a bike or ride

a rollercoaster that was " too jaunting " . I just recently found out that I am

not supposed to use tanning beds (1 cause my grandpa died of skin cancer) but

because of the hardware attached to my spine.

Another question to ask the doctor is this going to be a bone fusion or perhaps

will they use the little titanium plates like they do for other fusions like

ankles or wrists.

Don't be afraid to write down anything you want to ask, there's no stupid

questions. You might want your son to sit down and ask the doctor anything

before the surgery so he'll know that the doctor really needs to tell him what

he should be able to do after surgery.

I hope all goes well, and my prayers are with your son and family. =)

Cyn Hatmaker

Bissell <sue4272000@...> wrote:

I have a question for anyone out there in the

scoliosis group.

How does fusion (of the thoracic area) effect

children? Are there complications and what about the

lost of growth? How long is recovery and what is

limited? My son will have his fusion this winter and

he is very active and I'm afraid he will do something

he shouldn't and harm the fusion. He wants to know if

he can do things his friends are doing. How long is he

going to be limited from playing on a trampoline,

sports and just plain goofing around?

Please any comment is welcomed!

Bissell

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi ...

You'll need to check with your son's doctor aout limitations. Some

doctors tell their patients that, after fusion is complete (about 6

mos to a year in kids), they can do anything they want. Others will

set some limits.

If your son is not finished growing, fusion will limit growth in that

area of the spine. While he won't reach his full potential in terms

of height, it shouldn't cause aany health problems unless it's a long

fusion in a very young child.

Regards,

> I have a question for anyone out there in the

> scoliosis group.

>

> How does fusion (of the thoracic area) effect

> children? Are there complications and what about the

> lost of growth? How long is recovery and what is

> limited? My son will have his fusion this winter and

> he is very active and I'm afraid he will do something

> he shouldn't and harm the fusion. He wants to know if

> he can do things his friends are doing. How long is he

> going to be limited from playing on a trampoline,

> sports and just plain goofing around?

>

> Please any comment is welcomed!

>

>

> Bissell

>

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Like said, the fusion will stop the vertical growth of the vertebrae

in the fused area. The vertebrae will continue to grow in thickness but the

full potential for growth is removed to complete the fusion.

You indicated your son will have thoracic fusion. Has he had a pulminary

function test to determine how much lung function he has currently? My son

had fusion only surgery (no instrumentation) at 11 months old. He is fused

from T5-L1. The docs have guessed that he's lost about 3-4 inches of height

in his spine. He's short, but proportionately so. Thoracic fusion will not

restrict your son's mobility as much as it sounds. Braydon still wiggles

and squirms and plays and wrestles with his dad and brother (much to his

mother's dismay) and has very little restricted movement in his spine. He

sits cross-legged on the floor, rides his bike, digs in the dirt and many

other things 9yr old boys do. He doesn't do very graceful somersaults,

however.

When Braydon was 6yrs old he had surgery to expand the right side of his

chest (by cutting apart two sets of fused ribs) and place two vertical rods

to support his chest and spine. He was in the hospital for 2 weeks and out

of school for another 6 weeks. His recovery was a cautious one, with no

complications. The surgeons are now being more aggressive with the kids and

they only stay in-patient for a week, and are back to normal activities in a

month. The rods are NOT fused into place, so fusion isn't an issue with

this surgery. Like said, too, the fusion will take 6 to 12 months to

be completely solid. After the recovery, he likely won't have many

restrictions besides no full contact sports. I don't know any orthopod who

thinks trampolines are good, so I'm not sure he will be officially

" approved " to jump on one. Braydon shouldn't be on a trampoline, but has

done so, a few times. Again, if the fusion is very solid and he has healed

well, his spine will be very strong and rigid in the area of the fusion.

I know a few people who are now adults who had long fusions done at age 10

or 11. They, as adults, wish the surgery would have been done later, so

their bodies had more time to grow. Some have restricted lung function, and

most have a disproportionate trunk to limbs (in size). Why are they

suggesting fusion at age 10? How severe is his curve? Is there a chance he

could wait a few years before fusion to allow his body to grow more? I

don't know (or remember) any details.

Carmell

mom to Kara 18, idiopathic scoliosis and hypothyroidism; Blake 14, GERD; and

Braydon 9, VACTERL, GERD, DGE, Titanium Rib Project patient #137 (dbl

implant 8/01), thoracic insufficiency, rib anomalies, congenital scoliosis

(fusion surgery 5/96), missing coccyx, fatty filum/TC (released 4/99), anal

stenosis, chronic constipation, horseshoe (cross-fused) kidney, dbl ureter

in left kidney, ureterocele (excized 6/95), kidney reflux (reimplant surgery

1/97), neurogenic bladder, bilateral hip dysplasia, right leg/foot dyplasia,

tibial torsion, clubfoot with 8 toes (reconstructed 2/96, 3/96, 1/97, 3/04),

pes cavus, bicuspid AV, single umblilical artery, tonsil-adnoidectomy and

ear tubes (3/98), etc.

http://pages.ivillage.com/carmellb/myfamily

[Guest guest]

Hola

I had my surgery at the age of 12 and my surgeon said no trampolining forever,

this was in 1989 and things may have changed since then but I still wouldnt go

on a trampoline now because I have problems.

I had to avoid any kind of contact sports during the rest of my time at school

which was annoying but I took part in the swimming lessons and when we were not

doing that I opted for another class or I had a free period.

The person that was on the stryker frame before me, was into skateboarding and

he ended up hurting himself and having surgery twice.

What things does he want to do I think is the question and take each sport from

there, I know for a good 6 months these days you should be careful while the

hard ware does its job and he may be able to resume activities after this time.

However, goofing around I did plenty of that when I was a child, with or without

my Scoliosis, I still used to run and play in the garden with my friends and

didnt really notice my hard ware during this time, but I did everything my

surgeon instructed me to do.

Hope that helps and if you post back with some sports he wishes to do, might be

able to be more specific.

Take care and best wishes

Nutty

Fusion on a 10 year old.

I have a question for anyone out there in the

scoliosis group.

How does fusion (of the thoracic area) effect

children? Are there complications and what about the

lost of growth? How long is recovery and what is

limited? My son will have his fusion this winter and

he is very active and I'm afraid he will do something

he shouldn't and harm the fusion. He wants to know if

he can do things his friends are doing. How long is he

going to be limited from playing on a trampoline,

sports and just plain goofing around?

Please any comment is welcomed!

Bissell

__________________________________________________