Re: Re: My 16 yrs old son will be having surgery for Scolios

[Guest guest]

Hi Angel,

I have two children who have scoliosis. My 18yr old daughter has not had

surgery, but my 9yr old son has had multiple surgeries. You asked about

what to tell your son, and his 10yr old brother - I would tell them the

facts, on their level. They won't need to know the details of what the

surgeon will be doing in the operating room, but they do need to know what

will take place before and after. You also mentioned that you are unsure of

the details. Contact the ortho or the assistant and have a written list of

questions that are specific to your son. Find out what they plan to do

during the surgery. What kind of incisions will he have? Will he have

drainage tubes? Will he be on a ventilator post-op? What part of the spine

do they plan to place the instrumentation? What kind of instrumentation?

etc. For me, I can emotionally deal with the surgery if I know the details.

Some people are different and don't want to know details. Do what will be

best for you.

Also, contact the hospital's Pain Services people and find out what the

" plan " for post-op pain management will be BEFORE the surgery. Its

important that you know what the plan is, so you can help keep the

nurses/staff on top of the pain control. It will be easier to keep him

comfortable if he keeps on schedule with the medications. If he's in lots

of pain, it will be harder to control it. Take a notepad with you and write

down the medications and times given. That will help keep him on schedule.

Ask if he'll need to have a post-op brace to wear. Some docs have their

patients wear a brace for a few months, others don't require any external

bracing.

Your 10yr old will need to know that his brother will be having surgery to

help his back be straighter and stronger. He will probably think its cool

that they will be installing metal devices in his brother's back. Let him

know that for the first few days/weeks his brother is home, his brother will

need lots of TLC and help with routine daily things. It will be a while

before he'll be feeling up to doing things for himself. Your 10yr old can

help by playing card or board games, visiting, etc. He just needs to

remember that his brother's back will be sore, so no rough play or punching

games... LOL

Surgery is never an easy decision to make. As long as you have done your

research and have 100% confidence in the surgeon, all of you should be fine.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. You need to know what to expect and how

they plan to take care of everything. I wish you the best. Sending smooth

and speedy recovery cyber vibes your way.

Carmell

mom to Kara 18, idiopathic scoliosis, Blake 13, 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), pes cavus,

bicuspid AV, single umblilical artery, tonsil-adnoidectomy and ear tubes

(3/98), etc.

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

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[Guest guest]

Hi Angel,

There is a great team of orthos at the Shriners in Philly. Dr. Betz is one

of them, and I've heard from other parents that he is wonderful. He has

LOTS of scoliosis experience. It would probably help you with peace of mind

if you get another consultation - I know it helps me to know my own doc has

the same approach other experts in the field would recommend. There is also

a good team of pediatric orthos at duPont hospital, if that's an option.

Again, I wish you the best. Feel free to ask any questions.

Carmell

mom to Kara 18, idiopathic scoliosis, Blake 13, 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), pes cavus,

bicuspid AV, single umblilical artery, tonsil-adnoidectomy and ear tubes

(3/98), etc.

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

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[Guest guest]

HEY Everyone.

Dr. Betz at Shriner's did Janene's surgery at St. 's prior to their

move many moons ago. She had her 1st one anterior and she had a few

complications but it was lower only.

Her 2nd one was done at the new facility at Shriner' and it was harrington-lukey

posterior and anterior. It was the puffy face etc etc etc. It all depends on

how long surgery was.

Betz and company are good and he is very throughly and yes, now a days they make

you get up and about as soon as you are able. This is to prevent antrophy and

clots in legs. Janene has those surgical stockings and a leg thingy that pumped

up and down on her legs when she was in bed to prevent clots and etc. She was

sitting up in a chair.

The reason for the bed was that her bed was too close to floor and bending down

to get in bed was outta question. I disconnected the motor to move it up and

down after 1 week and the potty chair was used due to again, lowness to the

floor. It was used mostly afterwards for throw up (when meds were discontinued

or changed for pain.).

Each surgery was different and each one was for a different reason. Fusing two

disc/vertebraes could be as complicated as removing hardware to put in new

hardware or a different type. Fake bone verses real bone; your blood or donated

specific blood. Each of these questions depends on family, physician, hospital.

Each hospital staff and rotating staff is going to be different.

At Hopkins, we were fortunate due to fact that there were not many patients on

floor but the nurses are specialized in spine surgeries, scoliosis surgery. I

stayed and got water, assisted in PT around the hall and was there at night to

help go to bathroom while still hooked up to IV.

Hope you have a good stay and the hospital staff is good for you.