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Hi, I have scoliosis and had the harrington rod procedure when I was 16 in

London, Ontario in 1971 by Dr. C. Grainger. I don't know the degree of the

curvature but I do know that when I saw my x-ray, I could not believe that a

spine could be so crooked. It is in an " S " shape from side to side and

literally, my spine was about as crooked as it could get. After the surgery, I

had gained 2 " in height. They used 2 rods (which I still have) and took a piece

of bone out of my hip to fuse the rods in place. I have had 2 children and had

an epidural each time, the first time was excellent because the intern actually

cared enough to look at my x-ray for better placement of the needle (baby was

breach and I needed something). The second time, the nurse was too lazy or

whatever and kept jabbing me until she got it in. Since the surgery, I have

found that if I gain too much weight or don't stretch properly before getting

out of bed, my lower back muscles go into spasm and the rest of the day is quite

painful to get through. I have an excellent chiropractor that doesn't do your

typical spinal adjustments on me, but he works on the muscles around the lower

back to give me relief when I need it. Going to specialists and I use that

title sarcastically because if they really are specialists, they would have more

answers. The only answer that I got from a specialist that was of any use was

not to extend my body backwards... duh?!! No kidding, I already knew that.

Otherwise, whatever questions I have asked the answer was always " I don't know " .

So I try to pay attention to my body and listen when it talks to me. I take a

daily vitamin, vitamin D & C and I also take calcium and MSM. Last year I

purchased a mirror foam mattress and I absolutely love it. I still stretch my

back in the morning, but I have noticeable improvement in my mobility. When I

wake, I get into a fetal position and gently pull my knees up to my chin until I

feel the lower back muscles relax and stretch and then very slowly ease out of

the position and roll out of bed. Over the years, I have had my legs give out

on me, pain in the hip where they took the bone that I wasn't supposed to miss

(ha), tingling and numbness in my left hand, incredible pain between my

shoulders, ribs go out of place often, really stiff neck and shoulders and on

and on... I don't regret the surgery because I would probably be in a

wheelchair had I not had it. As I say with exercise, massage therapy and

chiropractic treatment when necessary, I am doing pretty good for my age. I see

other people my age with much worse aches and pains. What is to come, as the

specialist says... I don't know, but I'm hoping I can handle it. I would like

to know if anyone has had their rods removed after having them for 30 to 40

years and what the consequences were. I am ok right now but a few years ago,

there was a lot of clicking around the fusion and the dr's refused to remove the

rods. X-rays showed that the fusion was solid. I worry about the future.

Barbara