Its not the end its just a bend! 23 weeks post op!-

Ive been having a lot of people asking me the same questions lately...
'When will you be able to bend over and touch your toes again?' and 'when will you be able to bend?'
Well lets just say during my 11hour operation  2 titanium rods where attached to my spine by 26 screws after my spine was put into its new position a bone graft was placed over it over the next year or so that bone graft will become solid inflexible bone. The Rods will stop me from bending and the bone graft makes bending my spine near enough impossible. Even if I was to have the Rods taken out in a few years I still will be unable to bend my spine because the bone graft would have set.

So the Answer the question-  I will never be able to bend and touch my toes again, infact i wont be able to bend at all really, All my bending will come from my hips and the un-fused vertebrae i have (L3,L4,L5) My Physio has said that the vertebrae i have left are very little use to me bending wise but we will see!

Many people have said that they wouldn't be able to cope with a life-time without bending and it is exactly what i thought at 16 when the operation was mentioned properly, it was mentioned very briefly in my first appointment in 2011 when I was 15.  Since then I always had it at the back of my mind ' how the hell do you cope with being not able to bend?' but in all honestly it isn't all that bad as time (weeks and months) go by you learn to adjust to it and now i bend my knees or sit down when ever i drop anything or need to pick something off the floor. I now am getting to the point where i don't really think about it before it i just do it like you just bend your back.

Of course i get frustrated because i find things difficult but as more time goes on the more everything will become easier. For example putting my shoes and socks on i have learnt to put my foot on my knee/thigh so no bending involved!
Yes there is times where I just want to bend my back and not have to spend a little bit longer getting something off the floor like any un-fused person would, I'd love to have the straight back I have now and have kept the flexibility I had but it couldn't of happened, i had to think about my future really, if I didn't have the operation my curves could have continued to get worse and I'd have worse lung capacity.
For now and the next few months i guess ill still get used to thinge the way they are.
I don't remember what it feels like to have someone touch my back and feel it, I don't remember what it feels like to not have to worry if someone brushes past me by accident . I don't even remember what it feels like to run. I guess these are some of the things that go through your head and I'm writing it to not scare anyone out of the op I'm writing this so people are aware that they may feel like it too.
But There are many more things, positive things that have came out of it though. the fact that my Spine is stabilised and corrected is amazing and i don't have to now even try to sit up/stand up straight it just a great thing that comes with the fusion, Also the fact i am taking nearly no pain killers is the best thing ever, i never thought i would ever come off the tablets, EVER!  :)
Kirsty xx

22 weeks post op!-

Im 22 weeks post op only 2 more weeks untill im officially 6month post op! I cannot believe how fast its going I go see my consultant again in February with my twin sister who has her first appointment with a scoliosis specialist, we have been waiting for her referral for a while now and my consultant said we would be willing to see us both at the same time as it would be a lot easier for us both, We have known she has scoliosis since late 2012/ early 2013 but the orthopaedic specialist she saw at the time wanted her to try physio for at least 6months before going to see a scoliosis specialist! She saw a pain management type consultant in September/October 2013 and he also told us she has Scheuermanns Kyphosis curve like me but hers is 69degrees. After my operation her back became more noticeable to us so we have being pushing to see a specialist to see how things are and where she stands with everything. Whatever happens she knows im always there to support her:)

The last time I saw my consultant (November) he gave me some tablets because I was being sick and bringing acid type stuff up every day or so (gross I know!) and he said if it didn't stop after the length of time I was taking the tablets for I would have to have a camera in my stomach to see if everything was ok... I really don't want the camera thingy and I took the last tablet yesterday im so worried its going to start happening all over again!

since I haven't put any photos up lately I thought id share what my scar looks like a fews after the operation and what it looked like in late December and one of my latest Xrays.
kirsty:)

 

 

20 weeks(5months)post op- not all plain sailing!

Some things have been kind of bothering me lately and it's annoying me because of course I'm extremely happy with my new very straight back in fact I'm over the moon with it...it's just that after the operation I developed a big numb/hyper sensitive patch on my left thigh and a smaller patch on my right thigh  I can't stand anything knocking it or touching it even clothes sometimes! I told my surgeon and he said it could either have been caused by lying in the same position for 11/12hours like I did in theatre or them knocking a nerve, he said the 'normal' feeling that I should have may or may not come back.. I really hope it does as the feelings horrible! I also have very sore ribs and a few ribs that stick out on the front of my body this is because of the type of curve I had and my ribs grew deformed when I hit a growth spurt probably no surgeon will touch them as if they do it will have w massive affect of my breathing, I had problems with shortness of breath and my breathing in gerenal do I don't want to have that again.
Another thing is that again because of my operation I have not much feeling in my back at the moment and I can't stand people,clothes and water touching any of back, I come out the shower in tears because of the strange/weird/nasty feeling of the water touching my back and because of it I'm really struggling to wash my hair that and the fact I'm so used to bending my back while washing it and I can't now. My surgeon is saying you can get a type of cream that helps with the numbness in my back but if I get it I really don't know how I'm supposed to put it on as I said I can't stand ANYTHING touching my back:( like the patches of my thighs the feel may or may not fully come back:'(.
This past few weeks I have been getting some pain in my lower neck and lower back I have been taking paracetamols to try and help but it's something I'm going to ask my surgeon about it as it the pain in my lower back is below my fusion where the 3vertebrae I have left are, I maybe just worrying to much but the pain I had before my operation started out the same way I really don't want to be in that much pain again.
I'm not saying all this too scare anyone out of surgery because its the best thing I've don't but I guess I've just hit a bit of a bump on this bendy road...
Kirsty xxxx

19weeks post op-

I am 19 weeks post op yesterday! Every week is getting better I am starting to be able to do more for my self also I am starting to feel better but I am still unable to walk far or do much outside I can't wait to be able to get everything back to the way it was even though it's going to take a while. I do miss being around my friends and just going on a hack on the ponies, I hate just sitting in the house all day I get so frustrated and bored because before even though my bad hurt so much and i got out of breath easily I still did everything as I wasn't going to let it beat me!
Hopefully if I keep trying to go for little walks and trying to do a little more each day I won't get so tired and by the time I'm 6months post op I should be able to go shopping or something with my friends.
Kirsty xxxx

Photo's of my back and my recovery in hospital.

As i have mentioned my back alot in the past posts i thought put a few photos of what my back looked like and now looks like, Before my operation it was so hard to hide my back and to find nice clothes that went over my curves, i couldn't wear dresses because all of them wouldn't go over my back or do up or jeans because i had very odd hips and it would rub. I have also added a few pics from when i was in hospital recovering...

Kirsty :)

YouTube

I made a YouTube video of my experience and my journey so far (before and after) and I'd though I would share as it may come in handy for someone:)
I know for me watching videos of people who had surgery helped me when I had it so hope this helps!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EUEWNFKq2oo&feature=c4-feed-u

Kirsty:) x

Third post

So a year ago today I made the massive decision to have surgery by all means it wasn't easy I was petrified, I went to the appointment with a list of questions to ask my consultant which included 'will my back continue to get worse?'  'will I always be in constant pain?' and my most important one 'will I be able to ride my horses again?'. I also had lots of fears and worries ' what can go wrong?' 'howwill I be able to bend?' 'will i look like a robot?'and a another big one 'what's the risk of paralysis?'. I am quite lucky in ways as my consultant says it how it is and doesn't sugar coat anything so basically you know he is being truthful.  After my consultant when through everything and the procedure I spoke with my family for a few minutes, for me being 17 at the time I wanted the biggest say on what the decision was, taking everything in account I agree to have the operation,  even after how scary it sounded. I left that appointment questioning if I made the right choice and now 4 months post the surgery I feel that I did, it wasn't easy and yes there are a few things I would love to forget but my back looks so much nicer than my 95degree kyphosis curve ever did. This year has been full of different hospital appointments for my back and I hope In the future that I wont have to go that much.
Kirsty:)