Having Scoliosis + Spinal Fusion Surgery

Surgery

I had surgery on the 12th December 2012. Surgery should take around 4 hours, with an expected 5 days recovery in hospital and a month or two of fairly intense recovery after that. Considering you're having spinal surgery this sounds fairly reasonable.

My surgery took place at a time when the rest of my school year was out doing work experience for two weeks. Following that we had another two weeks off for Christmas. This meant I had 1 month of recovery without missing any school as I was in Year 11 and about to sit exams. I'm such a good student.

The surgery itself is called spinal fusion. Essentially they place titanium rods, nuts and bolts into your spine which act as scaffolding to keep it straight. (See my after photo). This is fused with bone graft, taken from you or a donor - the bone graft they used for me was my own. I think I remember Lisa, a student nurse I became close with telling me she saw them crush up part of a rib, but I honestly have no idea - it didn't hurt post op.

There are two types of entry for this surgery: posterior - where they make an incision directly down your spine (most common) and anterior - where they make an incision from your belly button all the way round to your shoulder blade.

I was told I would be having posterior spinal fusion. I watched YouTube videos and researched extensively, looking on forums and chatting to people who had been through it. I was told that generally posterior surgery is much gentler, less painful and quicker recovery. Yay!

But this is me we're talking about. I had to stay in hospital the day before my surgery so they could get me ready. On this day, THE DAY BEFORE, I was told that following a meeting regarding my spine (how strange!) they had decided that anterior spinal fusion was best. Great. I had done no research, all I knew was that it was more painful and recovery time was longer.

I was in the dark completely. Who knows whether this was better, but I had to suck it up and trust the experts!

I was given bed number 13. I didn't notice this at the time, but my parents have since told me that they both immediately thought this was a bad omen. Thanks mum and dad!

I was chill. Throughout the whole journey I was always strong. I never cried in front of anyone because I felt I needed to show courage to help my family get through it. Obviously it's completely natural to be scared. Talk to everyone about how you feel, it'll help you feel better.

It just didn't phase me.

I remember being wheeled down to the anaesthetist where she inserted a needle into my hand and counting down from 10. The rest is all post op!