Emily's Surgery

1st day... right after surgery

A couple of years ago, when Emily was in 7th grade, she was encouraged by a school nurse to see a doctor about a possible scoliosis diagnosis. We often told Emily to stand up straight, or correct her posture, but it wasn't bad enough that we thought anything was wrong. We took to her our local family physician and he sent her for an xray. She had enough of a curve in her spine at that point that we were recommended to go to Shriner's hospital in Spokane. I believe she had about a 30% curve at that point in her spine in two places. Basically, her spine looked like a big S. They decided to go ahead and put her in a brace. She wore a hard plastic brace for about 4 months, 20 hours per day. She slept in it, when to school and had it on all the time except for a few hours in the evening. After 4 months, we went back and her curve had increased 15% during that period! So, she was up to 50%, which is the point in which surgery becomes the probable option. I took her to a chiropractor for about 4-6 months, while we continued to wait until she had finished her major growth. I think that helped a bit, as she would go back, the growth in her spine slowed down a bit, but she still continued to increase the degree of her spine curvature.

Finally, about 2 years after her initial diagnosis, she was scheduled for surgery. They had us scheduled for August of this year, but we got a call that she could fill a cancellation in June, so we jumped at the chance to have more recovery time over the summer months. As expected, Emily was super nervous about surgery... and I was as well! We knew the recovery would be long and painful, but that her quality of life would be greatly improved. We headed for Shriners a couple days before the surgery to do a pre-admission and the staff was wonderful! At this point, her upper curve was close to 70% and the lower curve was 65%! She was 5"8 1/2" on the day we took her for surgery. We went back in on Sunday night and she was very scared and nervous about her early morning surgery. In the morning, she showered with a special disinfectant soap and then they gave her some medicine to make her relax. They gave her an IV in the back of her hand which was better than expected. The staff is so wonderful and kid friendly, that everything they do is geared towards making kids feel okay.

After her IV, they wheeled her down to pre-op and she was starting to act a little "loopy", although she kept telling me she wasn't. Emily making fishy motions with her hands is NOT normal!! She kept giggling as well... definitely NOT pre-op behavior! After talking with the anethesiologist, they took her out and I went to the waiting room. Clint was home with the other kids, so I waited for the hourly phone calls. They were super about keeping me well informed about her progress. About 6 hours later, she was back in her room and very tired and groggy. The surgery went GREAT... and I was so relieved when she wiggled her toes and felt them touching her legs!

We spent 6 days in the hospital. The staff was great, but Emily was so sore and tired, it was hard for her to be very positive. The first few times she tried to stand up, she passed out. The very first time she stood up, everyone was shocked! She had grown 2 1/2 inches (which is normal) but it felt like about 3 or 4, she was WAY taller than me! When we measured her at home, she was 5'11". Her back looks wonderful!

It's now 4 weeks since the surgery and it's been a hard 4 weeks. She mostly lies in bed watching TV, reading or playing games. I get her to walk around the block a few times each day, but her most comfortable position is lying in bed. She's off pain medication though, and now just getting her strength back. She has 3 months of being very limited in her activity- just walking basically. Then another 3 months with a little more until after 1 year she will be back to doing anything and everything she did before. She has about $20,000 of hardware in her back that will stay forever, but insurance and Shriners picked up the whole tab, so we were very blessed in that regard. It will be interesting to take her through a metal detector for the first time!

Emily- 5'11" and Zach 6'3 1/2"

Just for a little background... her are some pictures that are NOT Emily. She didn't want any pics, but these are pictures from Google that show very well what her xrays looked like and how a curve looks from the back. Sorry about the gross "crack" pictures :)

BEFORE

AFTER

Of course this picture is a little deceptive... Emily has a long scar down her spine from her neck to her lower back. Remember... this is NOT Emily- she would be horrified if I posted pics of her!!