Pre-Op Appointment

So I got my Pre-Op appointment. To be honest I didn’t even know I would need a Pre-Op or even what one is!! (such a newbie to this whole surgery thing). Having read A LOT of Scoliosis blogs and forums (www.Scoliosis-Support.org  if you are keen to know) I realized I will need to have one of these. As I am in Thailand right before surgery for 3 weeks and then I go straight in I thought I had better let the hospital know.

My appointment is 18April at 9am, haven’t a clue what it will involve although I am sure I heard the woman mention blood tests which does not sound too cool. Anyway I am big enough and ugly enough to cope with that. Not much choice.

I have to say from the Receptionist, to the Secretaries to Mr Tucker himself everyone has been so helpful and lovely. They seem to understand how frightening it is and are just super friendly.

I am trying to get everything organized for before I go on holiday, I need a bed to be sorted out, my animals to be looked after, I wanna be packed, I want to have bought some kind of implements to help me when I get home.

Also I forgot to mention my dad, who I will be staying with when I get home, has decided that when I have my operation it’s a perfect time to move so he has found a new cottage and will be completing just after I get out of hospital it looks like. I really don’t think he realizes that looking after me is going to a nightmare. I hope I am not going to be too much of a burden.

Money Money Money!!!

Good Afternoon! So it turns out that BUPA will no pay for all my surgery fee’s as Mr Tucker doesn’t charge within ‘their’ guidelines. So there will be a shortfall to pay of about £1,500 and that isn’t including the out patients fee’s which will need to be paid by me when I am discharged as I have used up all my £1000 outpatients allowance on appointments and xrays.

Bupa’s recommendation was to find a different Surgeon. Are they crazy!! The whole reason to go private is to get the best possible Surgeon and not have to wait around. To be honest having my back operated on is biggest deal in my entire life and I have decided that the only man for the job is Mr Tucker.

Anyway I will discuss it with my dad and see if I can borrow the money from him. To be honest with you its not like I am going to be doing much for a good few months so it might be easy to save!, unless I go mad with bordem and get addicted to online gambling. If that happens I am in trouble as I have no self control with those kind of things. When I went to Vegas I was playing slot machines right up until it was time to board the plane (who has slot machines in an airport?!!! VEGAS BABY!!).

I am gonna try and ring Bupa and see if there is any room for maneuvering.

Scoliosis Surgery Blogging

HR were brilliant about the operation and its such a weight of my mind for them to be so supportive. The last thing I wanted/needed was to be a burden to work and worry about that throughout my recovery.

I haven’t really been about to think/talk about much else since yesterday it all seems so much more real now to have the date set.

So this morning I thought I would put my mind at rest a read some other Scoliosis Surgery blog and survival stories. There are some brilliant ones out there, and it really has helped me feel stronger and I kind of thing if they can get through it then why cant i?.

Laurens Scoliosis Blog Article

This is a blog post by Lauren, she shows you pictures and she looks AMAZING after her operation, all straight and just beautiful, I wanna be like Lauren, he scar has faded so well just a teeny tiny line. I emailed her to say thank you for being so inspirational. I really hope after my operation people will read this blog and it will help them just like everyone else’s blogs are helping me.

If I come across any other reading material that has made me smile I will pass it on…

If anyone reading this is going through the same things as me, or has been there, done that and got the tshirt then please feel free to email me on handscanderson@gmail.com I am quite surprised by the amount of hits I am getting already!

Dr's Appointment Results

Also my MRI results were normal which is brilliant, one less thing.

Mr Tucker seems so nice and has such a lovely sense of humour, he is very good at getting across the fact that it is a HUGE operation to undertake but also keeps it as light hearted as possible. He is also very honest about the complications that may arise and wasn’t shy is telling me how much pain I will be in (although I wish he had lied! Hahah).

He says that it shouldn’t really affect my mobility in anyway and I shouldn’t get any further complications throughout my life, in pregnancy etc (although having an epidural will need to be put in very low down, but its still possible which is good). Obviously in all major surgery there are risks but these seem minimal in comparison to what will happen if I don’t get it done.

He sounds like he does these operations ALL the time and I really am not a special case, I guess its like me processing a Travel Request form J just a very very complex one!.

So this morning I came in and told Lindsay (my boss/best friend) how it all went at the drs and she as always she makes me feel better and THEN I get a called from Sharon who is Mr Tucker’s secretary and she has scheduled me in for the surgery on 12^th May ARGH. That is 3days after Thailand, which I initially thought would be good but actually, lets face it I am going to be sunning myself petrified of going home!! Hehehe oh well I just need to harden the fuck up - as another one of my dearest friends would say.

My next 2 obstacles are getting it signed off by BUPA and talking to Jo in HR and getting my time off approved. Which reminds me the dr did say that I should be ok to work from home after about 6 weeks, well he kind of hinted that I could probably work from home before that but I think it really does depend, he didn’t really seem to what to be held to anything. Either way I love my job and I know I will be so bored (and probably in agony, ARGH) that I will actually miss everyone and working. 3 months off for getting your back sliced and diced really will not be fun.

Lindsay (boss) is going to speak to Jo (HR) this afternoon and I am really nervous about this so we shall see what happens there….

Tonight in honour of pancake day I am going to make my Timmykins a nice pancake with my posh frying pan and forget all about my curly wurlyness.

Day the of the Dr Appointment!

Today is the day, I have my MRI scan CD in my handbag, I have my dad coming to meet me at the train station and I have a nervous tummy.

It is the day for my follow up meeting with Mr Tucker to discuss the surgery. I am pretty nervous, I don’t know why!! Its not like he will get his scalpel out there and then and cut me open!, so goodness knows why I am nervous.

My kiwikins AKA my boyfriend is arriving back from the Kiwi Wilderness at 11.55am to be precise! That’s if his flight lands on time and then he needs to drop his bag off and get to the drs so I don’t think he will make it. Which is ok as I think that’s even more nerve wracking. Its weird, im weird J.

Will write again tomorrow after the appointment.

Open MRI Hamburger

I did it!!!!! So I managed to make it through the Open MRI. This may sounds like a walk in the park to some of you but for me being completely claustrophobic and having had the WORST experience when I last time tried to go through a closed MRI or as I like to call it The White Tunnel Of Death.

So anyway this thing was like a massive plastic hamburger and I was the filling, when I looked at it I really didn’t think that just the fact you could see out of the sides would make a difference, because I just hate the fact that there is something so close to your face and you cant sit up, if that makes sense.

Anyway the woman was lovely and talked me through everything for the first 45mins even though I was right under she let me have my head to the side so I guess it kind of helped that I sound see out and then by the time it got to the point where she strapped my head in and I had to look up I must have been quite relaxed because although I didn’t enjoy it and when I think about it now I tense up, I managed to do it!.

Yes I did think I may hypo ventilate but I concentrated on my breathing and I was so pleased with myself (as I was sure I was going to run from this place as fast as I could).

I have the CD in my sticky mitts and I will take this to see Mr Tucker on Monday with my dad and hopefully my boyfriend.

I wonder if I put the CD in my computer I will be able to see the images…. I might give it a whirl…..

Claustrophobic Chrissy's Open MRI Anxiety

So, I have seen pictures of the open MRI. Wish I didn’t look now because its completely not what I expected!

To be honest I don’t really know what I expected I guess I thought it was like a shallow donut type machine that you went through with your legs out one end and your head out there other, so you were looking out at the ceiling. But it doesn’t look like that in the pictures. It has open sides but then still what looks to me like a low top. I can handle closed sides but I seem to HATE the feeling of not being able to sit if I really really needed too.

I know its weird, I know I am very weird.. but ARGHHH. And my mum cant come with me coz she has to work and I have some lovely friends at work who have offered to come but I think that they might make me laugh and I think I would also feel self conscious, maybe I will ask my dad but I ask him for so many favours I feel abit bad.

Fancy this, worried about an OPEN MRI when I have a whole bucket load of surgery that will be 10 million trillon times worse.

I am feeling pretty anxious a lot at the moment I am blowing everything up into such a huge deal. I feel like I have constantly had a huge amount of caffeine and it’s a sick wired feeling and its horrible. I had to take a valium at work yesterday and I hadn’t taken any of that for a while and it made me feel so weird and drunk I fell up the stairs on the way to a meeting. Was fun though, I would prefer to feel like that and chilled.

I have my follow up meeting with Mr Stewart Tucker booked on Monday 7March, which is the day my beloved Timiney Cricket gets back. He arrives into Gatwick at about 11am and my appointment is at 15.15, I really hope he can make it as my mum cant because she is in Boston, of course my Dad will be there supporting me but im pretty sure Tim will have some good questions up his sleeve.

I decided against going back for my Theraflex appointment today I emailed and cancelled and explained how I will now be having surgery, but I will definitely go back and see her if I do get any pain between now and then.

Got my Open MRI date

The date of my MRI is Wednesday 2March at 9.40am. I am going to brave it and go alone at my mum is working. Things are progressing!

100 Scoliosis Surgery Questions

So I got a brilliant email last night from my best friend’s brother answering all my questions on Scoliosis Surgery, and the poor boy had A LOT of questions to answer.

He was so upbeat and positive, and has just made me feel 100x’s better about everything. I wont copy the whole email over as I don’t have his permission but here is a couple of sentence’s that made me realize that if I was having any doubts I would be silly to pay attention to them.

“I would DEFINITELY have the op again if I needed to, and do not regret it AT ALL. Apart from the physical benefits in the long run, friends said there was a noticeable difference in my personality and mood”

“I know its really hard, but the best thing is to probably prepare yourself (like you are), but not WORRY too much - you'll end up a wreck if you constantly worry between now and your op! In probably about a years time, you'll be saying what a great life experience it was and how much it changed you for the better. ;) Theres ups and downs, like with anything, but its totally worth it all in the end.”

How wonderful is that?!!!!

Also I got a call from Sharon, Mr StewartTucker’s secretary and she told me he has referred me to Harley Street for my open MRI and I should hear from them within the next couple of days and then I need to make a follow up appointment with Mr StewartTucker and my parents and hopefully Tim my boyfriend (if he is back from NZ).

My big aim between now and mid April is to get everything sorted out. MRI, get Bupa to sign off my surgery, set a date for the op and talk to work once all that is sorted then hopefully I can just relax in Thailand on holiday, I REALLY don’t want anything hanging over me (obviously the impending doomsday will still be there!! J)

Open MRI Soon

Just a quick update. I called Stewart Tucker’s assistant to chase the open MRI details, as with Bupa you need to get approval and stuff, and she said she will get back to me tomorrow and the appointment should be pretty immediate. ARGHH Nervous!! I almost want to wait until my boyfriend is there so he can come, but I might be able to persuade my dad instead to come and brave London.

Valium will come in so handy. Why am I so scared of MRI machines! This one will be open!. BREATHE CHRISSY

Theraflex Therapy

So I had a lovely weekend in Amsterdam. The weather was freezing but very sunny.

Pretty much the whole weekend I didn’t even really think about my impending spinal surgery (arghh) which I think it really good as last week I couldn’t think of much else.

This week I have decided it is my mission to chase up Mr Stewart Tucker's secretary and find out when my MRI scan is due to take place as I really don’t want to be left wondering things when I go on my holiday in April I want a fresh clear mind to enjoy the final months with my curly back, if it’s even possible to enjoy having Scoliosis.

I briefly mentioned before how I have been trying Theraflex therapy. It really did help with pain relief as I started it in the first week of January and didn’t get any pain again until the first week of February. I was abit sad as I naively thought it was a ‘cure’, I thought it would, after time, magically make my curve shrink but after seeing Mr Stewart Tucker I really believe that the only way that is possible is with surgery. I do however think that the Theraflex machine is marvelous and I also do believe it is brilliant at pain relief. I have no doubt that I would recommend this treatment for someone who suffers with back pain but I have my doubts that this would affect the degree of curvature in someone with large curve.

I have a Theraflex appointment on Friday and at £52 a session and a 3hr roundtrip to get there I don’t know whether I should bother going now.

I don’t suffer with too much back pain, its manageable, it doesn’t affect my life in too many ways, yes its uncomfortable now and again but everyone gets aches and pains. I think I could live with my Scoliosis if I knew that it would stay this way, I would use Theraflex to treat the aches and pains and I am sure I would lead a happy normal life. What I do need to remind myself is that my curve is getting worse, in 10yrs time it will be about 10-15degrees more severe and I am sure it will impact greatly on my day to day life. Probably then I will decide I have had enough of the pain and deformity and then the operation will be harder and more difficult to correct and my healing time will probably be longer as I will be abit older.

It seems like most people get the surgery because they are in vast amounts of pain and so I do sometimes stop and think that because I am not in ‘so’ much pain, maybe this surgery is unnecessary. I bet if I was having back ache today then this whole blog would be written completely differently. Easy to forget how much the pain hurts when your not currently feeling it.

Someone else was in the same boat

So turns out that my best friends brother had a very similar surgery last year and I have been in contact over facebook about what to expect. He is only about 17ish and he seems really upbeat about the whole thing which has made me feel pretty positive.

To be honest all I can seem to think about at the moment is this operation and I really think I just want to get it out of the way as soon as I can. When I got my tattoo the worst part was sitting in the waiting room waiting to get it done, that was worse than the tattoo pain itself, and I feel even though the waiting and being scared is probably no where near the amount of pain I will experience after this operation but it could be unnecessary as if I had the op this afternoon then I would miss out most of the scaredness first.

Anyway I am rambling.. still awaiting my MRI appointment and then I should get a better idea of when this bloody thing is gonna take place.

Welcome to my Scoliosis World!

Hello,

My name is Chrissy I am 28yrs old and the reason I have decided to write this blog is because I have very recently decided to have Spinal Surgery to try and treat my Scoliosis.

I was diagnosed with Scoliosis when I was about 12 or 13years old at school during a routine test. No one had ever noticed it before and it didn’t bother me as I didn’t notice any symptoms. I used to go for check ups and xrays every 6 months or so and I really don’t remember paying too much attention to it all. To be honest I was more bothered about going through puberty and taking my top off in front of doctors, in fact the more I think about it the more I remember how incredibly uncomfortable that used to make me (it really didn’t matter that my dad used to say “don’t worry Chris, they just see you as a machine”). When I got to maybe 16 I noticed that my right hip stuck out more than me left one and I kinda just stopped bothering to go to the drs.

As I have gotten old the back pain has slowly increased, I have recently been trying the Theraflex therapy for the pain and hoping it would help to straighten me out but unfortunately as pain increased I decided to go back and visit a specialist. Luckily I have private medical cover so I googled away and after reading some wonderful reviews I decided to visit Stewart Tucker at The Wellington Hospital in London.

At my appointment Mr Tucker took a look at my spine and did a brief exam he also looked at the xrays I had done 18months previously and requested I got some done that day which he then compared. Unfortunately it wasn’t the best news as the curves (2 x 60degrees, my spine is a big S) have got slightly bigger and in his expert opinion they will continue to do so at a rate of about 1 – 2degree’s per year which in 10 years time would be an even bigger problem than it is now.

So Mr Tucker thinks surgery will be a good idea, he said if I leave it 10yrs and then decide to have surgery (which I guess I probably would as the pain will probably get worse along with the curve) the operation will be an even bigger job.

Next step is to get an open MRI (along with being all twisted in the spine, I also have a little bit of claustrophobia, which I found out about when I tried to have a horrible closed in MRI) and then have an appointment with Mr Tucker and my parents and partner to discuss the operation and any questions.

ARGHHHHHHH

I have been reading blogs on the internet and this surgery doesn’t seem like fun!!!