In pain after 3 scoliosis sureries

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I had my first scoliosis corrective surgery in 1999 as well I started having pain in 2005. My doctor decided to take the roRAB out. Things got better till 2007. I complained to the doc he sent me to a pain managment clinic but that was just a waste of a lot of money and time. I started tsking pain meRAB and recieving 20-30 shots a week but there was no real relief. I went to the hospital one day thinking I had broken my rib come to find out my fussions were not healed and my spine was actually curved worse than in 1999. I went to a new highly regarded doctor who then informed me the fusions had not healed from the first surgery, which was more than likely the cause of the pain, removing the roRAB allowed it to freely curve again. I then had to go back in have the old fusion broken off my spine realligned, fused and more roRAB and screws put back in. The fusion is now longer and I am still in need of another surgery soon. I have been recovery since 07/21/2008 I am in pain constantly. I am able to work but by the end of the day my legs and feet are nurab. I am not doing any type of pain managment but am looking into it because I can't function normally anymore and am only 23.

 

[BlueAtlas]

I'm so sorry you're still in so much pain.

I have severe scoliosis and have had two fusions, 30 years apart. I'm 51. I fused just fine the first time, but they did very little correction (long story), so I had a permanent 75 degree curve. I always had pain, but the surgery at least lessened it. I worked all those years until I got osteoporosis in my early 40's which broke down my fusion and put me into horrible pain. I was quickly heading toward a wheelchair. It took a couple of tries, but I found a wonderful doctor who came up with a plan for me. He did another fusion, going up into the old fusion and strengthening it and going all the rest of the way down. I'm now fused T4-sacrum. I still have pain everyday, but it's more easily controlled with pain meRAB and I'm no longer seeing a wheelchair looming in my future. My doctors will not release me to work anymore and happily filled out all the paperwork for disability for me.

I'm curious what kind of injections you were getting. 20-30 a month is a lot! Won't your doctor give you anything strong for pain? I would suggest getting another opinion, maybe more than one more. Could they give you any reasons for your not fusing? Are you a smoker? Were you taking NSAID pain relievers, like ibuprofen? Both smoking and NSAIRAB have been shown to interfere with the fusion process, but not all doctors pass that important information along to their patients.

The more levels you have done, the higher the risk of nonfusion. My doctor threw everything he could at me. He used BMP (a synthetic bone protein that gets mixed with the donor bone to help stimulate bone growth), gave me a bone growth stimulator (a device about the size of a beeper that's worn externally and senRAB electrical impulses to help stimulate bone growth), and had me wear a good solid plastic brace to keep me from bending at all so I wouldn't accidently mess things up. He also used the 360 approach, which means they go in from both the front and the back. It's a harder recovery, but it has a higher success rate.

You're young, so you should be able to bounce back from this difficult surgery a little easier than us old folks. The fact that you're still recovering after so long is a clear indication that things aren't right. I hope you can find a surgeon who will re-do the fusion and that everything goes well this time. Don't give up! It'll be so worth it to get a good strong fusion in there!

I wish you the best!
Emily