Last week we saw Rita back for follow-up after her correction of her thoracolumbar severe scoliosis. We were able to correct her deformity from a posterior approach only, with a TLIF spacer at her L45 level to give more support. Her L5S1 level was spared, since the disc was in good shape.
Her posture now is just awesome, with a normal hour-glass figure, level shoulders, and wonderful coronal and sagital contours, with excellent lumbar lordosis. Wow. Go Rita! She is back to work, back to life and enjoying a new shape and beginnings!
Interestingly enough, I happened to see one of my other young adult patients at a Winston's Restaurant in North Raleigh last week, as she was walking out to her car. Preop her curve was severe, but on that summer evening, she looked just great, with no evidence she had ever been "crooked", enjoying life as a young, normal person! How great it was to just see her out enjoying life, meeting people, and not being in the hospital or doctor's office! This 50 yo young lady at one point wrote me a powerful letter about how much her scoliosis had affected her self-image from her teen-age years all the way through her life, until she had it fixed earlier this year.
Improved "Self-Image" is one of the benefits of corrective scoliosis and kyphosis surgery, which can be as dramatic as the correction and halting of curve progression, as well as the potential to decrease pain if it is becoming painful. This self-image improvement can be just as dramatic for the 50 or 60 yo as it is for the 15 or 25 or 35 or 45 yo, both men and women.
Dr. Lloyd Hey
The Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
Raleigh, NC -- USA
http://www.heyclinic.com
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