Scoliosis Surgery

Jamie Nicole Vanourny

Children’s Hospital of Iowa

Peer Review Status: Internally Peer Reviewed
Creation Date: May 1991
Last Revision Date: June 2002

I dedicate this to:
My Mom: for being at the hospital and for going through what I went through.
My Dad: for helping us through these difficult times.
My brother: for giving me strength.

Finding Out
In sixth grade, when I was 12, I found out that I had scoliosis. Scoliosis is curvature of the spine. I was really scared and depressed. I saw my pediatric doctor who steered me in the direction of another doctor - an orthopaedic doctor. I saw this doctor three times after I found out that I had scoliosis. I went back for an appointment and and found out that my curve had reached 54 degrees. The orthopaedic doctor sent me to Iowa City to see a children's orthopaedic doctor who treated people for scoliosis. When I found out that might I have to have surgery, I cried a lot. I saw this doctor, Dr. Stewart Weinstein, in January. I then learned that I had to have surgery to straighten my curve. Dr. Weinstein looked at all my past x-rays, my reports from the other doctors, and my cat scan x-ray. Dr. Weinstein had me have an MRI done. MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. This is a kind of x-ray that is a three-dimensional film that gives the doctors more information. My mom had this x-ray done and she said it was sort of scary. I wasn't too scared until I got onto the bed that went into the circular machine. The nurse put me onto a padded cart and strapped me still. Then the nurse pushed me and the cart into the machine. My mom got to come back with me and talked to me about my favorite places to be to calm me down. That helped a lot. The MRI sounds like a jackhammer. Sometimes loud, sometimes soft, sometimes for long periods of time and sometimes for short periods of time. There was music playing that took my mind off the noise.

Danger
After the MRI was finished, my parents and I went back to the orthopaedic clinic to set a date for the surgery. This was a very difficult moment for us. It made the surgery seem so real and so near. Joyce, the secretary, helped us set a date.

I take dance. It is a very important part of life. The recital was mid May and I couldn't miss it. It was too important to me. We scheduled the surgery for May 30, 1991. It was after my dance recital. Whew!

Doctors
The next few months were uneventful as far as doctor's appointments.

My next greatest hurdle was telling all my family and friends my news. At first I didn't want anyone to know about my back. I didn't want them to know what was happening toy body. But after I told my closest friends, it got easier. Eventually, I told all my friends, well most of them anyway!

Questions
During this time before my surgery, my emotional track ran out of room! There were so many times when I cried and asked a lot of questions. But I realized it was all normal. I read a lot of books on scoliosis and they helped, but I still had a lot of questions. So I wrote them down, all 52 of them! Questions.

Then it came to my last day at school. I was glad to be out for the summer but not for this reason. The day was kind of depressing at times, especially after school when I had to say good-bye to all my friends. I gave them all hugs and cried a little, but my friends were real supportive for me. So were my parents.

The next day at Iowa City, the day before my surgery, the nurses and doctors did a lot of testing on me. They took a sample of my blood, my temperature, height and weight, and pictures. I saw the anesthesiologist and Dr. Weinstein. I asked a lot of questions and answered a lot of questions. There was a lot of waiting and a lot of worrying, but we made it through the day, my parents and me.

In April and May, I gave my own blood so that when I lost blood during my surgery I would get my own back. I felt more confident about doing this although giving my own blood was frightening. I had to follow a good diet and stay on iron pills to give my blood. Once I wasn't able to give the blood because my hematocrit in my blood wasn't in the range where it should be. The people at the blood bank were really nice and friendly. It helped to have people I liked rather than people I didn't like sticking me with needles!

P.E.
In school, I had to do most of my work ahead of time because I would be gone. I had to make up three tests ahead of time. In P.E., the teacher wouldn't let me do things because of giving the blood.

Surgery
The day of my surgery came. Was I ever scared! A person put EEGs all over me-on my head and legs. EEGs are little circular things with colored wires attached to them stuck on with glue. I looked like I was wired for sound! In surgery the doctors or nurses remove the EEGs. The purpose of the EEGs is to monitor your nerves around your spinal cord. After the EEGs were on, I went back to the clinic and put on these bikini tie-on underwear. I started crying because I was so scared. A nurse came with a bed to take me to surgery. Before being wheeled into surgery, I went to a room where I saw the anesthesiologist and some nurses. My mom got dressed in scrubs to come back with me to the operating room. I'm glad she did that. I said good-bye to my dad and off I went into the operating room. This was the scariest part of the whole surgery I think. The doctors in the operating room told me everything that they were going to do. A doctor gave me a shot of novocaine and my mom said think about your special place. The next thing I knew, I was in my hospital room that night.

CD
The rods put into my back are actually called CD instrumentation. CD stands for Cortrel-Dubousset instrumentation.

PCA
My mom said that my face was all puffy and my arms, hands, and practically my whole body was puffy from all the fluids. I could barely open my eyes. The nurses came in a lot to take vitals. One thing that helped a lot was the PCA pump. PCA stands for Patient Controlled Analgesia. All I had to do was push a button and in a short time the pain relieved. I had an IV going to give me fluids. I was wearing TEDs - which are elastic supportive stockings to keep my circulation going well. I had to use a deep breathing device to keep my lungs clear of excess fluids.

After
The next two days passed quickly. My friends and relatives came a lot to see me and made my stay better. I received all four of the blood units that I had given. I had a catheter in so I didn't have to get up to go to the bathroom. I got to sit up in a chair on the third day and was walking on the fourth. I went to therapy on the fourth and fifth day. At first it was hard to walk, but it got easier and finally I walked by myself. My parents were so proud and so was I.

The fifth day I got to go home. I was really happy. Even thorough the car ride home was rough, it was great to get back to my own house. I had to be extra careful about what I did. I took pain medication for a while and usually got up during the night at least once. I grew about an inch and a half to two inches.

As I look back now that it's all over, it wasn't as bad as I had summed it up to be. It is really hard to hear someone say, "Oh, you'll be fine, " when they aren't the ones having the surgery, but at the end, it all works out.

I wrote this book two weeks after the surgery was done and it will be hard at times when I feel up to doing things but I can't yet. But right now it was worth having done.

I want to thank all my family and friends who supported me through these difficult times. It was a hard time to go through, but I made it!

About the Author

Jamie Nicole Vanourny is a 13 year old girl who had scoliosis surgery in May 1991. Jamie's favorite things to do are read, dance, and ski. Jamie is 5'1" and has brown eyes and long brown hair. She lives with both of her parents, one brother who is 11, and her dog Buffy. Jamie's birthday is September 24. Jamie's e-mail address is jnvdolphin@aol.com

See how Jamie is doing 11 years after her surgery.

See related Patient Textbooks about Orthopaedic Surgery.

See related Patient Topics Bones, Joints and Muscles, Child and Teen Health, Children's Page, Food, Nutrition and Metabolism, Orthopaedic Surgery, Scoliosis or Surgeries.

See related Provider Textbooks about Orthopaedic Surgery.

See related Provider Topics Bones, Joints and Muscles, Child and Teen Health, Food, Nutrition and Metabolism, Orthopaedic Surgery, Scoliosis or Surgeries.

All contents copyright © 1992-2004 the Author(s) and The University of Iowa. All rights reserved.

http://www.vh.org/pediatric/patient/orthopaedics/scoliosissurgery/index.html