Farewell My Friends....My Scoliosis Surgery Is March 20th, so this Is The Real Deal!!
 

Ok, so just to clarify, my scoliosis surgery is Tuesday March 20th. Tomorrow I have pre admission testing at the hospital, and the Monday before my surgery I have an appointment with the spine doctor. I am very nervous, but I feel liek I am in a good place.

Last Tuesday, I talked with a preacher at my church, and really got me feeling good about things. Regardless, it is a huge undertaking (it being two surgeries and all) and I am still quite scared, and it still seems like it won't happen, I don't know, it is just freaking me out. Since you are dealing with the spine, and it is as MAJOR of an operation as you can get, you could die, become paralyzed and or go blind. All of these things are rare, but even if there is just a .1 percent likelihood, it needs to be mentioned.

My time on the Ledge will be significantly diminished for the next week and a half, and for several weeks after the surgery, I won't be posting so, I just wanted to say and official good-bye, and that I am going to miss you guys. I told my parents that I want FM/Stevie playing in my room on a 24/7 basis.:nod:

An awesome little note here, yesterday I visited a pediatric surgeon who will be watching over me during the operation to make sure everything goes well with my diaphragm (I was born with a diaphragmatic hernia) and he asked me what kind of music I liked. So, I of course told him and he was blown away, saying that he loves the Mac as well. He way them at the Gaylord center in Nashville during SYW:nod: Very cool if you ask me, and he says he will have their music playing in the operating room.

OK, so anyway, I just wanted to make an official farewell and tell the whole community that I will miss you guys and will get back to you as soon as possible, although soon may be about a month.

You all take care of yourselves, and your families, and tell them you love them. You never know when something could happen and you might not see them again.

Love You Guys:xoxo: ,
Ethan

Hey kid,

I'll say a prayer for you as I know how scary it is to have any kind of surger. And your's sounds pretty major. I wish I had asked for some Mac or Stevie during my surgeries. Anyway, I hope your recovery is swift and painless with no setbacks.
Take care and maybe you can post in the hospital if they or anybody can get a laptop for you. Just don't come up wiith anymore polls if you do. Life's too short you know?

Best of luck to you.
Eliud

Best of luck, Ethan. I hope everything goes BETTER than expected and you get back here in not just good, but GREAT health. :wavey:

I'm sending a lot of positive thoughts and well wishes your way, Ethan.
I'm sure everything is going to go perfectly, and you'll soon feel better than you ever have.

Take good care of yourself. :)

Good luck kiddo, Hope all goes well with your surgeries and recovery.

Good luck with the surgery, I hope everything goes well for you and you're back here real soon! :)

Thank you all for your warm wishes. I am sure they will help. I am in a good place right now for this whole thing

Godspeed. :angel:

Good luck. :nod:

take care and resteasy after surgery...sounds like you are in good hands and I wish you well. :angel:

Good luck! You'll be fine. :nod:

I'm not trying to be a monkey head, but does anyone remember the Judy Blume book about the girl with scoliosis? I thought it was "Are you there god..." but none of the synopses I've read mention it. :confused:

Good luck, Ethan - sounds like you're in good hands!

I had back surgery in 1999 for a herniated disc - scary stuff - but I came through it just fine and haven't had any problems since.

Keep us posted, when you're feeling up to it! :angel:

Good luck, Ethan. I am sure you will be in good hands. Speedy recovery!

mmmmyeah, okay, but what is that Judy Bloom book with scoliosis? Will no one answer? Should I ask in the book thread? This seemed like a good place, being about scoliosis and all. Or should I put this in my evidence box entitled "hardly anyone reads anyone else's posts"? :laugh:

Anyway, Ethan, I'm glad you get surgery and don't have to wear a big ugly junior high back brace like the one in the book THAT I CAN'T FIGURE OUT AND NO ONE WILL TELL ME.

:laugh:

You'll be fine, Ethan, enjoy yourself, you'll never be in another office where they play FM all the time for you. :woohoo: Order lots of popsicles and pudding. Heal well. Make your family bring you delicious hamburgers. Read some books while you're there. etc.

Sometimes I dream that the only thing I have to do is lay in bed and read books. So, you know, take advantage, for me. :p

^ Dude, yeah. Take advantage of the pudding and ice cream and all of that yummy stuff they force-feed you while in recovery. You'll do fine, kid. These guys know what they're doing. :)


Amber - No one knows. Let it go. :laugh: j/k. Now you've got me wondering, too. That doesn't sound familiar to me.

I swear it's "Are you there god, it's me, blah blah blah". I totally went to the Blume website and looked at all the titles. I'm very frustrated. Although pudding an popsicles would go a long way toward soothing my mind....
Still I will not let it go.

You'll neeeeevah get away from the Blume book that haaaaunts you! I haven't read Are You there blah blah blah since... I don't know when. Wait, did I even read that? If I didn't, then that explains why I have no idea if scoliosis is mentioned in it or not.

OH. I googled it for you. 'tis Deenie, looks like. :angel:

http://www.amazon.com/Deenie-Judy-Blume/dp/0440932599

#2 for you!

Yeah...I know that seems like the book, but I dunno. I guess it must be. I just don't remember it that way at all.
Thanks guys.
In the book I remember, no one was going to be a model, and I can't imagine reading a book called "Deenie".
As of now, I'll have to go with this, though. How weird. If this is the book, I'm really mad at my 9-10 year old memory. lol. Maybe if you read them all at once they blend togethah? Seriously, I don't even ever remember reading a book called Deenie.

IT'S DEENIE. :mad: :mad: It has to be, lol. Go take a copy out of the library then come back and tell us whether or not that was the book you read.

Yeah, that's what I was going to do, you don't have to get all mad. :laugh: I'm going to review a significant portion of the Bloom catalogue. I have to. I'm just saying it's weird that I don't remember the title or the rest of the plot, okay? Can't I just think that is weird? Book Nazi....:laugh:
I remember lots of other plots and stuff. It's just freaking me out, okay?

Book Nazi? Moi? You must have me confused with Carrie. Or was she the spelling nazi? :D

No, you aren't. Carrie is the grammar nazi, I am one of the spelling nazi's (perhaps the most passionate), and I don't know who the book nazi is.
But I was teasing, and you didn't spell anything wrong, so it's all good.:laugh:

I'm the Cyndi Lauper nazi, but I can be the book nazi on my spare time. ;)

Sweet. Nothing better than a multitalented chick. I guess I have the nutrition nazi job as well as the spelling one, so I'm all good. :rolleyes: It would appear, upon evidence review, that I am an asshole.:laugh: "well it's nothin' that I didn't knoh-ho".

You ain't seen nuthin' yet. :cool:

Nutrition Nazi? You and Paula tie for that one. You should mud wrestle for the title. I mean, if you want to.

Hey. Good luck with your op dude. You'll be fine. I'm sure if Stevie and the rest of the mac new you were having a serious op they'd send all their best wishes for ya. You'll be fine tho seriously. We'll see ya back posting hundred's of poll's in no time lol. All the best and take care.

It *was* Deenie- and the reason I remember it is because I had scoliosis so the book had an impact on me. Deenie wanted to become a model but couldn't because of her scoliosis.

good luck w/ everything!!!~

Good luck with everything Ethan, I hope all goes well and you're back on your feet in no time! Take care. :D

i read "deenie" also & was diagnosed w/ scoliosis too when i was 12, thank goodness, it straightened out w/ massive back exercises~ & amber your book was "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret", loved that book too~

Good luck, Ethan. Surgery sucks, but you'll feel much better when it's all done.

Take care!

Good luck! Take care!

My thoughts and prayers are with you. I hope that you will be up and going faster than expected and that you will feel much better. We'll miss you here on the Ledge until your return.:angel:

Thank you guys. Today I went to the hospital for pre admissions testing, and we were getting some of our questions answered by a nurse. Pretty all of my questions were about pain. She said that when I first get out of surgery, it is going to feel like I got hit by a Mack truck. This will last a day or two, and then I will be uncomfortable, and my pain should be controlled, except for when they shift me. THAT WILL HURT!!!!

The surgery is in 11 days (Tuesday) and my attitude toward this whole thing see-saws regularly.

Thank you all for all of the support.:nod:
Much Love,
Ethan

I had major back surgery when I was 10 (for spondylolesthesis, not scoliosis). The "shifting" was very rough, so my parents asked the doctors if I could turn myself. It took me about 30 minutes and I had to do it every four hours, but it was worth it to me. Times have changed in the 25 or so years since I had my surgery- I was in the hospital for two months and had to wear a body cast. Good luck.

Good Luck Ethan! I'm sure everything will go well, take care. :)

Romy

Well with a good, well-experienced anesthesiologist, the transition from OR to hospital bed (not the literal transition of your physical body, but the bridge from intra-op pain control to post-op pain control) should be relatively comfortable. Of course, you'll have some pain. But 1-2 days of feeling like you were hit by a Mack truck? That's unacceptable, IMO, and shows poor pain management/planning on the part of the anesthesiologist and your post-op surgery team. Pain can be quite difficult to manage, especially in a complicated case such as spine surgery, but it can be done.

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine. I don't think there should be a mindset in the medical community that "surgery is going to hurt" and that you just have to deal with it. Pain management, like all of medicine, is an art that takes time and practice to perfect. Unfortunately I think it's underemphasised, which only perpetuates the fear that patients have of surgery.

Just my opinion, but eh, whatever.


Brad

Good luck man.:)