Hi Guys!

[slaviedavie]

Hi Everyone!

My name is Dave, and I live in South Australia. I came along this site tonight while I was looking for kyphosis surgery and recovery info. You all seem to be an amazing group of people who give eachother an amazing amount of support. I was truely touched as I read through these posts.

Now, down to business. I am comming on 19 this year, and a couple years ago was diagnosed with kyphosis. I had a 5 year period suffering chronic chest infections and chronic fatigue, in which my health just went out of control. After getting over that, I decided it might be fun to 'live life' by overindulging in food, drink, and other substances. I have now, recently, started getting on the exercise buzz, been accepted into university, and have my life set up.

My back is the only thing that is bothering me, as I have become slimmer and fitter thanks to exercise, and I am now feeling rather handsome hehehe. I really wish I could get it fixed, I think the doctor told me it was around a 70 percent kyphosis.

Because I have now held down my first part time job for a couple of months, and am starting university this week, I am concerned about the pain in my upper back. At the end of my short shift, or a day walking around the campus, it hurts quite a bit, and I am constantly stretching my back.

I am also worried that, because of job and uni, the recovery time faced in surgery might make surgery impossible at the moment.

I really do feel like a bit of an ugly monster with my back, and would love surgery.

Can anyone tell me how long the recovery process is likely to take? Is it at all possible that I could be back on track with life (work and class) within a month?

I am also so proud of myself for finally getting my ass into gear with exercise, and would hate it if I would have to give it all up! I just love getting out of bed in the morning, putting on a CD, and having a dance around the house.

Anyway, lots of emotions and thoughts going through my head about my back, would love some help from you guys!

Lots of love

Dave

[Amazed Jean]

Hey! and Welcome to SSO. Congratulations on taking positive steps for your life. I know you are among friends here. I feel like I should lecture you on positive thinking about the body you got, but in reality I have a horribly twisted body and know that nothing is going to make me feel straight and beautiful. I have a handsome husband and beautiful daughter who both think I look great. (I know they are lying but I let them because it feels like what I should do.) Now having said all that I think you should do what feels right to you. I unfortunately waited too long and now cannot have surgery. You are responsible for your own health and that is what should come first. Get yourself as healthy as you can. Talk to a scoliosis surgeon and take care of yourself. SSO is always here and I personnally hope that you are the next hot Aussie.

[GillyG]

Hi Dave and :welcome:

Well done for turning your life around, it takes a very strong and determined character to do a thing like that :-)

Sorry to say though, but it's going to take the same guts and patience to deal with your kyphosis if you opt for surgery. I had the surgery for scoliosis 6 months ago, but I know there are some guys on here with kyphosis who will be able to advise you better about recovery times as the two conditions are similar but not the same. The thing in your favour is your youth, I was basically told nothing could be done for me until a kindly surgeon finally 'took me on' and I had the op at 49, so my recovery is taking a long time. Even so, I would think a month is being rather optimistic, sorry to be a party pooper, but I think it helps to have realistic expectations. What I can tell you is that it's amazing to witness the change in body shape and be able to buy T-shirts and jeans again, even though I'm still struggling with the recovery. The surgery could literally change your life, I think it would be well worth the time investment for you.

Hopefully someone with the relevant experience will post with information for you soon.
Whatever you decide, there are plenty of people on here, both who've had surgery and those who haven't, so you'll always be able to ask questions and generally have somewhere you can 'chat' to people with the same/similar condition.

Good luck, and once again, welcome to the site :niceone:

Gilly x

[mark]

Hi Dave

Welcome to SSO

I like you have a form of kyphosis and havenot been operated on and have gone through the full range of emotions including a period like yours that was pretty mad we all cope with our stresses differently my problem was it took me over 10 years to get through it. I'm really pleased read your starting to sort things out exercise itself can be a pretty strong drug.

Depending on the degree and form of kyphosis you have will determine the complexity of the surgery and the time it takes you to recover. So you need to ask the surgeon a lot of questions. The average length of time it seems to take is about 6 months. If read through a lot of the old posts in this forum by either Zerodegrees, Andy d, and phil you will get some idea of the recovery time and also how they coped.

Kyphosis surgery is a difficult procedure which a lot of surgeons are'nt prepared to do so research it well, find a surgeon who you are comfortable with and ask loads of questions.

If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask

By the way there is a pinned post in the general forum giving details of surgeons around the world. It may be helpful to have in look at it. Also there is some photo's in the gallery of the members i have named above with before and after surgery shots.

We are a friendly bunch who just want to support one another through the good and bad times

mark

[Little Ali]

:welcome2: You sound like a great guy! I know kyphosis/scoliosis really can get you down at times and it's so hard trying to make decisions as to what to do. If you find a good surgeon and they give you good results, like Gilly said, the difference in body shape is fantastic and definitely worth the surgery! My consultant promised me nothing and I've gained 2 inches and can now sit up and not fall over when I had zero balance before! Unfortunately I agree that a month is defintely being extremely optimistic! You have to take it easy and let yourself heal and remember that your body will have been through alot!

Well done on turning your life around and all the best with getting the answers you need and whatever treatment you chose to go ahead with!

:squeeze:

[Lil-Leanne-x]

:welcome2: