Costoplasty Clarity

I belong to a support forum for people with scoliosis. I thought I would mention that again, though most of you know already. Those who don't know sometimes seem to wonder how it is my circle of friends seems to include so many people with spinal issues ;-)

Over on SSO I've been asking for some clarity re costoplasties - a procedure that trims some bone from a protruding rib hump to improve the cosmetic appearance of your back after corrective surgery. I was booked in to have this done but in the end I was told Mr Tucker didn't feel it was necessary - he obtained a good enough correction by loosening, de-rotating and fusing my spine.

However - he did do a thoracotomy and remove one or two of my ribs so he could get in and collapse my lung, and gain access to the front of my spine to remove a few discs and loosen it up (nice huh - hope you're not eating).

The point of going through all this is I am trying to work out where the intractable pain is coming from. If you google thoracotomy it's not great news in terms of long term recovery and freedom from pain. Yet costoplasty is widely regarded as the most painful procedure. I simply cannot imagine anything more painful than the agony I went through so am grateful that didn't have to happen!

Having written it all down it seems an irrelevance now.The pain is there no matter what the source. As I write it feels like a red hot knife is being twisted below my shoulder blade. Well, how I imagine that might happen as thankfully no one has done that to me for real!

Off to get a shower and dressed, then onto a breakfast meeting with my team. Another busy and distracting day, which perhaps in the end is the best way to cope whatever the cause.

Laters xxx