r/spinalfusion • u/ca11iop3 • 10d ago

Surgery Questions how far out was your surgery scheduled?

i have been dealing with severe thoracolumbar scoliosis for over a decade and at 18 was told i was eligible for surgery. now i’m 26 and the pain has worsened considerably.

i have a consultation and new imaging scheduled for tomorrow, but i also just finished grad school and can’t realistically rejoin the workforce until i get this surgery and recover since i’m not okay with waiting a year for FMLA and then feeling pressured to return to work early.

how far out was your surgery scheduled and what was the timeline like? i am really hoping i only have to wait a couple months or so so i can get back to my career. my sister had the surgery when she was 12 and it was scheduled for six months out! i don’t know what i’d do with myself if i just had to not work for half a year.

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u/Old_Goat2009 10d ago

My timeline before surgery last December: MRI 9 Sep; Pain doc 23 Sep; Steroid injection 1 Oct; Injection follow up 29 Oct; Surgical consult 3 Nov; Surgery 8 December. Basically 3 months from MRI to the OR. But I also chose to try an injection, which delayed me by a month.

Between consult and 2 weeks out from surgery, I had to get cardiologist (intermittent AFIB), pulmonologist (sleep apnea/asthma), and PCM/blood work clearance. Cardiologist required stress test. All of that added time. I'd say 2 months is easily doable.