[jenjuelich]

I am the mother of a daughter that has an L-1 complete SCI. She was in a car accident in 2001 at the age of 17 and is now 23. It's 3:45 in the morning and I'm paniced because the plastic surgeon has now decided that she should undergo muscle flap surgery. Unfortunately, I always live in worse-case senarios and I'm so worried that this is just the beginning. What I'm asking is what will life after pressure sore surgery entail. She's very independent and active and has learned her lesson about using cushions and what not. But will this surgery or pressure sore limit her level of activity in the future? Will this mean she can't carry on a normal life and go to school and work in the future? Thank you for any advice or insight.

[edlee]

In my case, I was fortunate in healing with a wound vac and didn't need the surgery. My nephew did need the surgery last year. Both of us are doing exactly the same things we did before except that we may be a bit more likely to do our weight shifts more often.

As long as she is careful during the healing process, there should be no reason to believe she will be hampered in her future.

My experience is limited to myself and my nephew, but I doubt that we are all that unusual (medically speaking, that is).
ed

[greg]

jenjuelich, on Aug 24 2007, 07:58 AM, said:

I am the mother of a daughter that has an L-1 complete SCI. She was in a car accident in 2001 at the age of 17 and is now 23. It's 3:45 in the morning and I'm paniced because the plastic surgeon has now decided that she should undergo muscle flap surgery. Unfortunately, I always live in worse-case senarios and I'm so worried that this is just the beginning. What I'm asking is what will life after pressure sore surgery entail. She's very independent and active and has learned her lesson about using cushions and what not. But will this surgery or pressure sore limit her level of activity in the future? Will this mean she can't carry on a normal life and go to school and work in the future? Thank you for any advice or insight.

I had a flap done in April. I am still limited in my time being up. The doctor is extra cautious. The difference is, I am 51 years old and have been in a chair for 34 years. I did have a flap 22 years ago and had no pproblem until recently.Skin ages too. The important thing is to follow the doctor orders after the surgery. It is hard to stay down for at least 4 weeks or longer. The doctors will tell you, most flap fail because people don't do what they are supposed to.