I had such a fusion done, its now six years since. I was 16 at time. Everything is technically fine on paper, surgeon is happy, I have had no complications yet.
Still, I feel like the reduced mobility has really really impacted my life quality. I feel like the lost range of motion really hinders me. Not in some drastic way, but in those small things everyday things that you do everyday: looking over your shoulder, but your shoulders not moving; not being able to really louch down on the couch comfotably. Also in golf my swing has never been the same, and quite frankly I find the movement deeply uncomfortable. I also tried to learn tennis, but learning to swing, I encountered the same problem. If I start boxing, this would also likely become an issue.
These seem like small things, but they are so ubiquitous in my life that I feel like I just cannot get a break. I can always kind of "feel" my own body, in a very uncomfortable way. The area where the surgery was done is also sensitive to touch, not in a painful way but a very unpleasant one.I can never really just forget that my body exists, it keeps reminding of its existance all the time, and worrying about it kind of consumes around 10% of my mental capacity at all times.
Honestly, comfort in my day to day life is completely lost. I also worry a lot about the prospect of future complications. These things keep me up at night often. Also sitting is quite unconfortable to me, even with a good chair for long time periods, and I know that i will most likely be getting an office job as im in uni doing science.
To add insult to injury when the surgery was done, I did not have any pain, and I flet like my mobility was alright. Only thing was that the angle was really large, like around 60-70 and it was progressing really fast, almost 10 degrees on one 6mo interval, the surgeon even telling me he usually doesn't see much such agressive scoliosis. At that point the surgeon just told me that it has to be done, and so did another one my parents asked for a second opinion from at the time. Still the surgery just feels like a downgrade, although it's clear it had to be done, there was no other option at that point. I just cannot shake the feeling that it was a mistake, and sometimes i regret my choice.
Also, after the surgery, there was another curve remaining in my lowe back, the part that was not fused. The thought that at some point this curve might start worsening and it would also have to be fused is simply ubearable. I could not live with it.
What i miss the most is just being able to jut not worry about your body, and almost kind of "forget" that it exists, and just go with the flow and enjoy life. I do not know how to put this better, as english isn't my native language.
This is what I'm going through. Have you experienced something similar, how do you get over something like this?