My name's Laura I'm 19 and from England. I was diagnosed with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis a couple of years ago. As my bend was 53 degrees the consultant said I needed surgery. I was originally supposed to have it done last summer but it was cancelled because in the MRI scan they found a cyst in my spinal chord which was a result of a Chiari Malformation. Apparently my brain was too large for my skull and getting pushed down into my spinal column (Ahh!) . The extra pressure had created a cyst in my spinal cord. So I had neurosurgery for that last summer instead.

The operation itself is generally about 1 and half hours. Mine took 3 because apparently it was one of the worst cases my surgeon had ever seen, but I was asleep so I didn't know anyway! They monitor your spinal cord activity the whole time to check its all ok which I found really reassuring.

When I woke up afterwards I was on morphine. I had a button to push every time I felt any pain. My advice on that is to push it as soon as you feel anything hurting, don't wait till it gets bad. It's a really clever system so no matter how many times you push you can't overdose yourself.

For the first day or so I was in intensive care. I don't know the situation in US but for me it was one nurse to 2 patients which was really good. My parents were there too. I don't remember too much of that day but the morphine kept making me think people were saying really odd things to me, which was really bizarre. The morphine generally stopped the pain although I did have a bit of a headache. I slept a lot but they wake you up every half an hour or so to check your pupils still dilate and that you can move your legs etc. I remember I kept feeling really thirsty, I think thats the anasthetic. You'll also have a catheter in so you don't have to worry about going to the loo..

One of the strangest things was that I couldn't really hold my head up. Because they have to cut through the muscle at the back of your neck to do the op my head kept flopping to the right. So I asked for a pillow which they put next to my head to support it. For a few days afterwards I found I was slipping down the bed but couldn't lift myself back up because of my neck. If you say, the nurses should move you back but make sure someone is supporting your neck/head or it can really hurt.

For the next 5 days I had to lie flat on my back and not move too much because they wanted to make sure it had healed around my spinal cord. Also this helps to start this cyst draining. I'd advise wiggling your toes and things though to keep the circulation going. I didn't really get that bored because a lot of the time I was just really tired. After a few days they start to sit you up in your bed.

Pain wise it wasn't too bad. I did get really bad headaches but they weren't constant. My eyes also felt puffy and pressured. I was off morphine after a couple of days and then it was just paracetemol. It was difficult to swallow the tablets because the op effects your neck muscles and you're lying down, so I'd advise asking for soluble or liquid paracetemol.

The real problem afterwards was sickness and dizziness. Basically the op is decompressing your brain so I imagine the effect is a bit like altitude sickness. I couldn't watch telly or read without feeling really dizzy so it's quite cool if your parents are there to get them to read to you or something. Things like crosswords or stuff you don't have to constantly look at were good too. Because of the dizziness and the anasthetic I was very sick afterwards. I didn't start eating properly till about 2 weeks after the op and it took about a month to eat normally again. The thing I'll say about this is that I kept thinking I was never going to stop being sick and get back to eating normally. It takes a while but it DOES get better Just try and make yourself eat and hold it down as long as you can to get some energy. Even if you don't feel like it (which you probably won't). The other thing to say is ask to eat whatever you fancy. The first thing I ate was some McD's chicken nuggets! It doesn't really matter what it is, it's just good to start eating something. Once you start eating you have more energy and it did really help with my recovery. Just don't feel discouraged if it takes a while.

Getting up felt really odd the first time. I was very tired still and it made me feel incredibly dizzy. I had a physio come and show me some exercises to do to strengthen my neck muscles again. It is hard at first and does make you feel worse, but if you do them your neck does build up again quicker.

I went home 11 days after surgery. My parents stayed at home with me and even once they went back to work they tried to make sure someone was with me each day. This is really helpful as for quite a while afterwards you will probably feel dizzy when you stand up or turn your head and still be very tired. My best advice about coming home is probably don't try to do too much too quickly. I was really excited about being home and so wanted to stay up but I was exhausted from the journey and really should have just gone to bed. It only made me feel worse the next day. If you feel tired or get a headache or your eyes hurt, have a lie down and rest. It's not something that will go away overnight once you get home (though that would be nice hehe).

I hope this helps. It isn't a very nice op to go through but 4 months later I was playing squash with my mum. So even if it doesn't feel like it at the time, it does get better it just takes a while

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