1st nsg appointment

[Guest guest]

Hello,

Finally had my first appointment with the neurosurgeon today!

I was generally not very optimistic about the appointment having read about

all the Nsg's out there with misconceptions about Chiari. I wanted to see

one of the doctor's on the WACMA recommended list but my primary doctor

convinced me to see a local nsg first because there would be insurance

complications. So I went to see Dr. Egnatchik in West Seneca, NY.

Well the appointment went much better than I was expecting. He seemed to be

very familiar with ACM and said many of the same things I heard in the ASAP

conference tapes in presentations by Dr. Milhorat and Dr. Menezes. He didn't

dismiss any of my symptoms at all, which was a relief, especially after my

recent escapade at the emergency room.

He is recommending decompression surgery, mainly because my symptoms have

progressed so quickly. 6 months ago I had no symptoms, now I have headaches,

severe neck/shoulder pain, frequent tingling in both arms and both legs,

vision problems, etc. He said there is no way to really know how much worse

things will get and the rapid rate of progression warrants surgery.

He said he does this surgery a few times a year. Is that a good number of

times or should I have expected more? He said his patients generally have

good recovery especially when they have been diagnosed early, but that of

course there is no absolute guarantee. He did say he has had one

decompression surgery where a leak spring in the dura patch that had to be

repaired (patch was replaced with a stronger graft).

He wants me to go for two more MRIs on the thoracic and lumbar spine to

check for additional syrinxes, and I would have at least one more

appointment with him before any surgery was scheduled. We didn't get into

too many details about the surgery but from what he described it sounds

like he would do the duraplasty and laminectomy; as I understand not

everyone does this. What are the pros/cons of this?

I am still planning to get a 2nd opinion from one of the recommended doctors

(probably Dr. Hodge in Syracuse). I'll probably have to pay for that myself

since it will be out of my insurance network. If that consultation matches

Dr. Egnatchik's diagnosis then I am leaning toward letting Dr. Egnatchik do

the surgery since he is close by and there wouldn't be insurance

complications.

Does that sound wise? It almost seems too good to be true to get someone

good on the first try, especially someone local, and I realize I am very

hopeful about a solution and probably not totally objective. Any

advice/feedback would be greatly appreciated.

God bless,