Guest guest Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Hi , I'm not comfortable with the idea of a "fellow" accompanying the Dr... What are your thoughts?? Racine <lindaracine@...> wrote: Hi Ken...Most surgeons do at least some two stage surgeries in one day. My advice would be to not limit your search on that criteria. Find a surgeon you like, and whom you think you can trust, and then trust that s/he’ll do what’s best for you. You may find a surgeon that will do exactly what you want, and find out that it wasn’t in your best interest.Regards,On 10/2/06 10:43 AM, "Ken Leonard" <kclnt777 > wrote: Hello All, A couple days ago I posted that I would be thinking of some questions to ask of you and here are just a few that I have... Since putting off surgery til my mid 40's may not be a reality.... I feel I need to start asking questions again... (Thanks for putting up with me) lol 1) In picking a doctor - I feel I want to go with a Dr that does both stages in one day. I know this narrows down the list of possible Dr's - Can you tell me the names of Dr's that do both stages on the same day? 2) Did anyone "post revision" find out after surgery that the problem they went in to fix was not the only problem they found once you were being operated on? I ask this because I think there is something going on at the base of my fusion (near L2 or L3) that is not showing up on the MRI or other tests. 3) Other than Edie, has anyone else opted for having the Laminectomy (sp ck) portion of the surgery - or to rephrase the question - Has anyone had surgery without further fusion? If so, what was the outcome? 4) Most of my pain seems to come from Sciatica - but my limitations come from not being able to bend in any direction.... which causes me to be very limited in what I can do: ride in a certain car, sit in a certain chair, go to certain restaurants, stand in church, stand at family or friends houses (when I go).... it causes me to miss out on some of my kids school functions - I am only able to walk short distances, drive just a few miles - or even sit in the chairs that I can tolerate for much time at all... On strictly an opinion only basis: when do you say Enough! And go to the next step with surgery? 5) BTW: my kids are 7, 9 & 13 (Is there a preferred age to wait to have surgery? Sorry so long - any feedback is appreciated!! For those interested: I am down 58 lbs!! Take care, Ken. Get your email and more, right on the new .com <http://us.rd./evt=42973/*http://www./preview> Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Ken... If you choose a surgeon in a university setting, some of the surgery will amost certainly be done by a fellow. If you want to be certain that the surgeon you choose does all of the surgery, you should select someone in private practice. -- Re: [ ] Questions () > >Hi , > > I'm not comfortable with the idea of a " fellow " accompanying the Dr... What are your thoughts?? > > Racine <lindaracine@...> wrote: > Hi Ken... > >Most surgeons do at least some two stage surgeries in one day. My advice would be to not limit your search on that criteria. Find a surgeon you like, and whom you think you can trust, and then trust that s/he’ll do what’s best for you. You may find a surgeon that will do exactly what you want, and find out that it wasn’t in your best interest. > >Regards, > > >On 10/2/06 10:43 AM, " Ken Leonard " <kclnt777@...> wrote: > > Hello All, > > > >A couple days ago I posted that I would be thinking of some questions to ask of you and here are just a few that I have... > > > >Since putting off surgery til my mid 40's may not be a reality.... I feel I need to start asking questions again... (Thanks for putting up with me) lol > > > >1) In picking a doctor - I feel I want to go with a Dr that does both stages in one day. I know this narrows down the list of possible Dr's - Can you tell me the names of Dr's that do both stages on the same day? > > > >2) Did anyone " post revision " find out after surgery that the problem they went in to fix was not the only problem they found once you were being operated on? I ask this because I think there is something going on at the base of my fusion (near L2 or L3) that is not showing up on the MRI or other tests. > > > >3) Other than Edie, has anyone else opted for having the Laminectomy (sp ck) portion of the surgery - or to rephrase the question - Has anyone had surgery without further fusion? If so, what was the outcome? > > > >4) Most of my pain seems to come from Sciatica - but my limitations come from not being able to bend in any direction.... which causes me to be very limited in what I can do: ride in a certain car, sit in a certain chair, go to certain restaurants, stand in church, stand at family or friends houses (when I go).... it causes me to miss out on some of my kids school functions - I am only able to walk short distances, drive just a few miles - or even sit in the chairs that I can tolerate for much time at all... On strictly an opinion only basis: when do you say Enough! And go to the next step with surgery? > > > >5) BTW: my kids are 7, 9 & 13 (Is there a preferred age to wait to have surgery? > > >Sorry so long - any feedback is appreciated!! > > > >For those interested: I am down 58 lbs!! > > > >Take care, Ken. > > >--------------------------------- > Get your email and more, right on the new .com <http://us.rd./evt=42973/*http://www./preview> > > > > > > > >--------------------------------- >Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 While it's true that most university surgeons will have the residents/fellows attending the surgeries there are a couple of things to keep in mind if you are a patient having your surgery done in this environment: You have certain patient rights that allow for you to demand that only the trained surgeon actually perform the surgery Most of these surgeons do the major parts of the surgery, allowing the fellows to observe and participate only in the minor procedures (usually closure) The New Patient Appointment Letter that I received from Dr. Bridwell's office states the following: "Because -Jewish and Children's Hospitals are teaching intitutions, it is a common question of patients who come for surgery whether Dr. Bridwell or the residents and fellows will be doing the surgery. Dr. Bridwell always does the surgery on all of his patients. He makes the skin incision as well as doing the decompression, fusion, instrumentation, and bone grafting. Dr. Bridwell will call and speak with your family regarding the results and expectations of the surgery at the completion of the procedure or during the closure." This is of great concern to me, as I have had surgeries done in both types of settings and at this stage of the game certainly prefer to only have the "seasoned professional" doing my surgery. I wasn't completely aware of all my "Patient Rights" prior to my last surgery and I remember signing a form that stated the residents/fellows would be allowed to take part in my surgery and I didn't know I had any other choice. My sister-in-law is an administrator for Kaiser Permanente and she told me that I had the right to refuse (unfortunately, after the fact) to sign that form. So now I know that I can (and will) be very specific in telling my next surgeon, his staff and the hospital, upon being admitted, that residents, fellows, and any other medical students, will only be allowed to observe during my surgical procedure(s) and all decisions regarding my care will be made by and authorized by the surgeon only. I hope this information helps. I think it's very important that we all know and exercise our Patient Rights. These are very serious surgeries that we undergo and we should have the bottom line as to what and who is involved in them - right down to the anesthesiologist! Also, I would like to add that I think making the decision to have revision surgery is a very personal one - some of us deal with pain management better than others, but if you are at the point where it is affecting your "Quality of Life", then it's time to do something about it. While we all share this common affliction, we are all very different cases; therefore, these surgeons have to devise a surgical plan that is unique to the individual. In some cases, and by no fault of the surgical technique or performance, things just do not go as planned. In my case, I just don't seem to fuse properly - that's my body being obstinate, not anything that I do wrong or that the surgeon did incorrectly. After a lot of self-reflection lately, I am no longer going to try and tell myself that the next surgery is going to be my "cure-all". If it alleviates my pain without having to live on drugs or epidural sterioid injections and helps me to funtion better physically than I have been in my daily activities, then I'll be happy. I have come to the conclusion and realization that for me this fight will never be over. I know that even though I am having this next surgery it most certainly won't be the last. How can it be? My last surgeon said "all we are doing is creating a deformity to fix another one" and because of that, there will be more degenerative problems for our bodies to endure and we will most probably need yet another surgery to "fix" it. We just need to deal with it and Tango on. Kelley > >> > Hello All,> > > > > > > >A couple days ago I posted that I would be thinking of some questions to ask of you and here are just a few that I have...> > > > > > > >Since putting off surgery til my mid 40's may not be a reality.... I feel I need to start asking questions again... (Thanks for putting up with me) lol> > > > > > > >1) In picking a doctor - I feel I want to go with a Dr that does both stages in one day. I know this narrows down the list of possible Dr's - Can you tell me the names of Dr's that do both stages on the same day?> > > > > > > >2) Did anyone "post revision" find out after surgery that the problem they went in to fix was not the only problem they found once you were being operated on? I ask this because I think there is something going on at the base of my fusion (near L2 or L3) that is not showing up on the MRI or other tests.> > > > > > > >3) Other than Edie, has anyone else opted for having the Laminectomy (sp ck) portion of the surgery - or to rephrase the question - Has anyone had surgery without further fusion? If so, what was the outcome?> > > > > > > >4) Most of my pain seems to come from Sciatica - but my limitations come from not being able to bend in any direction.... which causes me to be very limited in what I can do: ride in a certain car, sit in a certain chair, go to certain restaurants, stand in church, stand at family or friends houses (when I go).... it causes me to miss out on some of my kids school functions - I am only able to walk short distances, drive just a few miles - or even sit in the chairs that I can tolerate for much time at all... On strictly an opinion only basis: when do you say Enough! And go to the next step with surgery? > > > > > > > >5) BTW: my kids are 7, 9 & 13 (Is there a preferred age to wait to have surgery?> > > > > >Sorry so long - any feedback is appreciated!!> > > > > > > >For those interested: I am down 58 lbs!! > > > > > > > >Take care, Ken.> > > > > >---------------------------------> > Get your email and more, right on the new .com <http://us.rd./evt=42973/*http://www./preview> > > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >---------------------------------> >Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min.> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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