Re: My sister's un-revision

[Guest guest]

I went to a technology conference today and ate lunch with a teacher

I used to work with. I was thrilled that I had my scooter with me,

since people were walking from the convention center to the

restaurant part of town. I never would have thought to walk that

far, even a few years ago.

But, once we were sitting in the restaurant, she turned to me and

asked, " so when are you going to have surgery to get your back fixed

so you can stand up straight and walk properly again? "

I was a bit taken aback, but then she went on to tell me about

somebody else she knows " with back problems " who had been told that

more surgery would just be too risky until she went to a specialist

in a little podunk town who is doing this new technique where they

put some kind of balloon in a needle and when they get it to the

disk, they inflate it and somehow use some kind of hardening stuff

to repair the disc.

Geez.

I did explain to her that my situation would be slightly more

complicated and that with our lousy insurance, it was going to be a

challenge to go to a doctor who really knows what he is doing. Of

course, she had an answer for that, too -- the PPO that I already

have.

*SIGH*

Sharon, I hope your sister's surgery works out well for her. I do

wish there was a quick fix for us, too.

Some days, I think I can't take much more of this, but then other

days (like when I was swinging on the porch swing and feeling all my

vertebrae moving, and then got down and worked in the garden), I

think that I am actually doing ok as is.

I will definitely be looking forward to hearing how everybody who

has had, or is having, surgery this year turns out. I do want to

hear both the good and the bad so I can base my decision on all the

evidence.

>

> She was determined to beat me to the OR and she did. I wish I

were facing

> such a quick fix.

>

> Sharon

>

[Guest guest]

I guess there are lots of new techniques. That sounded a little like one my

sister Patty's husband had read about, where they inject some sort of gel

into the disc. And then there's the new all-metal replacement disc that Dr.

Hu thinks might eventually be a possibility for . A surgeon in NH is

actually participating in the trials, and part of me wishes I could hold

out. But realistically, even after the disc gets approval, it would still

be an off-label use and my insurance would probably declare it experimental.

And then it would still be hit-or-miss.

I think I've held out long enough and I want my life back. So you can see

how I do. My turn to be the guinea pig. (Reep, reep, reep!)

Sharon

[ ] Re: My sister's un-revision

>I went to a technology conference today and ate lunch with a teacher

> I used to work with. I was thrilled that I had my scooter with me,

> since people were walking from the convention center to the

> restaurant part of town. I never would have thought to walk that

> far, even a few years ago.

>

> But, once we were sitting in the restaurant, she turned to me and

> asked, " so when are you going to have surgery to get your back fixed

> so you can stand up straight and walk properly again? "

>

> I was a bit taken aback, but then she went on to tell me about

> somebody else she knows " with back problems " who had been told that

> more surgery would just be too risky until she went to a specialist

> in a little podunk town who is doing this new technique where they

> put some kind of balloon in a needle and when they get it to the

> disk, they inflate it and somehow use some kind of hardening stuff

> to repair the disc.

>

> Geez.

>

> I did explain to her that my situation would be slightly more

> complicated and that with our lousy insurance, it was going to be a

> challenge to go to a doctor who really knows what he is doing. Of

> course, she had an answer for that, too -- the PPO that I already

> have.

>

>

> *SIGH*

>

>

> Sharon, I hope your sister's surgery works out well for her. I do

> wish there was a quick fix for us, too.

>

> Some days, I think I can't take much more of this, but then other

> days (like when I was swinging on the porch swing and feeling all my

> vertebrae moving, and then got down and worked in the garden), I

> think that I am actually doing ok as is.

>

> I will definitely be looking forward to hearing how everybody who

> has had, or is having, surgery this year turns out. I do want to

> hear both the good and the bad so I can base my decision on all the

> evidence.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>>

>> She was determined to beat me to the OR and she did. I wish I

> were facing

>> such a quick fix.

>>

>> Sharon

>>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> scoliosis veterans * flatback sufferers * revision candidates

>