To Jill

[Guest guest]

Jill – Dr. Levine

was my doctor when I was 12 years old. I just had revision surgery with Dr.

Boachie. I corresponded with Dr. Levine

from an e-mail address that was posted on the Hospital for Special Surgery

website. Dr. Levine is head of

Alumni Relations for the hospital and as I understand it he still has an office

in the same offices as Dr. Boachie. Dr. Boachie was provided with all my

x-rays (since age 6) from Dr. Levine.

I think this was a great help to Dr. Boachie. Dr. Boachie’s nurse has

since given me a bunch of my x-rays from my teen age years. Dr. Boachie said

he spoke to Dr. Levine about me.

Just search the HSS website for Alumni Affairs or Relations and you will

probably find Dr. Levine’s

e-mail address and you can ask him any questions you need.

Lorrie Snyder

Revision by Dr. Boachie (11/8/05)

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Jill Gecker

Sent: Monday, January 01, 2007

9:08 PM

Flatback

Subject: Re: [ ]

Re: new member

Hi, Bonnie

I, too, had Dr. Keim for my original surgery but in 1975,

2 yrs before you. I met a sweet 12 yr old who was at the Harkness Pavillion of

Columbia Presbyterian at the same time having the same surgery. She is now

a doctor in MA. and we are still good friends. I guess it's my silver

lining from that time.

My 2nd surgery, at Hospital for Special Surgery was with

Dr. Levine. What a gem. I wish

he wasn't retired. I'd love to consult with him. But, I'm sure that when the

time is right I'll find the right person.

I'm sorry you went through so much with your revision

surery. I think you and all that have gone through it are very brave.

Be well,

Jill

Re:

[ ] Re: new member

Diane,

Hi, Welcome to the group. I sort of " dropped

out " for a while but am going to try to participate a bit more. I had my

original surgery at Columbia Presbyterian in 1975. I'm 54 now and have suffered

from flatback for quite a few years now. I, too, have severe neck problems; in

fact, 3 disks are herniated and 1 is pressing on my spinal cord. I do

believe that the flatback has only aggravated the problem. And, believe it or

not, I've been complaining, on occasion, of difficulty swallowing, too.

Anyway, I wanted to say hi and tell you that I'm your

neighbor. I live in Fairfield.

So, please feel free to email me.

Be well,

Jill

[Guest guest]

Lorrie,

Thank you sooo much for that info. I just found his email and am grateful to you for helping me find a way to contact him. I will put it away for future reference. I'll try to draft something to him in the next couple of months. Believe it or not, I have other medical issues that have to take precedence, at least for now.

Be well,

Jill

Re: [ ] Re: new member

Diane,

Hi, Welcome to the group. I sort of "dropped out" for a while but am going to try to participate a bit more. I had my original surgery at Columbia Presbyterian in 1975. I'm 54 now and have suffered from flatback for quite a few years now. I, too, have severe neck problems; in fact, 3 disks are herniated and 1 is pressing on my spinal cord. I do believe that the flatback has only aggravated the problem. And, believe it or not, I've been complaining, on occasion, of difficulty swallowing, too.

Anyway, I wanted to say hi and tell you that I'm your neighbor. I live in Fairfield. So, please feel free to email me.

Be well,

Jill

[Guest guest]

Jill,

Please post and let us all know how your daughter is doing. It will be very

interesting to see the results of someone on antibiotics for the second time

with no strep or elevated titers.

And I do hope you see a decrease in symptoms. How nice that would be!

Jill Schreibman <jillschreibman@...> wrote:

Eileen,

I think it's a two pronged approach- antibiotics and ERP. ERP will help her

learn how to challenge her OCD thoughts and to manage the ensuing behaviors. The

antibiotics will quiet the viral storm that's going on in her body so that her

system is not so overwhelmed.

My daughter hasn't tested positive for strep and hasn't had elevated titers but

she has been exposed to so many viruses in the past few weeks that they have

taken their toll. I've asked Dr. Geller on this site and my daughter's

psychiatrist and the consensus seems to be that because PANDAS is a relatively

new phenomenon, no one can answer my many questions too definitively. I had

posted last month asking the list and Dr. Geller if there is a cumulative effect

to multiple exposures to viruses, not just strep, and he said no one really

knows. Now that we're into the thick of winter (even though it's pretty mild

here in NY) I can state pretty emphatically for my daughter there definitely has

been a cumulative effect which has resulted in many of the OCD behaviors we saw

last winter. We started the antibiotics last night and I'm hoping she'll regroup

within the next few days. Her pediatrician said it might be a seasonal thing for

and she'll have to go on

antibiotics for the late fall/winter months. Things that we dismissed last year

as fatigue, crankiness, pickiness or her strong will (she's 4) we now understand

are the ways (with about a dozen other) that her OCD manifests. Last night she

started with a facial tic that I haven't seen since last year so I'm very glad

we started the Erythromyecin again. When I gave it to her last night, she

actually seemed relieved. I think she knows it helps her and she is in great

need of relief.

Good luck to you. Let me know how it goes.

Jill

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

thanks for the interest . I'm keeping my fingers crossed and will let you

all know how responds.

---------------------------------

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