Dr. Decisions

March 22, 2007

I am fairly new to this forum. I, too am looking for the " right " dr.

to do my surgery. I live in Herndon, VA, and had my original fusion

done at Hopkins by Dr. Kostuik in 2000. I was diagnosed with flatback

in 2006. I went to see Dr. Bill Lauerman at town yesterday.

3/21. He said I have too much kyphosis ( upper back hump) and not

enough lordosis (lower back curve)causing me to be pitched forward

with the typical flatback symptoms. He was impressed at how much I

knew, all from this forum and some of you guys. He proposed a

pedicle ostotomy at L3 and bracing hardware all the way up passed T4

( I am fused T4 to sacrum but had upper hardware removed in 2002

cause Kostuik thought it might be causing the problem of my being

pushed forward.) Dr. Lauerman also thought that I might have a crack

in my fusion at T3. He said I would only need the posterior procedure

and it would take about 6-8 hours. My husband went with me and we got

the " I don't know your pain level and your quality of life speech. "

but basically he said he felt the surgery would help me stand up

straighter and relieve a percentage of my pain, 20-70%, possibly. We

both liked him and felt he was more than competent. He said he does

a surgery like mine about once a month.

There is no doubt in my mind that I will seek a 2nd and 3rd or more

opinions. I plan to see Dr. Hey in Raliegh, NC, and Dr. Rand in

Boston, when we can get an appointment and make travel plans. I had

intended to see Dr. Boachie in NYC, but when I called his office, I

was told he doesn't take any insurance. I'll have to call again and

see how flexible they are in taking out of network insurance

allowances. I HATE to make money a factor but the other 3 surgeons

are well spoken of and they do take our insurance.

So, I'm not sure if that helps any of you out there who are trying to

decide whether to have the surgery and who to have do it. People on

this forum who have been through the revision surgery already are a

tremendous help and I thank them. I am 95% sure I will have the

revision but not sure by who and when. Sharing the pain levels, the

fears, the experiences, and the mutual support is invaluable. Thanks.

God bless,

Jeanie

Recommended Posts