Had my first consult Friday, with Dr. Michael S. O'Brien from Baylor's Southern Scoliosis Center in Dallas. The consult was in his Miami office, where he is about once a month to see his Florida patients, as he used to be at Miami Children's Hospital. Not only will he be maintaining a Florida office in the future, but he will be moving it to Ft. Lauderdale, that much closer to me. With this arrangement, I could have much of my pre-operative workup and all my post-operative follow-up within an hour and a half of my home, with the surgery itself in Dallas, a quick non-stop flight from home.
I liked him so much, and he is so obviously qualified to do my surgery, that I doubt I will see anyone else. He has done not one, but three fellowships in the field, seemed to be totally on top of all the latest advances in the field, he does about 100 surgeries on adult scoliosis patients per year, and he has many years of experience. In fact, he told me that he and Lenke were the first two fellows in Bridwell's program. I had researched extensively before my consult, and Dr. O'Brien had all the right answers to my long list of questions. He was extremely patient and personable, and I never felt in any hurry during the consultation.
The recommendation was an A/P fusion from T5 to the sacrum with pelvic fixation, which was actually slightly fewer levels but otherwise exactly what I expected.
I don't want to do the surgery until perhaps winter of 2011-12, unless my pain becomes unmanageable before then. I want to have a little more time with my very young granddaughter before going through this surgery. But I live with significant and debilitating nerve pain in my left leg, and so in the meantime, Dr. O'Brien suggested that we might get an MRI and myelogram to get a clear picture of what is happening with the nerves in my lumbar spine, to see if there is a relatively minor surgery that could eliminate my present pain until I am ready for the "big" surgery. So I will make plans to go to Dallas to see the scoliosis center there, and get the myelogram and MRI at the same time.
Somehow, finding a highly qualified surgeon who I liked so very much has made me feel much more relaxed about my prospects. It also helped that he told me I would be an easy surgery compared to most of what he did, and that I was at the younger end of the patients he fuses for scoliosis. I had been feeling afraid that I was already "too old" for this surgery, and it was nice to hear this was not so.
Since some on the forum have had a hard time recently with some surgeons, I wanted to note that when I asked Dr. O'Brien who he would send me to for alternate consultations, he mentioned specifically Dr. Lenke, Dr. Berven at UCSF, Dr. Lonner and Dr. Schwab in New York, and Dr. Mardjecko in Chicago.
I liked him so much, and he is so obviously qualified to do my surgery, that I doubt I will see anyone else. He has done not one, but three fellowships in the field, seemed to be totally on top of all the latest advances in the field, he does about 100 surgeries on adult scoliosis patients per year, and he has many years of experience. In fact, he told me that he and Lenke were the first two fellows in Bridwell's program. I had researched extensively before my consult, and Dr. O'Brien had all the right answers to my long list of questions. He was extremely patient and personable, and I never felt in any hurry during the consultation.
The recommendation was an A/P fusion from T5 to the sacrum with pelvic fixation, which was actually slightly fewer levels but otherwise exactly what I expected.
I don't want to do the surgery until perhaps winter of 2011-12, unless my pain becomes unmanageable before then. I want to have a little more time with my very young granddaughter before going through this surgery. But I live with significant and debilitating nerve pain in my left leg, and so in the meantime, Dr. O'Brien suggested that we might get an MRI and myelogram to get a clear picture of what is happening with the nerves in my lumbar spine, to see if there is a relatively minor surgery that could eliminate my present pain until I am ready for the "big" surgery. So I will make plans to go to Dallas to see the scoliosis center there, and get the myelogram and MRI at the same time.
Somehow, finding a highly qualified surgeon who I liked so very much has made me feel much more relaxed about my prospects. It also helped that he told me I would be an easy surgery compared to most of what he did, and that I was at the younger end of the patients he fuses for scoliosis. I had been feeling afraid that I was already "too old" for this surgery, and it was nice to hear this was not so.
Since some on the forum have had a hard time recently with some surgeons, I wanted to note that when I asked Dr. O'Brien who he would send me to for alternate consultations, he mentioned specifically Dr. Lenke, Dr. Berven at UCSF, Dr. Lonner and Dr. Schwab in New York, and Dr. Mardjecko in Chicago.
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