New diagnosis looking for FL surgeon

[LSKOCH5]

Hello, brand new here, so glad there is a site like this w people willing to share their info & experiences. My son was just diagnosed w scoliosis @ 49.4%. Have been thru so many emotions but know we have a job to do, to make sure we do the very best by our son that we possibly can. He has been in pain for a few months, we thought it was just due to jiu jitsu, so he hasn't gone there for 3 months. We haven't even seen him w/o a shirt until he was diagnosed. He has also gone thru major growth spurts over the past year. Does anyone have recommendations for surgeons here in FL, or who to avoid? Those of you who've gone out of state, why? Bc of his pain we'd like to get this resolved sooner rather than later and have an appt w dr. Neal at Nemours Jax this Fri, along w a 2nd opinion w Dr Haycook in St Augustine next week. Looked at Tampa, but it's all so confusing. Thanks in advance.

[LindaRacine]

If you haven't already seen this, it would be a good place to start:

http://srs.execinc.com/edibo/PublicDirectory

[LokanasDad]

Doctor Loveless at Nemours in Jax is good. His staff, not so much.

Have you considered Shriners in Tampa?

We live in Jax, but went to Shriners in Greenville, SC, as that is "home" for us. I cannot say enough glowing things about the people at shriners.

[LSKOCH5]

Thanks, LindaRacine & LokanasDad. We were bumped from an appt w Dr. Loveless & the reschedule would be near end of Nov, his earliest surgery openings are in April, and w Jacob being in pain we didn't want to put it off that long. Have you heard anything on Dr Neal there, or on anyone at Shriners Tampa?

[LokanasDad]

Young guy. Loveless is by far the best in Jax, great bedside manor with the kids, that is why he is booked so far out. Most of the dr.'s at Nemours seem pretty good. It is the staff that should be keelhauled.

As for Tampa Shriners, you do not know who your dr is until they assign you a surgery date. They are pretty quick at surgery though. My son applied to them in end of April and his surgery was in August. Everyone at the g'ville shriners (from the staff cleaning the rooms, to the people in the cafeteria, to the nurses, to the doctors, to the security guards) were as nice as can be. They knew it was hard on everyone and they did their best to make not just our son, but us feel comfortable. I am not a super emotional person, but they make me emotional.

[Elisa]

I second getting in touch with Shriners International for an opinion regarding your son's scoliosis.

Hospital website: http://www.shrinershospitalsforchild...Hospitals.aspx

[LSKOCH5]

Thanks to all of you. I'm waiting for a callback fr Shriners Tampa. Also have appt w dr cronen in Tampa this wed & met w nemours a wk ago. Was to have an appt w a St Aug MISS dr who'd been recommended but found he had 2 or 3 malpractices vs him bc he operated on wrong side, etc. So canceled that immediately. So thankful we can access for ourselves to make more informed decisions!