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Grand Rapids, MI or Iowa, or which Grand Rapids? If MI - I haven't heard of him before - the surgeons I have been seeing are at Beamont and St. JOhn in the metro Detroit area. (I live near Flint.)
Meg is Spinewhine
31 years old with thoracic curve
Wore Boston brace as teenager, but curve continued to progress.
Surgery on 12/13/2005 with correction from over 55 degrees to under 25 degrees. (Ya baby!)
He is in Grand Rapids, Michigan; part of Orthopaedic Associates of Grand Rapids. I have Priority Health HMO and have to have someone in network in West Michigan. It has taken me YEARS to even get a referral to a surgeon for my scoliosis (63 and 74 degree double curve); I'm 46 and have been sent to Physical therapy since I was 30 (am now disabled from working and existing on pain shots). I think there is a way to get a report on his background.
He may be a great surgeon, but two things about him raise red flags for me. First, he's not a member of the Scoliosis Research Society. That's not huge, but it could mean that he doesn't do a lot of deformity surgery. Also, he did not do a spine fellowship. You can see his CV here:
I'd like to encourage you to do some more research on him. Ask him how many scoliosis surgeries he does on adults each month or year. Ask him for names and contact information on at least 3-4 other adults on whom he's performed scoliosis surgery, and be sure to call them.
If you want to get a second opinion, you can find other specialists here:
Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
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Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation
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