Kyphosis surgery-2nd opinion Ivan Chen-Stanford

[curvy]

Please, I would love to hear from others with Kyphosis....does not seem as many in the United States

90 degrees Kyphosis Age 44 with Degenerative Discs.
Surgery - two bars with screws and fuse from T2-L2

Both opinions were about the same.

Ivan Chen was a little more realistic with me than Jeffrey Coe.
----Risks are higher with Kyphosis because of the amount of fusion that needs to take place.. could mean that areas surronding could degenerate faster :eek:
uhmm but of course like everything else they need to label all risks
----It will be AT least 6 months before I can return to my active life style
----BMP which is hoping to replace bone grafts is still in the experimental stage so does not want to take the risk.
--- Wants me to be 100% sure....well that is the difficult thing...kind of damn if I do damn if I dont...can't say for sure if it will progress further if I dont have the surgery or if the degeneration will get worse if I do or dont!!!

Another good Dr. is from UCSF Dr Berven but I can't get an appointment to talk to him until Jan.

I have decided to go with Ivan Chen over Jeffrey Coe because of the hospital. Jeffrey Coe only has affiliations with a small older hospital in Los Gatos, CA

Ivan Chen is very young but has performed 20 Kyphosis surgeries...mainly in Missouri so I asked for a couple of email address of people that are recovering for at least a year to chat with.

[CaMom]

Have you ever heard of Dr. John Lettice? He had been treating my son for his scoliosis. I was extreamly impressed with his expertise though I'm sure he also wil be hard to get in to see. He also is in Los Gatos near Los Gatos community hospital. Good luck :)

[curvy]

Thank you CAMOM.

This is sure a major decision mainly because of my age. Lucky for us, CA has great Dr.s.

Also your Dr. may be affiliated with other hospitals. Not that Los Gatos Hospital is good...just small and old for the type of surgery I am having.

How old is your son and what type of scoliosis does he have. Big hugs to you...must be difficult for you too..well lucky he has Mom

[LindaRacine]

Hi Curvy...

I was surprised to hear you mention Dr. Chen. I run the Scoliosis Association of San Francisco, and had never heard of him until now. Since you like him, I'd encourage you to stay with him, but please do check with some of his previous patients. Or, if you can wait, they don't get any better than Dr. Berven in my opinion.

Best of luck.

Regards,
Linda

[curvy]

Hello Linda,

So this is your website. Your website and the Scoliosis Surgery reference guide by David Wolpert has been a wealth of info for me. I recommend your website to a lot of people because all the links are at one site....wish I found it months ago...I actually started my own because of the problem of searching.

Well do not count on my impression of Ivan Chen yet. I want to hear from a couple of his patients first. You see Kyphosis surgery is not as common as other surgeries....not to say its better or worse....just a different risk. Most of his surgeries were performed in MO under his fellowship.
He told me he performed 20 Kyphosis surgeries with no complications. He is a young Dr. and probably less experienced than some of these other Drs but Stanford hospital is one of the best and according to the hospital comparisons, Stanford has performed twice as many fusions with less complications than any hospital in California.

Really great to meet you in in cyberspace!
This is a link to the hospital and to the Othopedic Drs.
http://www.stanfordhospital.com/FindAPhysician/Search

[Mary Lou]

Curvy,

My daughter had surgery almost a year ago to correct her Kyphosis and Scoliosis. She is fused from T3-L2. If you have an specific questions, feel free to ask.

Mary Lou

[Marcilo]

Please, I would love to hear from others with Kyphosis....does not seem as many in the United States

90 degrees Kyphosis Age 44 with Degenerative Discs.
Surgery - two bars with screws and fuse from T2-L2

Both opinions were about the same.

Ivan Chen was a little more realistic with me than Jeffrey Coe.
----Risks are higher with Kyphosis because of the amount of fusion that needs to take place.. could mean that areas surronding could degenerate faster :eek: .

What do you mean by “areas surrounding could degenerate faster”? are you taling about Discs