Anyone operated by Dr.Masso at Shriners?

[cyprusmom]

I would like to know if anyone had surgery performed by Dr.Peter Masso at Shriners in Springfield, MA. Any information would be greatly appreciated as we are facing possible surgery for our daughter of 11 years of age by this doctor who sees children from Cyprus. Thanks

[Celia]

Pola,

You have no idea how sad this news makes me feel ! I guess I felt our little group was invincible and we could beat this. I like to believe in happy ever afters......

[FusedKid]

Masso is great, he fused my brother and it was a fantastic job

I would've had Masso do my surgery, but he was unavailable on my surgery day and another had to do it, even though he is, technically, my surgeon.

I just got out of Springfield Shriners just 2 days ago, by the way. Great place

[cyprusmom]

Hi there,
I can't tell you how happy I am to hear you had this positive experience there. You are the first person on this forum that I know of, who had surgery at Springfield, Shriners. Just curious, how old was your brother when he had fusion ( I saw your age in your profile) and what were your and his degrees of scoliosis before and after surgery and how long of a fusion did you have.

I am sorry to bug you with all this so soon after you got out of the hospital but whenever you feel like it I would love to hear more about your surgery there. We are still waiting for a date for my daughter...

Hope you have a great recovery and thanks for replying,
Pola

[FusedKid]

Hi there,
I can't tell you how happy I am to hear you had this positive experience there. You are the first person on this forum that I know of, who had surgery at Springfield, Shriners. Just curious, how old was your brother when he had fusion ( I saw your age in your profile) and what were your and his degrees of scoliosis before and after surgery and how long of a fusion did you have.

I am sorry to bug you with all this so soon after you got out of the hospital but whenever you feel like it I would love to hear more about your surgery there. We are still waiting for a date for my daughter...

Hope you have a great recovery and thanks for replying,
Pola

Hey, no problem, I'm glad to answer questions

My brother was around 14 or 15 at the time of his surgery (Around 2001), and we both had about a 60/40.

I'll include a picture that I got my Mom to take while she was changing my dressings, might be of some value. I was laying down in an akward way, so even though my incision looks curved, it's actually straight. Just wanted to inform you of that real quick.
~John

PS: Fun little side note, Shriners Springfield recently upgraded their Gait Lab to have a 3D scanner that (they're hoping) will reduce the needed number of XRays and, consequently, radiation exposure. Pretty cool stuff.

[mariaf]

Hi John,

I just wanted to say hi and let you know that I have a son with scoliosis, so other male patients exist - but you are so right - it seems there are many more girls out there dealing with scoli - and I'm sure in some ways that makes it tougher on you guys not to have as many peers that can relate to what you're going through. My son is only 7 so he's not at that point yet. But there are so many things that I, as the parent, worry about. I'm glad to hear that you and your brother seem to be doing well. I also have two teens as well (a boy and a girl).

By the way, we have a few things in common - we are in NY too. We also go to Shriners (the one in Philadelphia). As you'll see, my son had the stapling and while we hope he won't need it, I know that there's no guarantee (is there ever one?) that he won't need fusion in the future. (Just curious - any particular reason you were treated out of state too? In our case, we went to Philly because they offered the stapling option for David.)

I think it's great that you are on here helping others. I can already see that in some ways David has become very compassionate towards others facing problems or challenges - I guess because of what he's been through already.
Keep up the good work.

Good luck Pola - I'm afraid I'm not able to offer any insight about Dr. Masso (but I'm glad John could) - but I will keep your daughter in my thoughts and prayers.

[FusedKid]

Well, I'm upstate and there isn't much here in the way of doctors that treat scoliosis, and Shriners Springfield is only a 4 hour drive (Which doesn't actually seem that bad). If you know where Utica is, I'm in that general vicinity.

I haven't actually heard of Stapling, but now that I look it up, it says that it's one of the treatments that they're trying out in Philadelphia, so no wonder i've never heard of it.

Best of luck

~John

[cyprusmom]

Thanks for posting the photo John! How long did you stay at the hospital after surgery, I assume that was taken at home.
Just wondering if it was dr. Mak who performed the surgery since you said Masso was not available (where you and your parents aware beforehand?)

I assume you were treated by Masso before deciding for surgery? With a brace? Did you ever go for another opinion?

Glad you and your brother are doing great.

Pola

[FusedKid]

I'm not exactly sure who did the surgery, but I was in the hospital for around 5 or 6 days, though I was all ready to go after about 4. I had to stay an extra 2 days to get my post-op TLSO adjusted by Kim, the brace department person who I've had all during my treatment at Shriners. And yes, Masso has been my Shriners doc for something like 9 years (Oh, the memories ).

Back when it was first discovered, I was put through bracing. Milwuakee first, but I practically never wore it ("Failure to Comply"), and then Boston with the same results. I would get freaked out with claustrophobia, and I was still suffering from clinical depression at the time (Was still undiscovered) which could've also lead to the FTC verdict.

Where I am and how much money my family has, there is no room for another opinion. My second opinion basically came from my mom, who is around 30 years post-op, and since I had seen what it did for my brother, it wasn't too unnerving.

[FusedKid]

Okay, I was operated on by Masso, I was pretty stoned on a strong pain pill at the time and it probably mixed up my facts. Pssh, I'm a dunce

[cyprusmom]

Hi John how are you doing? Hope you are recovering well and fast. Just to let you know that my daughter is having surgery with Masso on Aug.16th. We will be there on July 18th for the first blood donation and all the rest and then go back Aug. 8th. If there is anything you can warn us about, what to expect on these days, good or bad will be greatly appreciated. (Does the hospital have an internet access by any chance?)
Thanks a lot,
Pola