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  • long island surgeon wanted

    looking for scoli surgeon in network. anyone know long island surgeons, carrion, schwartz, mermelstein, or lewis ?????? help please

  • #2
    Personally I've heard Mermelstein is very good. I don't see him because I live pretty far away. He runs a scoliosis support site for children called spinekids, http://spinekids.com/boards It's a very wonderful site!
    ~Leelee ♪
    [-] 17 years old
    _[-] 12th grade
    [-] scoliosis, 45T and 42 L
    _[-] kyphosis, 67*
    [-] Boston brace for 4 years
    _[-] Stopped 6/8/05 at 4:32 PM

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    • #3
      Hey Longislandmom
      I Used Dr. Lewis For Many Years When My Daughter Was In A Brace. When It Came Time For Surgery I Went Into The City. We Went To Three Doctors And Choose Dr. Boachie At The Hosiptal For Special Surgery. As Far As Being Out Of Network The Costs Were Not Bad They Accepted What My Insurance Co. Paid To Them And The Hosiptal Worked With Us. Dr Boachie Is In My Eyes Is The Best Scoliosis Surgery Out There. My Nicole Is 9 Months Post Op And Doing Great. The Reason I Didn't Go With Lewis Is Hes Only Done This Surgery About 100 Times. And I Felt Like A Number At His Office. Hes Very Busy And Had No Time To Talk With Us About The Surgery. My Husband And I Ran Out Of His Office The Day He Told Us She Needed Surgery.
      Theresa
      Last edited by nicoles mom; 12-27-2005, 02:50 PM.
      THERESA

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      • #4
        You may also want to check out Shriners Hospital. The website is www.shrinershq.org. We had excellent care there. And at no cost to us.

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        • #5
          longislandmom looking for surgion

          thanx 4 response, have appoint. w/ Boachie 1/5 for consult out of pocket, but office manager wasn't possitive about our insurance. says they'll want $20,000 before they touch my girl. age soon to be 15, w/ S , T43*/L24*, 1 more yr. to grow, diagnosed age 9, w/ 15*, braced @ age 11- failed. last progression was 6*, & pain has started.insurance will pay carrion,current orth. or mermelstein, lewis, or schwartz. how do u find dr.'s success rates when these kids are far & few? kids we know of on the island won't respond to us. I don't know how to trust any surgeon i don't know. would like to schedule surgery soon so secondary curve doesn't need fusing too.
          longislandmom

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          • #6
            Hi Long Island Mom -

            We live in Queens, NY so we're very close to you. My son had surgery in March 2004 at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Dr. Betz and Dr. D'Andrea are two of the most highly regarded scoliosis surgeons around. (You can even search this site for opinions on them - all good). And none of the Shriners Hospitals charge for their services so you won't have to concern yourself with insurance issues while you are trying to focus on helping your child.

            Just something you might want to look into. We are lucky enough to have medical insurance - but would not consider going anywhere but Shriners.

            Good luck,
            mariaf305@yahoo.com
            Mom to David, age 17, braced June 2000 to March 2004
            Vertebral Body Stapling 3/10/04 for 40 degree curve (currently mid 20's)

            https://www.facebook.com/groups/ScoliosisTethering/

            http://pediatricspinefoundation.org/

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            • #7
              I vote Shriners, no up front money, excellent state of the art equipment, world renowned surgeons, all you have to do is concentrate on your child. You'll never, ever see a bill. The only bill my insurance got was on some bloodwork that the University did for Shriners. Once I got the report back from insurance, I called Shriners and asked them about the remaining $1500 on bloodwork the insurance didn't cover. She said don't worry about it, Shriners pays the rest. And, the nursing staff is incredible.

              Boachie is also an excellent doctor. Lots of children have been there. However, $20,000 up front, ouch. I'd check out Shriners at that cost. Their website is www.shrinershq.org. Look them up and give them a call. They will do the paperwork over the phone.

              Nikki
              Last edited by nikyergen; 12-27-2005, 04:16 PM.

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              • #8
                longislandmom
                we also live in long island and my daughter 15 had surgery done by dr. boachie. I have nothing but praise for him. She is one year post op and is doing great. We could have used someone in our insurance plan and not paid a dime, but when it came down to my daughter's spine i just wanted the "best" dr.
                The first dr. we went to was dr. raggio in uniondale who braced my daughter.
                I have heard great things from these boards about Shriner's also, but i'm not sure if there are waiting lists with those drs. I'm sure there are plenty of people on here that can give you more info on that.
                good luck
                Jennifer
                Last edited by jc3; 12-28-2005, 04:55 PM.

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                • #9
                  Hi Jennifer,

                  Just wondering why you switched from Dr. Raggio. I ask this because my son at one time was also a patient of hers (braced as well). My son is now treated by Dr. D'Andrea (Shriners of Philadelphia) - We went there because they offered the stapling surgery (performed 3/10/04) which Dr. Raggio did not perform because she said it was still "experimental" at that time. I've heard many good things about Dr. Boachie as well - but I could not help but wonder why you left Dr. Raggio.

                  Best of luck,

                  Maria
                  mariaf305@yahoo.com
                  Mom to David, age 17, braced June 2000 to March 2004
                  Vertebral Body Stapling 3/10/04 for 40 degree curve (currently mid 20's)

                  https://www.facebook.com/groups/ScoliosisTethering/

                  http://pediatricspinefoundation.org/

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Longislandmom,
                    I feel our wait for surgery wasn't too bad. We were in to see the Crystal's doctor at Shriners, who is chief of staff and teaches all over the world, within three weeks of our application being received. Crystal's surgery was done 5 months to the day of her original appointment. So, I don't feel the wait was too bad. Scoliosis isn't life or death, generally speaking. It can compromise the heart and lungs because it doesn't allow room for expansion. Your daughter is just reaching the sugery stage at 43 deg. and 24 deg. Crystal had an 88 deg curve and was still playing high school basketball. And yes, she had a lot of pain. She used to come home from basketball in tears because she hurt so bad. She had pain for years because of her back. We bought tylenol, advil, and aleve in the biggest bottles we could get them. There are waiting lists with most of the scoli surgeons from what I have seen on the boards. What I think you seem most concerned about is getting another opinion. Surgery is very scarey to every parent and the patient too. Both of you need to be comfortable with your decisions and really check out each individual doctor.

                    Nikki

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                    • #11
                      hi maria
                      i sent you a private message. Love your screen name "longislandmom" LOL, very cute!!

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                      • #12
                        Have follow up appt. today with Dr. Feldman at NYU

                        Hi, all. I'm another Queens person here. We actually started off with Dr. Lewis to treat my son's right clubfoot, but switched to Dr. Feldman at NYU when we realized Lewis was not doing this particular menthod correctly. Luckily, Feldman is somewhat of an authority on scoliosis as well, so when we discovered Paul had scoliosis, we knew we were in good hands. Although, if I hear the "S" word (surgery) I know we will seek other opinions, just to see what our options are. He's getting an x-ray done today, so any prayers are greatly appreciated that the curve will not be worse. It was 30 degrees at the end of August. Now, Paul is 1 year old and has grown 2 inches or so since then. So, we'll see what happens.

                        If anyone would like to e-mail me privately, I would love to talk to other moms from the Queens/Long Island/NYC area who are going through this.

                        Best wishes to all,

                        Kelly

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                        • #13
                          Queens Mom

                          Kelly -

                          I sent you a private e-mail.

                          Maria
                          mariaf305@yahoo.com
                          Mom to David, age 17, braced June 2000 to March 2004
                          Vertebral Body Stapling 3/10/04 for 40 degree curve (currently mid 20's)

                          https://www.facebook.com/groups/ScoliosisTethering/

                          http://pediatricspinefoundation.org/

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            The only one in LI that I have heard of is Dr. Marmalstein (sp?). You should check out his website on Spinekids.com. It is so awesome. I am a big fan of it and the people are so supportive (NSF is wonderful too, it is just another forum). Dr. M and one of his nurses actually post replies on the site every once in awhile. Good luck finding a surgeon.
                            Mandy

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