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  • Change doctors, NYC

    My daughter saw a doctor in HSS, NYC. He only talked about surgery but nothingelse. I guess this is what he is trained for. However, he disregarded our strong willingness of trying non-surgical treatment before we can make a final decision for surgery. We need a doctor to monitor my daughter's treatment. However we feel it is difficult to go back to him. I read that Boachie is a very caring person, we are thinking of to see him. These 2 docs work in the same hospital. Can someone suggest a smooth transition? I donot want to hurt anyone's feelings.
    Mother to Sophie, DOB 10/8/95; diagnosed 45T/31L July 07, 54T/39L Aug 07; Rigo-Cheneau brace & Schroth, Tamars, Rolfing; 54T/36L Dec 07; 51T/34L Apr 08.

  • #2
    if you feel more confident with another dokter, make the transfer. you must be able to speak with the man in one line, it's important the to of you have the same idea or at least listening to eachother, if he doesn't listen to you than he is not the right person for you.By his not listening to you he hurts your feelings, so don't worry about him he's a grown man he will get over it! change if you can and want

    stan

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    • #3
      Don't worry about hurting anyone's feelings! Your job as a mom is to find the BEST doctor for your daughter. I personally took my daughter to five different doctors before finding the doctor that was best for her--three of those doctors were at the same hospital! The Dr. Boachie's office and schedule an appointment with him and then cancel any appointments you have scheduled with the first doctor and don't feel bad about it.

      Mary Lou
      Mom to Jamie age 21-diagnosed at age 12-spinal fusion 12/7/2004-fused from T3-L2; and Tracy age 19, mild Scoliosis-diagnosed at age 18.

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      • #4
        We saw 4 local surgeons before choosing one. Our original orthopedic surgeon actually referred us to 2 out of 3 of the others when he 1st recommended surgery because we wanted more opinions. It's a huge surgery & we, too, tried to prevent it by doing alternative treatments. I didn't know about this forum until the surgery was recommended & then I realized that most of what we did would never have actually prevented the surgery because my son's primary curve is congenital & he has a malformed vertebrae.

        Is your daughter's scoliosis idiopathic or congenital? If it's idiopathic, maybe you could look into the vertebral stapling which is somewhat experimental but has seemed to prevent spinal fusions in some kids. There's a lot about it on this forum but it seems more geared to smaller curves than your daughter's. A lot of people seem to go to Shriners Hosp. in Philadelphia for it. There's all kinds of info on this forum about other treatments including types of bodywork, braces, etc.

        I totally know the panic & worry you're feeling right now because I've been there. Good luck finding what you & your daughter need.
        Laurie

        Mother of Alexander & Zachary:
        Alex is 16 years old and in the 11th grade. He has congenital scoliosis due to a hemivertebrae at T10. Wore a TLSO brace for 3 1/2 years. Pre-op curves were T45 & L65; curves post-op are approx. T31 & L34. Had a posterior spinal fusion from T8 to L3 on 7/12/07 at age 12. Doing great now in so many ways, but still working on improving posture.
        Zach is 13 years old and very energetic.

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        • #5
          Hi Clarexp-

          My daughter was treated by Dr. Boachie at HSS recently, and he is indeed quite a caring person. Having said that, I should tell you that once Dr. Boachie saw the progression of my daughter's condition, he didn't discuss too many non-surgical options either. However, I didn't feel that he was pushing the surgery too much because I had already been through about 7 spine specialists all of whom had told me that my daughter would most likely need surgical correction around the age of 13. [She did have the surgery when she was 13.]

          My recommendation would be to get multiple opinions on the appropriate treatment first, and then settle on a surgeon IF you decide to go down the path to surgery. A surgeon should know that you are likely to seek multiple opinions and should not feel threatened or upset by that. If s/he does, the s/he is probably not the right surgeon.

          Like you, I had similar apprehensions about switching surgeons but, at least in our case, the local specialist (Dr. Ferrick) we consulted before Dr. Boachie was very supportive and courteous about our decision to go with Dr. Boachie. In fact, he even agreed to monitor my daughter locally if we needed him to.

          And, like someone else on the post said - even if a surgeon is bothered by your decision to seek alternative opinions, so be it. You have to do what is best for your child.

          I hope you are able to find a non-surgical alternative. And if not, I hope you are able to find a surgeon that you trust.

          Best,

          Sam
          P.S. Feel free to send me a PM with any additional questions.

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          • #6
            Thank you all for your advice. I really appreciate.
            Mother to Sophie, DOB 10/8/95; diagnosed 45T/31L July 07, 54T/39L Aug 07; Rigo-Cheneau brace & Schroth, Tamars, Rolfing; 54T/36L Dec 07; 51T/34L Apr 08.

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            • #7
              ChangeD doctors,NYC

              Clarexp,

              I was recommended to a doctor at HSS by my son's hand surgeon who did a
              wonderful job! The dr he recommended was very nice but was my 1st opinion for scoliosis surgery. I was in shock at that visit because I had been told my scoliosis would not progress. Surprisingly, no one ever told me about Dr. Boachie, who I've read wonderful things about on this forum. In the meantime, a student's mom heard about my situation and told me about Dr. Barron Lonner who also practices in NYC. Both of her teenage daughters were in his practice undergoing procedures to prevent the surgery and she only had good things to say. He practices with another doctor, Vasantha Murphy(sp??) who only deals with bracing etc. I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Lonner who spent an hour talking to my husband and I.
              I knew immediately that I would choose him. He was intelligent, calm and very proficient at performing this surgery weekly. I am now 2 years post op, and doing great!

              dhansen
              ant./post. fusion Jan. '06
              T3- sacrum
              dbl.curve, T47,L43

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