Adult bracing?

[Mamichi]

Hi Ed,

Thanks for all that great advice. I still need to develop a relationship with my surgeon. I only had 1 appointment with him, and then one with his PA which focused on the osteopenia medication. I hope to get to know him more in my next appointments. And I hope to meet another doctor to compare. What you said about the patient-dr relationship is very true.

Mamichi is not my real name, it was my nickname growing up. My real name is Ana Maria. I’m not Japanese, I’m Colombian. I saw in one of your posts that you were horseback riding in Colombia after your surgery with the ‘help’ of aguardiente. That made me laugh.

Thanks again for all the information.

[Mamichi]

And I am in San Antonio. I forgot to answer that question.

[titaniumed]

2nd opinion's are totally acceptable....I think that if you have 2 wildly differing opinions, let's say on surgical procedure you have a problem. Both opinions should match or be similar....If you have 30,000 beans in a jar, and get counts of 25000 and 35000, you have to count again, and have a match. If you don't have a match, throw the beans out. (smiley face) Dr Pashman in Los Angeles used to do online 2nd opinions for roughly $300 provided you have the x-rays burned to disc and some data. I am not sure if he still does this? Always get your diagnostic records burned to disc. As scoliosis patients these things are helpful down the road should we move or a surgeon retires. When they retire, the records go right into the trash. Do you have x-rays? X-rays tell the story. With COVID surging, trying to do this remotely is probably a better option....

One adult patient here a few years back was asking about tethering, and had a 2nd opinion from Dr Lenke in NYC who advised against it. Then it was year or so later when Sharon posted about all the tethering breaks....and also the Magec (growing rod) breaks which was very disheartening. I have always been a believer in technology and waited 32 years until my surgeries. I remember when the pedicle screw was launched in the US in 1986, it was in the news, and I thought that was a great vertebral attachment method. I was a Luque wire candidate in 1975 but saw a lot of head shaking. They just didn't want to go there since I needed fusion to the pelvis at age 16, and they just don't fuse kids to the pelvis unless it's really bad. JScoli is probably the youngest member here fused all the way down at roughly age 30...I hope she is doing well...

I can give a whole host of reasons why one might need a second opinion, and also why people should wait on new technologies. CBD a few years back was hyped to the max. All disease was going to be cured by a weed.... Ha ha The CBD stocks ran, and that was fun but when the FDA came out with the liver warnings, and that party balloon popped. The Federal Government even legalized it there was that much hype. Buy the hype, sell the news....earnings reports can be like rod breaks. Even with incredible companies like Apple. (For short term traders, not long term investors)

Help from Aguardiente....ha ha The owner of those horses is a billionaire rancher and the other riders who were his lawyers told me to do whatever he wants, so you gotta do what you gotta do to get the job done. (smiley face) If you dig here on my posts, you will see efforts at comedy. This all probably due to me looking for a transfer of thoughts, a mind release perhaps. When you are in pain and laugh really hard at something, the pain goes away. if you think about pain, that's EXACTLY what you get.

What town are you from in Colombia and what year did you leave? There have been dangerous periods down there over the years. Of course, I remember when there were 9 murders per day in NYC in 1978. I spent a lot of time in New York back then.

Talking about Colombia, Dr Juan Uribe is from Medellin and he operates out of Phoenix. His stats are credible...he also utilizes 3D printing of the spine which is a valuable tool. They 3D print organs now, and is especially helpful in heart procedures.

For Texas, Dr Michael Lagrone is probably one of the most senior scoliosis surgeons. He is in Amarillo. He is also a Moe Fellow out of Twin Cities. Back in the old days, that was the place to be if you had scoliosis, or were a doctor interested in scoliosis. My surgeon also trained at Twin. They founded the SRS there. There are a few Lagrone patients here, use search.
https://www.tcspine.com/about-us/dr-john-h-moe-exhibit/

Usually when asked, a few names are pitched in an area because of the guilt should something go wrong....You also have to understand that surgeons that work on incredibly challenging deformity cases can have higher complications stats. Also, reviews on anything can vary and are highly dependent on the source....It almost makes reviews worthless unless you know who is doing the review. You can have photos of hotels that look great until you get there. You can have professional financial analysts recommend a security that goes south. You can have a fantastic deformity surgeon have things go wrong beyond their control because we are extremely complicated. Medical science is infinitely more complicated than putting a man on Mars.

Of course I never would have had successful fusion surgery if I hid my head in the sand like an ostrich. Sometimes it's the chance we have to take.

It's good that you are posting.....discussion helps with the many questions we have, and you have to ask. Discuss all aspects of the disease. Pros and cons, face things head on and support one another. This is something that Franklin D Roosevelt did at Warm Springs, Georgia back in the 20's battling Polio. I totally respect what he did back in those days...especially what he did with the Orthopedic Society by stressing the importance of warm water therapy as a lay untrained medical person. His push with the March of Dimes helped with the polio vaccine after his death. Experts now say his symptoms didn't match polio and that he had Guillain Barre...I knew someone that had Guillain Barre and when you get older, you meet people with various diseases. When you have a disease, you pay attention. When you don't have to struggle with a disease, it doesn't mean much, sort of like some of the COVID denial people out there these days....argh%@#!!!

Ed