Hi Everyone,
We are staying in a cute bed and breakfast in St. Charles; however, the internet here is horrible. Unable to send emails today, but here are my updates.
Mission accomplished! Met with Dr. Lenke yesterday and he said he can help me and the earliest surgery date available was Aug 1. I'm on the cancellation list and feel good that the surgery date will be bumped up. I was able to meet with Heidi and Nancy from this forum who just so happened to have morning appointments with Dr. Lenke for their 1 year follow ups. Heidi & Nancy, thank you so much for spending time with me, it really helped pass the time and it was very comforting talking with you. Total time in Lenke's office 5 hours! I was told to expect 3 hour wait time when I scheduled my appointment last month.
Dr. Lenke said that I am very lucky my curves were right at his cut-off (70 degrees for new patients) otherwise, he would have referred me to someone else. It is interesting to see his recommendations compared to the Atlanta surgeon who canceled my surgery because of poor bone density (lumbar T score -2.4, thigh scores normal). Dr. Lenke was very pleased that I am on Forteo and said that even though I just started Forteo 3 weeks ago, that will not impact my wait time for surgery. He said if my date moves up, his will still operate regardless of how long I'm on Forteo. The Atlanta surgeon said to call her in 6 months after starting Forteo and she'll see where I am (obviously there is no need to make this phone call). Atlanta surgeon measured me at T72* and L58*, Lenke measured me at T70* and L68*.
Lenke gave me a choice of surgeries: Option #1 T4 - L4 and have to come back for additional surgery to replace L5 within 2, 5 or 10 years. Option #2 T4 - sacrum and no need for future surgery. My response, "To the sacrum will be great... I don't want to have to come back, no offense." Dr. Lenke and his team all chuckled at that. Lenke explained most patients opt for the sacrum.
He will do T4 - sacrum fusion, TLIF (Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion - an anterior surgery from a posterior approach so no need for a second anterior surgery as the Atlanta surgeon recommended), about 5 to 8 Smith-Peterson osteotomies, and 2 cages at L5 with BMP (bone morphogentic protein to build a stronger fusion). He estimates the surgery to last 6 - 8 hours (the Atlanta surgeon suggested 8 - 10 hours for her posterior surgery and a 4 - 5 anterior surgery 3 months later). On Lenke's scale of challenging surgeries 1 - 10, he ranked me at 1.5 (1 being the least challenging, 10 being the most challenging). The Atlanta surgeon told me she ranked me as a 6 on her scale. The Atlanta surgeon turned out to be a bit more conservative for my needs and there is nothing wrong with that because it has ultimately led me to Lenke's care.
I am VERY relieved that I have a plan in place with Lenke.
Warmly,
Doreen
We are staying in a cute bed and breakfast in St. Charles; however, the internet here is horrible. Unable to send emails today, but here are my updates.
Mission accomplished! Met with Dr. Lenke yesterday and he said he can help me and the earliest surgery date available was Aug 1. I'm on the cancellation list and feel good that the surgery date will be bumped up. I was able to meet with Heidi and Nancy from this forum who just so happened to have morning appointments with Dr. Lenke for their 1 year follow ups. Heidi & Nancy, thank you so much for spending time with me, it really helped pass the time and it was very comforting talking with you. Total time in Lenke's office 5 hours! I was told to expect 3 hour wait time when I scheduled my appointment last month.
Dr. Lenke said that I am very lucky my curves were right at his cut-off (70 degrees for new patients) otherwise, he would have referred me to someone else. It is interesting to see his recommendations compared to the Atlanta surgeon who canceled my surgery because of poor bone density (lumbar T score -2.4, thigh scores normal). Dr. Lenke was very pleased that I am on Forteo and said that even though I just started Forteo 3 weeks ago, that will not impact my wait time for surgery. He said if my date moves up, his will still operate regardless of how long I'm on Forteo. The Atlanta surgeon said to call her in 6 months after starting Forteo and she'll see where I am (obviously there is no need to make this phone call). Atlanta surgeon measured me at T72* and L58*, Lenke measured me at T70* and L68*.
Lenke gave me a choice of surgeries: Option #1 T4 - L4 and have to come back for additional surgery to replace L5 within 2, 5 or 10 years. Option #2 T4 - sacrum and no need for future surgery. My response, "To the sacrum will be great... I don't want to have to come back, no offense." Dr. Lenke and his team all chuckled at that. Lenke explained most patients opt for the sacrum.
He will do T4 - sacrum fusion, TLIF (Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion - an anterior surgery from a posterior approach so no need for a second anterior surgery as the Atlanta surgeon recommended), about 5 to 8 Smith-Peterson osteotomies, and 2 cages at L5 with BMP (bone morphogentic protein to build a stronger fusion). He estimates the surgery to last 6 - 8 hours (the Atlanta surgeon suggested 8 - 10 hours for her posterior surgery and a 4 - 5 anterior surgery 3 months later). On Lenke's scale of challenging surgeries 1 - 10, he ranked me at 1.5 (1 being the least challenging, 10 being the most challenging). The Atlanta surgeon told me she ranked me as a 6 on her scale. The Atlanta surgeon turned out to be a bit more conservative for my needs and there is nothing wrong with that because it has ultimately led me to Lenke's care.
I am VERY relieved that I have a plan in place with Lenke.
Warmly,
Doreen
Comment