Originally posted by Houston Curves
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Tomorrow (February 5th, 2009) will be my one year fusion anniversary by Hanson.
Ann, I have never known him to leave a coherent, purposeful email unanswered. He *always* writes me back, but I also try not to bug him with things John or Pete can answer.
Also, I NEVER had problems with pain/med management (I'm still on Valium, Gabapentin and 2 Norco in the mornings, FYI. He's STILL managing it a year out). Then again, there's some credence to what people are saying here about pain management doctors: They manage pain ... period. Hanson KNEW I'd seen one for 4 years, and he knew *I* knew what my body could handle ... and that I have an *extremely* high tolerance to pain meds. He has always managed my pain taking all that into consideration.
Hanson told me on my VERY FIRST consult that he believes scoliosis can *absolutely* cause pain. It sounds a bit like you went in telling him what protocol to follow. (Shelokov's?)
I'm not sure why you think Zanaflex is stronger than Soma. I also don't understand why you were on 2 muscle relaxers at the same time before (especially 2 that have moderate risk of interaction), but that's neither here nor there.
As a patient of his, I'm pretty put off by your "thumbs down" (because of an apparent personality conflict), and hope people aren't turned away due to your poor opinion of an excellent surgeon formed in TWO visits. PNUTTRO and both are surgical patients of his - not consults - and neither of us have anything bad to say about him. I'm really puzzled how the person you describe is so vastly different than how the 50+ some odd patients (pre/post consult and pre/post op) of his who've emailed me have felt they were treated. There's something missing here.
He's attentive, compassionate, and he does care. He sat with me for over two hours - answering questions - when I was trying to decide on surgery. TWO HOURS. And I know the man doesn't have two hours to spare. Never once did he rush me, nor did he ever look at the clock.
You didn't say what you emailed him, but if it was as negative/frantic as your post (after 2-1/2 weeks of calming down???), maybe that's a factor in why he didn't answer. He's NEVER had staff call when I send an email to his personal address.
Perhaps as has been said, he's not the doctor for you; certainly, you should get a pain management doctor. He did fantastically with me pre-op and post-op, and my post op pain management protocol was VERY aggressive due to my tolerance. In the first few days after surgery, it took Percodan, Norco and Dilaudid PCA to keep me comfortable - and at levels that would probably drop a 300 lb. man.
I think it's a bit irresponsible of you to tell this list he can't/won't handle a patient's pain because he wouldn't give you the meds you wanted. From my experience, I'd counter he takes pain very seriously, and manages it well based on patient needs.
Anyone who has questions for an actual surgical patient of his is welcome to email me.
Regards,
Pam
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