greetings from sunny CA

[titaniumed]

Jess

I was re-reading my hospital reports the other day, and noticed that they used "peek"interbody ALIFcages on me that were documented as the "large size".

They have the sizes listed as
Biomechanical large 13mm L5-S1, L4-L5,L3-L4,L2-L3
and 11mm for my L1-L2

Added up that’s a total of 63mm or 2.480 or just a tad under2-1/2 inches thick. I guess that contributed to my 4 inches in growth after my surgeries.

Since there are rapid advancements in spacer and cage design its hard to know what advantages there are,if little time has passed. I do not know what the advantages are on this subject matter.

In going through his site 6 months ago, it sure looked like he was bending or at least executing his final bending through the "portals"
They do have the tooling for this.
Ed

[52skeedoo]

There are so many innovations. It's wonderful how many advances there have been in recent years.


Do you have any idea how long Dr. Arnand had been using these new techniques? Knowing how long it takes for fusion to be completed (especially in 50+ year olds) I'm interested in knowing what the results of his patients are 2-years post op and how that compares to the more "traditional" approach being used by the other docs.

Sheri

[jrnyc]

Hi Sheri
4 years...92 patients ...says no problems but one revision...& 2 other people had thigh pain or numbness that went away within months after surgery...those are all of the problems he states there were...

jess

[LynetteG]

Hi Jess,

I got your personal message and tried to reply to it, but I'm not sure if it got through to you?

Thank you for writing, boy that was an expensive trip to L.A., but very informative for you. That sounds like a fantastic way to have our surgeries, I would love to hear more about it - certainly sounds so much less invasive which has ultimately got to be better for us. I wonder what recovery time is like etc. When you have spoken to the two patients who've had those procedures please let us all know what their experiences were.

You asked where I'm from? Well I live near Clearwater in Florida, and originally I was born and raised in Ireland, then I lived for quite a few years in the UK, and have now been in the U.S. for 13 years.

Take care Jess, and hope your pain goes away.

Lynette.

[CHRIS WBS]

It appears that minimally invasive surgery did not work too well for this woman.
http://drlloydhey.blogspot.com/2010/...y-who-had.html

[jrnyc]

hi Chris
i am sorry, but i trust absolutely nothing that dr hey has to say, for many many reasons, some not nice enuf to state on this forum!
i am going to see my nyc surgeon (who has followed my curves for over 5 years) on april 12th (had to change from march 15 appt) to discuss what he thinks about dr anand's method...my doctor attended a training session in nyc that dr anand gave...at least 2 manhattan surgeons were there...

best regards
jess

[hdugger]

I'd be interested in hearing your take on Dr. Hey (at least, the parts that can be mentioned here )

[Tall Paul]

It appears that minimally invasive surgery did not work too well for this woman.
http://drlloydhey.blogspot.com/2010/...y-who-had.html

Hi Chris,

Hope you are doing well...

I'm considering minimally invasive surgery and for this reason I'm always looking for articles on the subject, but I'm not sure this one applies to the minimally invasive surgery the original poster is talking about. First, its not stated in the article whether the person operated on my Dr Hey had scoliosis and secondly, Dr. Hey removed X-stops which are not used in minimally invasive scoliosis surgery (MISS). They are used for spinal stenosis.

I do believe minimally invasive surgery is the future of back surgeries, but you need to be sure you have the correct surgeon. Dr Anand from what I've read is one of the pioneers of this scoliosis surgery and has attended a scoliosis fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. I am talking to Dr Fessler in Chicago about this surgery.

Please keep the articles coming as I want to learn as much as possible about this new approach to scoliosis surgery.

[LeansLeft]

Not sure that Dr. Hey's referenced surgery is relevant here. But I have seen both Dr. Pashman and Dr. Anand -- they work out of the same office -- and I scheduled my surgery with Dr. Pashman anyway, although Dr. Anand said I was a candidate for his method. Despite, or because of, his self-promotion, Anand was unconvincing. Pashman's arguments were strong that for a person like me who would need correction from T-4 to Sacrum, balance was crucial, and he didn't feel that MISS could reposition the spine sufficiently to achieve thhe desired result. In addition, the number of incisions and punctures I would require to insert screws and rods for so many levels with MISS would not be much less invasive. Anand's method may be more successful for those who do not require significant correction, or where fusion alone is enough.

Andrew

[pilar]

Hi Andrew,
are you going to have your surgery with dr. Pashman? what degree are your curves?
I was going to have my surgery done last year with him, but unfortunately I can't get health insurance because of my scoliosis pre existing condition, and my insurance from school only covers me 50,000 dollars per year and Dr. pashman didn't agree to do it because he thought that he would not get paid.
He said he would If I paid out of pocket 18,000 dollars to him. Since I am a full-time student and unemployed, obviously I don't have that kind of money. Anyways, as soon as I have a change (maybe if the health care reform passes), I will go and get my surgery with Dr. Pashman. He is great, isn't he?

[jrnyc]

Hi Andrew
i saw dr anand jan 27 for consult....i had many opinions i could relate to you privately in a P.M.
i am going to see dr lonner in nyc april 12 to see what he thinks of the method...dr lonner has followed my curves for over 5 years, i respect him, & he attended the seminar that dr anand gave in nyc a month or 2 ago. (so did dr boachie)

i think minimally invasive is part of improvements, many of which we will see in the next decade or two, for fusion surgery....i myself am getting kinda' old to wait too much longer for the next miracle treatment!


best of luck
jess

[Tall Paul]

i was able to obtain the phone numbers of 2 patients who agreed to speak to a possible future patient...i will probably call them when i get back to the east coast...

Hi Jess,

Just wondering what sort of feedback you received from his patients. Did they have curves similar to yours? How are they doing?

Paul

[jrnyc]

hi tall paul
i am calling them this wkend..was in no hurry, as i am sure i was given phone numbers of happy patients...with no complaints!

i believe that it was dr anand who taught the seminar in nyc...as least that is what he told me...he mentioned that dr lonner & dr boachie were there, but didnt say who else...dr neuwirth wasnt there...

will write after i talk to dr anand's patients soon

best to you
jess

[LeansLeft]

Pilar,
I am having surgery with Dr. Pashman on March 29 at Cedars. I think my curves are about 55 lumbar and 50 thoracic. I have a pretty good health insurance plan, and even though Pashman is out of network, I won't have any out-of-pocket expenses. And Cedars is in network for me. It would be nice if you could wait for better health insurance.
Andrew