Anyone in St. Louis Sept. 19th?

[jane d]

Glad you got an earlier date Heidi

When Dr. Lenke moved my surgery up by 3 weeks I had mixed feelings at first. Now my surgery is 5 weeks behind me and all has continued to go very well. God is in control and I'm sure all will go well for you. I will be praying for you. Today I haven't had anything for pain or a muscle relaxer since midnight last night! I walked over a mile today, rested for one hour this afternoon, and have up doing things around the house all day. Heidi, you will do very well and it will be good to have it all behind you.
Jane

[hasteffen]

Jane, you are doing so awesome! You are definately an inspiration. I am still waiting for final confirmation as to the Oct 5th date... I explained that I didn't want to be moved again and have to rebook airlines and childcare and so forth. I'm not sure as to why it is taking so long to confirm. I believe everything happens for a reason... Even if I do not und
erstand. Happy labor day weekend
Best,
Heidi

[gardenia]

Wish I could have lunch .... but have anyone tried Reiki?

I live about 30 miles from St. Louis and wish we could all meet for lunch. Maybe Gardenia could meet, as well. I think she is living at her daughter's in St. Louis before her surgery. Any suggestions of a time and place that the majority of you with appointments in the morning or late afternoon could make?

I am back in Mexico since the beginning of August to get ready for my mid-october surgery. I somehow missed this entire thread.

Initially I came back to see Dr Bridwell for the second time even after a very first frustrating first visit when I did not get any after consultation but the assitant calling to schedule a flouroscopy for July. I went back for 3 weeks and could not make my flight back becuase of more tests. United Airline charge me $150 penalty for changing the reservation which we had to pay but they claimed that if we have a doctor's letter justifying the need to change the return flight, they would refund me $100 not in money but in paper money good for my next flight.

My scheduled date was for mid October but as soon as I got back, got a call from Bernie the nurse that they just received a document from my insurance UHC denying any surgery which involves the use of BMP. She said that now my date is ON-HOLD or delayed until they can fight it. It has been already almost a month and each day is more impossible to wait any news. Dr Bridwell has not submitted my pre-approval form and Bernie told me not to call the insurance in order to not raise a red flag. In the meantime, I do not know what the office is doing. When talking to Bernie her answers are vague and circular.

I got into such depression, lack of life and all shut down on me for a bit. Even my wonderful massages caused so much pain that I told the lady to cut short the session. Then went to see a local friend and whatever she asked, I teared. She then insisted on giving me REIKI, she had before and we not believing it would help with my pains. Since that day, I have had 3 sessions and it brought back myself. I back to being myself, she said it was because my energy was going wild in every direction and I had lost my balance. She initiate all visits as she insists that I need to balance my chakras. Well, I am starting to see her point.

I don't know what it was my me and the stress but whatever Reiki did, it was welcomed. Apparently, Reiki givers are not supposed to do that for money but to pass the teaching and to help others balance themselves and eventually the world.

Who knows, so far so good. I am counting on surgery on schedule but if it does not happen then it will be another time. I was freaked out that BMP had some studies revealing a 1-3% cancer in the group study. It freaked me out. But, now I see it as 97%-99% being much better than OK.

Thanks for thinking about me and lunch.

[Confusedmom]

Bumping up this thread. Hoping to see you all! Look for me--40 years old, 5 ft 3, long brown hair, glasses and kick-ass posture. (Hee, hee.) I will be with my mother, age 69. Seriously, say hello!!

Best,
Evelyn

[golfnut]

I love it, Evelyn . . . "kick-ass posture". I hope that somehow many of you girls can meet each other tomorrow. I'll be thinking of you girls and looking forward to your reports about your appointments with Dr. Lenke.

[KathK]

Hi,

I am anxious to hear about everyone's visits with Dr. Lenke yesterday. I arrived at the x-ray department at 6:45am and was leaving Dr. Lenke's office by 9:30am. So, I think I missed many of you, unfortunately!

This was my 2-year follow-up visit. At the 2 year visit, Dr. Lenke requests a bunch of x-rays to check for fusion. He looked at my x-rays and pointed out the "fusion lines". He said that although he could never claim that a fusion is 100% complete, he feels that my fusion is 99% complete. Yeah! He also did not see any signs of junctional kyphosis at the top of my fusion. Yeah! He said to 'keep up the good posture" and to come back in 3 years!

Dr. Lenke also requested that I have Pulmonary Function Tests done prior to this visit. When I asked about those results, he said that my overall lung capacity had improved 20% over my pre-op Pulmonary Function Test. That really surprised me since my curve only went up to T9. Interesting!

It was such a lovely day in St. Louis yesterday! I hope everyone got to enjoy the skyline view from Dr. Lenke's new office on the 12th floor of the Center for Advanced Medicine (CAM).

Please let us know how your visits went!!! I know that those of you having pre-opt testing had a really LONG day! I hope it went well.

Best Wishes,
Kathy

[golfnut]

Congratulations, Kathy, on such a good report from Dr. Lenke. I hope and pray to hear the same in January!

[Confusedmom]

Kathy,
That's awesome!!! I didn't know they could see it on xrays. Something to look forward to, hopefully!

Sorry I missed you. We got delayed by traffic, and my mom took a wrong turn. Sonwe didn't get there until 4:30. I DID get to meet hsteffen (Heidi), Nanlo (Nancy), Jane & Cherili (not sure of spelling), though! That was really great. All of you are lovely ladies, and it is so inspiring to see people farther along as well as good to chat with those looking forward to surgery. I'm sonthankful for this forum that I got to meet you all!!

My visit was good. All the hardware is in place and Dr. Lenke said everything looks good. He said time should improve my various aches and pains, and also prescribed physical therapy to help. He released me to take Advil (yay!), which he said might help with my leg pain, and he said I can do the elliptical now. Don't know if I'm ready for that just yet, but maybe soon. I left the office after 7 pm and got back to Indianapolis after 1 am! Ugh. Took a long nap today.

Heidi & Cherili, I'll be thinking of you as October gts closer. Jane, so glad you're doing so amazingly well!! Nanlo, tell us how your 2-year went!!

Best,
Evelyn

[golfnut]

Evelyn,
Congratulations on a good report! I have definitely improved even after a year. I am jealous that you got to meet so many of the wonderful ladies from the forum. What a great group we have on this forum!

[JenniferG]

What a long day Dr. Lenke had on the 19th!

Congrats to all those who received good reports.

[TwinmomTN]

Evelyn - So glad your appointment went well and you are able to proceed with p.t. and Advil.

Heidi - Sounds like your pre-op went as well as could be expected. At very best it is an exhausting and stressful day. I will certainly be thinking about you as your date nears. Best of luck to you and you will do
beautifully I am sure.

[hasteffen]

Thanks Pam!

[nanlo]

so thrilled to meet my forum friends in person!

Wow, it was so much fun to meet Evelyn, Heidi and Jane at Dr Lenke's office!
Evelyn, it is encouraging to hear that Dr Lenke thinks your pain might work itself out in time. I hope the PT makes a big difference!
My two year check up went really well. Had a bunch of xrays - I am healing well, and won't go back for three years. I also showed improvement w/ my pulmonary function (15%) from my pre op days. I didn't mind the long wait at all... since my surgeon is a rock star (hello!!)!
I got to spend Thursday walking around Forest Park and the zoo with my friend (I gave my husband a break from the St Louis routine), and we did have a gorgeous day. I was on my feet for 7 hours (!) w/ a few rests - but I just can't get over the fact that I can do that! Pre surgery, I was good for about 25 minutes before I would have to rest.
I'm inspired to keep in touch better on the forum - what a wonderful support group.
Nancy

[golfnut]

Congratulations on a good report. You have lots of good advice for forum people and were a big suppport for me in my presurgery days. Also, I'm sure many would enjoy your Blog. Can you add a link to your signature?