Dr. Boachie Named in Lawsuit

[LindaRacine]

Those of us contemplating this surgery are, ALWAYS deciding to take a major risk. In a sense, it's not merely a crap shoot, but Russian roulette. Perhaps the understood tipping point in undergoing the surgery, is not so much that we're willing to live with any outcome, but that we're no longer willing to live in our present state - least of all, if it's certain to worsen.

Couldn't agree more.

[LindaRacine]

Mistakes are mistakes. of course. However, when someone's life and/or quality of life lies in the balance, the highly paid specialist making it, ought IMO be held accountable. I'm very surprised if you are indeed suggesting otherwise.

The price we'll pay to compensate everyone for every mistake is that no surgeon would be willing to undertake surgery on anyone who presents a complex scenario.

I think that surgeons who make a lot of mistakes and surgeries where gross errors were committed are an entirely different story.

--Linda

[Chihuahua Mama]

Love your initial response, Linda

I also was told - THERE ARE NO GUARANTEE'S. Additionally my surgeon would not explain what my gait might be like, if I'd feel my iliac screws (I don't) or if I'd gain or lose any more height. All he did was show me X-rays of similar surgeries like mine and even gave me their phone numbers.

I had a negative experience in anesthesia that eventually meant I received no pain medication during rehab. Take a look at my X-rays and let me know if you think you could white-knuckle that? It was pure hell but I survived. No guarantees; you just have to weigh the potential positive with the negative and certainly do your homework on your surgeon. Interview at least 5 if you can.

IMG952944-1.jpg

[titaniumed]

Susan

Nice x-ray! Hope your feeling a little better.....

This thread is almost a mandatory read for those having surgery. Any surgery.....

Linda is an excellent moderator.....

Ed

[burdle]

This is such an interesting thread.


I recently had a second lot of injections- first were in my neck and the second in my lumbar spine.

The doctor who did the second ones went through the consent and at the end very formally stopped and said there was a risk of my being paralyzed if she 'nicked' the Aorta and did I want to proceed?.She would not know if she had 'nicked' it until too late.

I was dumbfounded - she said she would leave the room while I made my decision. I said I could not possibly make that sort of decision there and then- I had waited ages for the appointment, made a 2 hour Journey to the hospital at crack of dawn- was unfed and watered and in great pain.

I stupidly asked for odds - which frankly I cannot digest because to me I will always be the ONE. I asked her if she had ever nicked the Aorta and she said no. Later my brother said that oddswise it would be better if she had as that would mean the odds on her doing it again were in my favour ( ha-ha) but my brain does not work like that. Anyway the nurse present asked me what the problem was and told me they do hundreds of the injections with no problem. She was complete blasé about it all.

I told the doctor that no-one had mentioned any risk before when I had the neck ones and she said the risks were much higher for those injections. I don't think she believed me but it was true - no-one had mentioned risks specifically as she had.

By then I was incapable of any rational thought and was very upset- I was embarrassed that I could not think straight - I went ahead and quaked thru the whole process - I was rigid with fear - a horrible experience.

[Prfbones]

I've never seen a number anywhere near that high. I think that all the published numbers are between .5% and 1%.

And it's more related to anesthesia, not the surgical procedure itself.

[titaniumed]

Joyful was the only NSF member I know about that didn’t make it......

She will always be remembered.....

Ed

[Pooka1]

I think of Joyful from time to time.

People need to realize that these things can happen without any error on the part of the medical team. Surgeons take patients as they come, with some patients often having spent years exhausting conservative options. Adults can have "windows" for surgery like kids. And some people just can't tolerate surgery I suspect no matter when they do it.

Dr. Hey seems like a bit of a lone wolf in advocating earlier surgery in the hope of a shorter procedure, shorter recovery, and longer life of the remaining unfused vertebra. I have to wonder about this issue of adjacent disc disease. We measure that as against normal but it should be measured against the incredibly uneven loading of an untreated large curve. So yes the fusion may damage the unfused discs below but is it more or less damage over a shorter or longer interval compared to the crazy loading of a large curve?

Scoliosis is example #3,890,551 why life is unfair.

[LindaRacine]

Awwww, thanks Ed.

Burdle... Did I understand you correctly? What kind of injection were you getting? I've never heard of anyone having their aorta nicked while getting a spinal injection. The aorta runs along the front of the vertebral bodies. The injections are typically done at the posterior elements of the spine. That's a pretty big distance between the two.

--Linda

[burdle]

Lumbar l5 nerve block.

apparently the Aorta does run close the this- she was very specific

[burdle]

Hi,
Just to clarify the doctor was taking about the risks when doing the Lumbar. She said the risk for Neck injections were higher but not the same risks; so not the Aorta in the case of the neck ones. but she said I should have been advised about the risks when I had the neck ones.

[LindaRacine]

Lumbar l5 nerve block.

apparently the Aorta does run close the this- she was very specific

Lumbar vertebrae are huge. It seems to me that the needle would have to travel maybe 4" to get to the aorta.

http://aorticdissection.com/wp-conte...2/aortic01.jpg

[burdle]

Lumbar vertebrae are huge. It seems to me that the needle would have to travel maybe 4" to get to the aorta.

http://aorticdissection.com/wp-conte...2/aortic01.jpg

The aorta divides at the level of the pelvis to become the two main leg arteries and runs very close to the where they put the l5 nerve block in.

This was at The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital London. I suppose it is possible that you know more than they do, Linda.

[titaniumed]

Since my aorta and vena cava had to be moved or slid over from the discectomy zone, I have noticed that there is some material stating that these vessels can or do follow scoliosis curves, and with rotation, can present a non-textbook positional situation.....The abdominal aorta can also drift off the spine in non-scoliosis patients. (There is always something new)

The aortic aneurism material is scary.... Lucille Ball, and John Ritter had this happen.....(smug face)

Ed

[LindaRacine]

The aorta divides at the level of the pelvis to become the two main leg arteries and runs very close to the where they put the l5 nerve block in.

This was at The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital London. I suppose it is possible that you know more than they do, Linda.

I don't know if that was meant to be snarky. That's how it comes across.

I was never doubting you or your doctor. I was wondering what I didn't know about anatomy that made it possible to hit the aorta with a needle from the back.

--Linda