Surgeons recommended?

[rikibeth]

My mother is having trouble with her back, and an MRI reveals that a disk is pressing on a nerve and causing numbness and tingling.

She's already had back surgery before.

She doesn't want a rod fusing her spine.

She's going in for a consultation at Brigham & Women's Hospital on 6/22.

She writes, " If you have friends in Boston who know of a an excellent neuro surgeon or a spinal orthopedic surgeon I would appreciate getting the names."

Anyone?

Comments

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

I can't speak to surgeons in Boston, but there's a procedure developed in the past several years involving a cage around the vertebrae for fusion, rather than rods, which has pretty good results. She might ask for details on that while she's shopping around for information.

I hope all goes well.

[nahaniotieno.livejournal.com]

I could not begin to tell you, and I live here.

That being said, B&W is among one of the best hospitals in the country, possibly the world.

May have to do a bit of your own research on the topic, but there are a lot of very talented medical professionals in every single niche and practice in this town.

I'm sure with a bit of research, heck, maybe even interviewing perspective surgeons since this is a pretty big deal, you will find one that meets the credentials you're looking for.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I'm sure my mother will do exactly that, but if someone had a recommendation to share, it'd be another useful piece of data.

[catya.livejournal.com]

new england baptist, Paresi (sp?) - my mom just had surgery there, they are fantastic.

that said - chiropracter? they are good for that sort of thing.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I think this is beyond chiropractor level, but I'll pass the name along, thanks!

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Yeah, when I had this sort of problem a year or two ago, I actually stopped going to the chiropractor and went to a physical therapist instead. That helped me a whole lot. I don't know if your mom has looked into PT instead of surgery for this particular issue, but it may be worth pursuing. Of course, if she already has looked into it, or has had this problem before and this is a resurgence, that's a different story. It's probably going to depend heavily on which disk is pressing which nerve, in which way, and how hard.

You might want to ask ariesd, who has had neck surgery twice.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

She's had PT and it hasn't helped This is an ongoing problem and she's tried a LOT of things... right now it's not even "surgery?" but "what SORT of surgery?"

I'll ask Aries.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

That totally sucks. :( Lots of sympathy to her!

Working on It

[kebbykate.livejournal.com]

I've just e-mailed Margo-the-doc-in-the-family who trained at Harvard Medical School and practiced for a dozen years in greater Boston. She's pretty good about responding quickly.

Re: Working on It

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[ihadtimetokill.livejournal.com]

one of my best friends has lots of medical problems, including a back issue she's had for years -- and i know she sees a lot of specialists in boston for a couple different things. so this is verbatim what she told me to tell you when i asked her for doctor recommendations: "I have a disk pressing on my spinal cord. It's not surgical, so I can't recommend a back or neurosurgeon in Boston. However, I also have neuro issues with numbness, tingling, muscle twitches, vision changes, etc due to the disk in my back. I see a pain doctor at Brigham & Women's, Edgar Ross. Initially, I was treated with IV lidocaine (extreme family member of the novocaine that dentists use...there are also lidoderm patches available for direct spot treatment if necessary) for 5 or 6 months to reset my pain sensors. We've put me on the medications Lamictal and Lyrica. This course of treatment has succeeded in fixing all my neurological back problems. Since your mother doesn't want surgery, I would suggest checking out Dr. Ross. He's an innovator in the pain treatment field, a big fucking deal as it were. He's the guy you want."

she is molliekatie here on lj, molliekatie on twitter, and her email is (surprise!) molliekatie at gmail; she said she'd be more than happy to try to help if you have any other questions. good luck!

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Passed it along to my mom.

[pentane.livejournal.com]

My mother had her surgery done in Portsmouth, NH, good outcome, not sure if that's "close enough" or not.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

They spend summers in Ogunquit, Maine. If you want to pass the name along, I'll let her know.

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

I wish I knew of anyone. Unfortunately, the surgeon who did an excellent job for my father is in Danbury, so that's no help.

I hope somebody brilliant can be found, and that all goes well for her.