My appt. with Dr. Bridwell

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I had my appt. with Dr. Bridwell yesterday. It started with me at

x-ray for the first time at 7:15 and finally ended at 1:00. He was

very thorough. I did have several x-rays done, including one yucky

one where I was lying on my stomach, with his fellow pulling on my

head with his hands under my jaw and his nurse pulling the opposite

direction by my hands. Ouch!

He said that he could do surgery that would correct some of the new

curve and hopefully stop the progression. He would take my fusion up

to T1 or C7, depending on how much he could do. It would be a

posterior surgery, which is good. However, he wants me to be in the

hospital for 9 days prior to the actual surgery in halo traction.

This would involve screwing a halo into my skull and hooking me up to

weighted traction 24/7. This is just difficult for me to think about.

He wants to do it to stretch my spine, which I understand. However,

the thought of screwing something into my head is a lot to think

about. Also, the fact that I would be 5 hours away from family and

friends during the 16 day hospital stay would be very hard.

I am going to talk to one or two other local docs to see if they do

this kind of thing here. One is very good. He sees many of the

area's professional athletes, and sees all the racing drivers who are

injured during the races here (Indianapolis).

I am so very glad that I saw Dr. Bridwell. He was very good at

explaining why he was doing things and answered all of my questions

patiently. It was worth the pain getting there.