Re: ALIF--anyone?

[Guest guest]

Hi Lori,

I am a little confused. Who have you seen that is suggesting this

course of action....and is sounding a tad cavalier to you? I am not

sure exactly where you live...but if you are not getting the feeling

that you are with the right doctor, it probably is a very good idea

to continue to seek alternate opinions until you feel that you have

reached the right doctor.

That being said, my advice is not to let geography or $$ impact you

too much while you are in the " consulting " phase. For most of us,

the chance that a top notch surgeon will happen to be in our back

yards is somewhere between slim and none....so you are lucky that

you live in a geoographic area that has a number of surgeons who may

be able to help you.

Have you used the Scoliosis Research Society's physician locator

(www.srs.org)?

Other than word of mouth, or through an online group such as this,

you are going to be challenged to find patients that have the

condition that you have...so it is tricky to let other people's

experience compare with the particular skill set that you are

looking for. Not that I am belittling the skill necessary to

handle " your father in laws " aching back....but they are really not

relevant to those that long ago had fusion and scoliosis. So...all

that is to say...you really are going to have to do your own

homework to " qualify " anyone that you see.

The physician locatior in the SRS site helps you to at least sort

out the doctors who consider scoliosis to be a primary focus of

their practice. Selecting a surgeon who indicates that he/she

practices primarily on adults is important. Looking at the NJ

listing at physicians that provided links to their practice I saw a

Dr Emami who did his residency at the Univ. of Chicago and his

fellowship at UCSF, so at least " on paper " he should have had the

training and ability to help you UCSF does a number of the flatback

surgeries and lots of research. I also see a Dr Antonacci who in

his " testimonials " has a posting from an older flatback patient. Its

a start. You can use the listing for NY, or CT or whatever

geographic areas you want to search. Incidently, DrReiger is a

member of SRS, but he says pediatric scoliosis is his specialty.

DrAragona does not appear to be a member.

If you are in the NY metro area and just can't find a doctor that

you feel good about....there is Boston or Chicago...but I think you

will be able to find someone closer to home. You just have to kiss a

lot of frogs!

Lastly, seeing DrBoachie for a consult may not be as crazy as it

seems. If you have insurance, it may be that your carrier will just

reimburse you at a lower percentage because he is " out of network " .

In other words, if your co-pay is ordinarily 20%, it may be

reimbursed at 30%...so for example if the consult is $500, then

instead of costing you $100, it would be $150. The $50 hopefully

would not keep you from getting verification of what you might be

considering with another surgeon.

Keep us up to date in your search!

Take Care, Cam