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I just want to take a minute to say THANK YOU to the community that gives of itself so generously to help other spineys. The first incredible demonstration of this that I saw was back in 2003. A single-mom, Seattle cop was going to Germany all alone for a 3-level lumbar procedure with Dr. Bertagnoli. A NASA engineer from Houston scheduled a trip to Straubing only to meet with Dr. Bertagnoli, specifically so he and his wife could be there for several days to take care of the patient, whom THEY HAD NEVER MET! This was not, "hey, let's meet for coffee." They were planning on caring for this woman for days, instead of touring Europe like they could have been. I was blown away by this generosity.

Unfortunately, the patient's surgery was rescheduled so they did not meet in Europe. Fortunately, I was able to reschedule my first non-surgery trip to Germany so I could be there for her. (Hers was the first spine surgery for someone I knew that I was able to observe. While this was done before I even thought of doing this as a business, this experience really demonstrated the value of the patient advocate in this process.)

Charlie and Doreen got to meet in person at the Dr. Yeung luncheon that I hosted in 2004. I've met Doreen many times since then, up in Seattle, down in LA for my seminars, and I hope to see her out in AZ. She's left police work and moved south!

Back to the generous community. A few weeks ago, I was in Germany and speaking to a client who really needed help urgently and it absolutely had to be the next day! Since I was over there and up to my elbows in alligators, I could not handle it, so I called 2 spiney friends who were local to the patient and could help. Both of them dropped what they were doing and hit the phones. Both put many hours into this and worked hard to come up with a solution. Both gave so generously of themselves to help someone they had no connection with except for our shared spinal ordeal.

I see this daily in smaller ways as we come here and to other communities to give and get support and help out as best we can. Like Charlie and Doreen; Wendy, Willie and KC have again demonstrated how important these communities can be.

Thank you all for participating!

All the best,

Mark