Hezeronek... better late than never!

[hezeronek]

SURGERY DATE: May 8, 2009

AGE AT SURGERY DATE: 29

SURGEON: Dr. Bertagnoli

SURGERY LOCATION/CLINIC: Bogen, Germany

DEVICE(s), LEVEL(s): Prodisc, L5-S1

COST = About $30K USD
AMOUNT BILLED: 22.500 Euros
INSURANCE ALLOWED: Nada
OUT OF POCKET: All of it
TRAVEL: $3000 pp Business Class Air France flights, Hotel was about $1200 pp (one room split three ways for about a month), Beer = several hundred Euros LMAO
EXPLANATIONS?


ONSET OF LUMBAR PROBLEMS, DATE OF INJURY, CAUSE, ETC...: 8/1/2007 T-boned on the drivers side of jeep wrangler by medium sized SUV (She was faulted)

PRIOR SPINE SURGERIES AND PROCEDURES (IDET, ESI, etc...): physical therapy x 3 rounds, chiropractic care, ESI x 2 (relief for about 3 days, then rapid abdominal weight gain... GRRR), finally narcotic pain relievers

PRE-OP MEDICATIONS: cymbalta, norco, soma, ibuprofen, protonix

PRE-OP DIAGNOSTICS (discogram, nerve root blocks, etc...): MRIs, X-rays, EMG, neurological physical exam, apparently didn't need discography (docs said my case was pretty straight-forward)

PRE-OP NEUROPATHIES (what, where, & degree of pain, numbness, tingling, sexual/bladder/bowel symptoms, etc.):numbness & burning in groin, buttox, inner thighs, urinary incontinence and urine retention (leading to multiple UTIs), gastroparesis & chronic constipation (lead to a whole summer of colitis issues in 2008... funtimes!)

PRE-OP CONDITION (Please include %leg pain/% back pain, pain levels, type of pain, ability to work and function, disability status, etc.... be direct, but be as verbose as you need to): Probably 90% back pain, 10% sciatic, unable to work (on disability), very limited ability to do household chores & recreation, unable to get out of bed many days, deep depression, pain was constant

TIME POST-OP AT ORIGINAL POST HERE: 4 weeks, 5 days

DESCRIBE YOUR SURGICAL EXPERIENCE: It was great! I arrived at the Bogen clinic, and there were flowers waiting for me at the table from Dr B! I paid the extra fee for a private room and was glad I did. My mother and husband were able to stay there with me, and we had an awesome view from a private balcony at the back of the room. The nurses and doctors were great. The were very responsive to my needs. We had a little bit of a language barrier with the nighttime nurses, but it didn't really impede on the care I received. Compared to all the other hospitals I've been in, this one was like the Ritz Carleton.

RATE FUNCTIONALITY / SATISFACTION AT INTERVALS BELOW:

FUNCTIONALITY: 5
1. Very poor: much worse... disabled after surgery.
2. Poor: worse after surgery.
3. Neutral: No improvement, or improvements offset by new problems.
4. Fair, some improvement, limitations are still serious.
5. Good, substantial improvement, some limitations.
6. Excellent: no limitations.

SATISFACTION: 5
1. Very sorry I had the surgery.
2. Somewhat sorry I had the surgery.
3. Too soon to tell, or I'm ambivalent about the surgery.
4. I'm somewhat glad I did my surgery.
5. I'm very glad I did my surgery.

Don't forget the detail update section below!

DATE UPDATED: _________ FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [6 WEEKS POST-OP]

DATE UPDATED: _________ FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [3 MONTHS POST-OP]

DATE UPDATED: _________ FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [6 MONTHS POST-OP]

DATE UPDATED: _________ FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [1 YEAR POST-OP]

DATE UPDATED: _________ FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [2 YEARS POST-OP]

DATE UPDATED: _________ FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [3 YEARS POST-OP]

DATE UPDATED: _________ FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [4 YEARS POST-OP]

DATE UPDATED: _________ FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [5 YEARS POST-OP]

DATE UPDATED: _________ FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [6 YEARS POST-OP]

DATE UPDATED: _________ FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [7 YEARS POST-OP]

6 WEEKS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ECT... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

3 MONTHS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

6 MONTHS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

1 YEAR POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

2 YEARS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

3 YEARS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

4 YEARS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

5 YEARS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

6 YEARS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

7 YEARS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

[treefrog]

Hi H. I hope you are doing well now that you are home. It was great meeting you, and so inspirational to hear how well you were doing so soon after surgery. It really was great to talk with you before my own surgery, and your hubby had lots and lots of great tips for Bob, which he really appreciated.

Take care.