Tags
Discectomy, Dr. Smith, Health, Hip Replacement, interbody fusion, Kathleen, Lost in Space, Medicine, science, surgery, William D. Smith, William Smith, world renown
Back Surgery for 2012 [Kindle Edition]
$0.99 – so, yes you can afford it!
Kathleen Mosko (Author), William Smith (Author)
Kathleen talks candidly about the healing process, the how-tos and the don’t s from a personal perspective. It’s valuable input that can only come from someone who has walked in her shoes. She speaks from the heart about her experiences and how, as she became more independent, her life is fuller, and richer in many ways. She has stepped back into the game of life and not looked back.
Once she found world renown neurosurgeon, William D. Smith, MD, she describes how her life has changed profoundly. Kathleen explains details of what it’s like to have an innovative XLIF (Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion) that is revolutionizing back surgery forever. Dr. Smith is at the forefront of the innovations taking place and it truly is an exciting time to be a doctor in the field of neuroscience. Dr. Smith adds his comments explaining several areas of importance.
All the horror stories Kathleen heard from family and friends, and even from her own doctors, didn’t dissuade her once Dr. Smith spelled out the benefits of the XLIF procedure. Because she was so deformed, had she done nothing, Kathleen’s lifespan would have been markedly shorter and her quality of life diminished greatly. She would have been wheelchair bound, on some kind of assistance and medication for her remaining years.
Kathleen shares, in an intimate way, an overview of what it’s like to need back surgery. She tells how, after a ten year delay from an injury, she finally gets relief from the incessant pain. Her description of the vast maze and roadblocks is not so uncommon but, her road to recovery may be.
This is the first book in a series of medical memoirs Kathleen is writing to help others in their decision-making process to be as informed as possible about each of the types of her surgeries. She had two additional surgeries, an ACDF (Anterior Cervical Discectomy Fusion) procedure and a total hip replacement for which she will be writing about as well.
Because of her unique experiences, it is Kathleen’s fervent hope that others will hear her story and believe there is a better way to be out of pain and regain your quality of life. She firmly believes that we are each entitled to live our best life pain free!
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008MP7U8U
Related articles
- MUST READ – Back Surgery for 2012 – Kathleen Mosko (earlsview.com)
I am Board Certified Family Practice Physician and have been integrating Acupuncture and other needling techniques into my treatment methods for over a decade. The situations and outcomes you are describing are unfortunate and too common. I see too many patients who are miserable after failed back, knee and hip surgeries. As a result, I continuously counsel to patients to do everything in their power to avoid such surgeries and to utilize them as an absolute last resort.
These failed surgeries are a perfect case of how modern medicine has advanced past simple treatment methods. Janet G. Travell (JGT) and C. Chan Gunn (CCG), both MDs, noted this a half century ago. They knew that the location of pain could not be found with a scan or X-ray. They teach that the only tools to find pain come from the physical exam and the information acquired from the response to needling therapy. Today’s doctors are not taught to put the time and effort into these simple, but highly effective, office-based procedures and over rely on x-rays and scans. One should try not to be drawn into what’s seen on a MRI/CT scan or X-ray. These diagnostic tools are just a part of the entire picture of what’s needed to make the best decision. What’s seen on X-rays and scans are true … but not necessarily the truth as to what to do about a particular pain problem. The truth is that the patient is the only entity who can guide the therapeutic plan.
Sharing a few of my key pearls on pain might be helpful. In the beginning of any spine or joint pain issue, it is the surrounding tissues that is the culprit producing the pain. Trigger points can affect any skeletal muscles. JGT noted that an infected muscle will ache, whine and scream until it is properly treated. CCG noted that these muscles do not function well and are shorter and tight. These short, tight, whining and spasming muscles will wreak havoc on the patient’s well-being. If these triggers points (TPs) are neglected the treatment options will be substandard and misguided. Long-term delays will cause the TPs to have an opportunity to “burn-into” the muscle and nervous systems. Therefore, treatment should be early and aggressive to prevent this cascading problem. Muscle release techniques with needles (JGT/CCG) is one of the methods that has been found to successfully treat pain syndromes.
I have a patient who came in because he was having pain “in or over the top” of his artificial knee. His orthopedic surgeon told him it was impossible for him to have this pain because the knee was artificial and that his follow up X-rays were OK. Following JGT/CCG protocols, I/we determined that it was his adductor and hamstring muscles were causing the image of the pain to be projected over the surface of the knee(referred pain). We were able to eliminate his pain and improve his range of motion.
In my opinion, one would choose to have joint replacement surgery when they are not in pain. So begin the healing with heat, stretching, massage, yoga, deep tissue release … add in magnesium as a muscle relaxant plus needle therapy. Read up on JGT and CCG!
Surgery has a very limited role in the treatment of back pain. Although it is probably offered to patients more often than is necessary (this is, after all, how surgeons make their living), there are a few good reasons to have surgery. A small number of surgeons think the only way to cure a medical condition is with cold, hard steel. There are also some surgeons whose only interest in the patient is in the fee they collect; they collect more for doing surgery than for talking patients out of surgery. Honest, ethical surgeons give the patient options and honest opinions. The problem may be in figuring out who is being honest and who isn’t.
Most insurance companies, especially workers compensation companies, would prefer not to pay for surgery, or long term rehabilitation instead of, or following, surgery. The less they pay out for procedures or physical therapy, the more profit they make. Stock holders like that; patients don’t. And if insurance companies can find a way to no longer be the financially responsible party, all the better.
Keeping the above two paragraphs in mind, some times surgery is a necessity. Statistically, necessary surgery probably falls in the range of 5% of cases. In another 5% of cases surgery may be appropriate because it saves the patient healing time and time off work, even if it does not affect the eventual overall outcome. This means that in 90+% of back pain cases, surgery is not needed! All surgery has the potential for complications, from pain to numbness to paralysis to death. Think hard about your choices.
In general, a patient needs surgery when surgery can save his life, repair an injury the patient’s body cannot, or shorten significantly the recovery from an injury or disease. When it comes to the lower back, there are five absolute indications for surgery, but several elective reasons. The absolute indications for surgery are the following:
1. Cauda equina or conus medullaris syndrome. These situations happen when there is a very large central herniated disc that compresses severely the nerves in the lower spinal cord. Without surgery, the compression would lead to eventual loss of function of those nerves, paralysis of muscles, and/or loss of sensation.
2. Intractable pain, i.e. unremitting, severe pain.
3. Progressive neurological deficit, loss of sensation, proprioception, muscle control, etc.
4. New incontinence or retention, bowel or bladder.
5. Hemorrhage into the spinal cord.
The relative indications generally center on the relief of discomfort (less than intractable) and the shortening of recovery time from various problems: herniated disk, compression fractures, etc.
There are also several types of surgery: open, micro, and minimally invasive. Open takes less time, usually. The surgeon has a better view of the surgical field, but more structures are damaged and recovery is longer. Micro surgery takes longer; the field of view is smaller, but fewer structures are damaged and recovery is shorter. Minimally invasive surgery, in general, takes the longest; is the most difficult; has the narrowest field of view, but the shortest recovery time. There are trade-offs. Get the surgeon to explain them all to you. If he can’t or won’t, find another surgeon.
If someone uses the words, laser surgery, he is trying to impress you. Nothing more. Lasers have their place in surgery — usually cauterizing blood vessels. Very little surgery is done with a laser. A laser produces too much heat. Laser is a buzz word only. And the person using it is a salesman first — surgeon second. He wants your money; he’s not concerned with your best interests.
Bill Yancey, MD
http://whatyourdoctor.blogspot.com