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Lizzie2
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For some reason...
« on: Mar 18th, 2005, 10:33am » |
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I always manage to have a health crisis in the middle of the night. Last night I was up late between school work and the beast, and I really wasn't getting anywhere.
At around 2:30am, I had this massive sinus surgery post-op hemorrhage. This will sound gross but I will say I'm not kidding that now that I'm home from the hospital, I have to clean the sheets, blankets, and carpet from getting stained with blood in the half a second it took me to hop from my bed to the tissue box across the room. Ugh.
It was so scary because blood was just pouring everywhere from my nose/sinus area. I was choking on blood in my mouth and throat. I've never seen myself bleed like that before! Not a fun experience...
So...I just went through more torturous ENT procedures...and now I've finally gotten my pain meds..,and I'm going to bed.
What a night....
L2
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Opus
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #1 on: Mar 18th, 2005, 10:47am » |
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((((Lizzie))))
I hope for better days ahead for you.
Opus/Paul
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Bethany1
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #2 on: Mar 18th, 2005, 10:55am » |
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Gosh Carrie, I do hope ya get some rest from all that. Take it easy girl. 
Beth
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Langa
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #3 on: Mar 18th, 2005, 11:04am » |
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A friend of mine just had sinus surgery. I was with her when she got out of bed to go use the bathroom and just started gushing blood out from her nose. It was scary for me to see and once the bleeding was controlled, while we waited for her ride to the hospital, I cleaned her floor (thankfully no carpeting) and her wall and helped her change…in a matter of 20 seconds or so that much blood came out of her nose…very scary.
She had to have more packing in her nose for 2 days.
Sorry you had such a crappy night. Get some rest and here’s hoping no more ER visits for you any time soon!
Langa
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Lizzie2
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #4 on: Mar 18th, 2005, 11:26am » |
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Thanks guys.
Langa...wow that is a sucky experience too. I had the heavy, uncontrollable bleeding for about 15 minutes or so before it began to slow up...which was a long process. I was going through tissues but the second I would pull a handful of tissues away, then the bleeding was so fast that it would get on more stuff before I even had a chance to throw more tissues on my nose. It was so crazy...I was trying to stay calm and act fast, but there was so much blood.
By the time I actually got to the ER, the bleeding was better but still going on. They actually only use some sort of dissolvable gel-packing here when they do the sinus surgery, and they didn't want to pack me again because they thought I'd be in even more pain. So they decided to do the cautery and suction out more of my sinus cavities. However, that hurt so bad...and I hadn't had pain meds in about 40 hours because they thought they might send me into surgery for some more work..and on no pain meds, I was definitely in tears. And I like to think I'm pretty tough when it comes to pain.
I had no idea how horrible this surgery is before having it!
I'm just hoping that it is worth it in the long run!!!
I'm just waiting for the percocet to really kick in so I can fall asleep...right now it still hurts too much to sleep. Hopefully soon...! I hate that I'm missing a full day of classes and also I had all these NCLEX practice questions due today, and I can't get them done now...I'm just praying my teacher will allow me to turn them in on Monday.
Hope your friend is healing okay now!
Carrie
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alienspacebabe
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #5 on: Mar 18th, 2005, 12:22pm » |
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Lizzie, a for you.
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Charlie
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #6 on: Mar 18th, 2005, 7:27pm » |
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Hope things are lookinig up Lizzie. My cousin just had nasal surgery. Your experience pretty much mirrored his. It was a bloody mess he said.
It will get better Lizzie. I promise.
Charlie
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Lizzie2
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #7 on: Mar 18th, 2005, 9:28pm » |
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on Mar 18th, 2005, 7:27pm, Charlie wrote:Hope things are lookinig up Lizzie. My cousin just had nasal surgery. Your experience pretty much mirrored his. It was a bloody mess he said.
It will get better Lizzie. I promise.
Charlie |
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Sorry about your cousin going through it, too Charlie!! This surgery sucks...I definitely didn't know it was going to be this bad before I had it done. But also....I think my doctor didn't expect it to be quite this bad because when he was in the surgery, he realized I had almost complete blockage between the deviated septum and scar tissue from the tumor surgery 8 years ago. I just sort of ignored it for 8 years until I started feeling like the sinus congestion was complicating my headaches and that I wasn't breathing very well.
It sucks cuz I was down to just taking Percocet in the morning and at bedtime...but now I'm back up to every 4 or 5 hours after last night and today!
Going to bed in a few because I have to work early tomorrow. Hopefully I will make it through work without TOO much pain! Ugh...
Anyhow...tell your cousin to get well soon, too!
Lizzie 
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cootie
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #8 on: Mar 19th, 2005, 12:09am » |
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Do perc's make you tired ? They make me BUSY.....I have em for my back......far from tired ! Course that's prolly explains why I made such a lousey speed freak years ago......made me tired. Everythin makes me nausious Pam
My mom had reconstructive surgery on her nose from Melenoma.....she had one of those hemorages and was taken to the hospital it was so horrible.....when she got in the ER they took the protective cover off her nose she had to wear untill the rebuild surgery was done. Guess the attendants all took one step BACK when they seen what they seen.
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Lizzie2
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #9 on: Mar 19th, 2005, 4:44pm » |
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on Mar 19th, 2005, 12:09am, cootie wrote:Do perc's make you tired ? They make me BUSY.....I have em for my back......far from tired ! Course that's prolly explains why I made such a lousey speed freak years ago......made me tired. Everythin makes me nausious Pam
My mom had reconstructive surgery on her nose from Melenoma.....she had one of those hemorages and was taken to the hospital it was so horrible.....when she got in the ER they took the protective cover off her nose she had to wear untill the rebuild surgery was done. Guess the attendants all took one step BACK when they seen what they seen. |
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Yes...when I took the percocet, it lowered my pain and I was so much more productive today than usual! I had a major cluster this morning at 6:15 and I had to work at 7. I can't use O2 or Zomig right now because of the surgery...can't use any nasal sprays (except saline) and the O2 is too drying..even with the bubbler...and dryness causes some of the bleeding issues.
I took my Amerge for the headache, and also the percocet for the post-op pain. Amerge takes a little while longer to work, but at least shortly after getting to work the cluster subsided and the percocet also kicked in to help my face!
I'll have to tell you the story at some point about back when I had the tumor and my doctor telling me that he thought it was going to be cancer and he'd have to send me to Sloan-Kettering and they'd have to remove my entire nose. Nothing like saying that to a 16 year old girl!
So...how was your mom's reconstruction??? Did everything turn out okay? That must have been an awful experience for her...can't even imagine!!!
Hope you are doing well!
Lizzie
*edited to make more sense that I wasn't thinking the percocet helped my cluster! I know that idea wouldn't go over well here! Amerge is great..just takes too long to work!
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| « Last Edit: Mar 19th, 2005, 4:46pm by Lizzie2 » |
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Charlie
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #10 on: Mar 20th, 2005, 2:48am » |
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When I had my ears looked at, the twerp looked at an MRI that I had last September. After telling me that there was nothing physical to account for the gas jets running in my head all the time, he told me I had only a 25% use of my right nostril. LOL. He said it could be fixed with surgery.  For 58 years I've been blowing snot out of the thing just fine. The quacks around here do far too much of this kind of thing. It's expensive and one can never prove it wasn't needed. I'm very suspicious.
Hope you can get off the Perc soon.
Charlie (I guess I really amd mean and old)
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #11 on: Mar 20th, 2005, 3:17am » |
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Lizzie,
I hope things are better now. Please keep us updated.
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cootie
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #12 on: Mar 20th, 2005, 3:27pm » |
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Well it took a while on my mom's reconstructive surgery on her nose they basically removed except cartiledge.....she had complain'd her nose didn't feel rite for over a year but the doc didn't catch the melenoma and jus kept takein off the small bad spots on her face. So when they fineally discover'd what was wrong it was BAD !! She went to a new doc of course. Once they got half way thru reconstruction she was BURNED in a hospital procedure which in turn ruin'd alot of what they had started. They were catarizeing an area by her eye removeing a bad spot and had knocked her out that day luckily. They had oxygen taped to her chin for better air......dumb dumb......a spark from catarizeing caught the oxygen on fire and they didn't notice at first....and were busy tryin to put it out when they did catch on but didn't notice the clear flames had went up the tube to her face. She has no eyebrows or eyelashes now and it damaged her tear gland and flashed her eyes and burnt her face. One GIANTE step backwards. Mom tried to sue the hospital and over about a 5 year period of the hospital stalling it went to court and SHE LOST. Her nose is done now and looks ok but is crooked....takes so long for things like that to heal up totally to see how it will set. But far as I know she has no more plans for surgery at this point and her nose is 'very' crooked at that. One of lifes BAD expiriences Pam
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| « Last Edit: Mar 20th, 2005, 3:30pm by cootie » |
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Lizzie2
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #13 on: Mar 20th, 2005, 4:49pm » |
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on Mar 20th, 2005, 2:48am, Charlie wrote:When I had my ears looked at, the twerp looked at an MRI that I had last September. After telling me that there was nothing physical to account for the gas jets running in my head all the time, he told me I had only a 25% use of my right nostril. LOL. He said it could be fixed with surgery. For 58 years I've been blowing snot out of the thing just fine. The quacks around here do far too much of this kind of thing. It's expensive and one can never prove it wasn't needed. I'm very suspicious.
Hope you can get off the Perc soon.
Charlie (I guess I really amd mean and old) |
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LOL not mean. Maybe old enough to be slighty cynical...but in a good way? hehe I love to read your posts and opinions! And I believe you have a great heart...no matter how "mean" you try to be! LOL
So anyways...I agree with you that sometimes you do have to be over-cautious where surgery is concerned. I've been fortunate that the three surgeons I've had to deal with lately (neurosurgery, orthopedics, and ENT) have all been very straightforward with me.
When I went to my initial ENT appt, he wanted to have a CT scan before giving his opinion. I had the scan done and went back right after that. He told me that there definitely was significant blockage but that some people DO just choose to live with it the way it is and some choose to go ahead and get it fixed. He didn't want to push me either direction really. But I also wanted his opinion or else I never would have made a decision.
He knew my medical history, and I asked him flat out...based on my medical history, does he think the surgery may be a potential help with some of my issues and would he recommend it? He said he did not expect it to be any kind of "cure all" with relation to the headaches, but he did feel that it could help at least to a degree...and even if it did not, it would improve my ability to breathe by quite a lot!
When I had my first "nose" surgery 8 years ago, it wasn't really a matter of choice because I may not have survived if they didn't take out the tumor. Even though it was benign...had they not taken it out when they did, due to the vascularity of it, there was a pretty good chance that it would rupture, which may have been deadly.
So...even though I wouldn't recommend the majority of headache sufferers to run off to get sinus surgery (since that's been an issue of misdiagnosis for a number of CH sufferers to start with!), but I know I had some special circumstances. The damage done by removal of the tumor was more than just some simple structural malformation. I don't think I would have even considered the surgery to correct the deviated septum if I hadn't had the tons of scar tissue present from the first surgery.
Time will tell if it helps!
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Lizzie2
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #14 on: Mar 20th, 2005, 4:56pm » |
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on Mar 20th, 2005, 3:27pm, cootie wrote:| Well it took a while on my mom's reconstructive surgery on her nose they basically removed except cartiledge.....she had complain'd her nose didn't feel rite for over a year but the doc didn't catch the melenoma and jus kept takein off the small bad spots on her face. So when they fineally discover'd what was wrong it was BAD !! She went to a new doc of course. Once they got half way thru reconstruction she was BURNED in a hospital procedure which in turn ruin'd alot of what they had started. They were catarizeing an area by her eye removeing a bad spot and had knocked her out that day luckily. They had oxygen taped to her chin for better air......dumb dumb......a spark from catarizeing caught the oxygen on fire and they didn't notice at first....and were busy tryin to put it out when they did catch on but didn't notice the clear flames had went up the tube to her face. She has no eyebrows or eyelashes now and it damaged her tear gland and flashed her eyes and burnt her face. One GIANTE step backwards. Mom tried to sue the hospital and over about a 5 year period of the hospital stalling it went to court and SHE LOST. Her nose is done now and looks ok but is crooked....takes so long for things like that to heal up totally to see how it will set. But far as I know she has no more plans for surgery at this point and her nose is 'very' crooked at that. One of lifes BAD expiriences Pam |
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Pam! This story is off the hook bad!!! I'm glad your mom is okay even though she has been through so
much with this! What a disaster...
First, I'm curious if she pursued any legal action after they discovered the melanoma in her nose since she'd been complaining about it for a year and they just ignored her? If so, did that one have any better turn-out than the second one?
Also....how in hell did she lose that fight against the hospital for burning her? That is serious..! I can't believe they got away with that one!! What was the argument from the hospital as to why they were not to blame for this and should not have to pay any damages/penalties? That kind of thing is infuriating!!
Yes, there are a lot of frivalous lawsuits, and I know there is a big push to control these. I've seen some of my doctors say they may have to move out of PA because of the high cost of malpractice insurance here, so I used to think that lawsuits for malpractice were often going over the top. However, as I got older (and hopefully a little wiser...), I learned a lot more and realized that some people have majorly legit cases! I don't think they should even have a cap on how much they can sue for due to the rediculous mistakes made sometimes. So when I see those stories (and I've had patients who I've cared for as a nurse who probably could have competed with the worst of malpractice suit stories....anywhere from needing a much larger amputation than would have originally been necessary due to errors all the way to imminent death due to a series of grievous errors!)...they just break my heart! I think I would have to leave the nursing profession altogether or do some serious soul searching if I ever single-handedly caused some of the harm that has been done to some of these people. I mean...sometimes the chain of mistakes is difficult to follow in order to determine who exactly screwed up, but...if I knew it was because I did something due to carelessness that resulted in major trauma or death to a patient...I think I'd have to leave the profession. I don't know how some of these professionals think they should just keep on practicing when they constantly have malpractice suit after malpractice suit...and the suits are legit!
Amazing...
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Lizzie2
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #15 on: Mar 20th, 2005, 5:09pm » |
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For my part, I had another bleed again yesterday, but it was not as severe as the one I wrote about in my first post of this thread. That one was seriously scary!!
So...when it first started bleeding..it was spontaneous again (I was sitting down watching a movie after work), and it bled heavy for the first couple of minutes...but it was down to mostly under control after about 15 minutes.
I put a call in to the ENT page service since it was Saturday. A resident (I believe?) called me back, and I gave her a brief rundown of pertinent medical history, the surgery, and what's been going on since then. She said that were I not a nursing or med student, she would definitely tell me to go right to the ER, but she felt I could make my own judgement call on that one. I told her I didn't think it was serious enough to go to the ER again, but I wanted to know if there was anything I could do or buy OTC in the meantime before I see the doc again. Some of the residents had asked if I'd used Afrin to control bleeding when I went to the ER the other night, but I hadn't. Last night I went out and got a bottle to use just until this stops.
She told me that if it bled again between then and Monday that I needed to go right to the ER because bleeding this many days post-op could mean that something is healing but then rebursting and healing again...but isn't strong enough. She wants me to go to the ENT again on Monday to have it checked out AGAIN!
I'm not sure if I will go because things are really busy until graduation! She said that if this bleeding is persisting, then I may need to have further surgery for cauterization done in surgery instead of outpatient. I really can't do that right now with my schedule...I only have about 6-10 days off in the next 2 months total, and they are weekends so nobody does surgery then!
I'm going to keep an eye on the bleeding and work even harder to use the saline nasal spray and humidifier. I'll use the afrin as needed, but that can lead to rebound congestion (rebound always seems to pop up everywhere in medicine!), so I don't want to use that very much. If it seems bad, then I'll go in sooner than my next appt (which is in early April) and have them look at it, but for now...I think I just need to be careful and monitor it closely.
So...I'm going to hope for now that the bleeding will stop (hasn't bled since yesterday) and that I'm fine!
Thanks again for the messages!
Carrie/Lizzie2
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cootie
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #16 on: Mar 20th, 2005, 5:19pm » |
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First off I think ANYONE could have surgery to make somthin better 'in a doctors eye' that is gettin a pay check thru surgical procedures.
And as far as my mom's deal.......nothin much happen'd with the first doc that more or less "miss" diagonsed her. I think she was actually goin to sue him for it cuz of how long it had been let go but then this accident happen'd and she had to drop it. They hired a lawyer that 'only takes cases they will win' deal......the hospital stalled around and offer'd em cash but they didn't take it and pursue'd the lawsuit. Guess there had been other cases of this happening and they were PAID off and NOT ALLOWED to speak out about it or be contacted. The hospital kept stallin sayin they had to hire a new lawyer that needed to research the case so 'he needed several more months'....they hoped my mom would drop in as time went on. Got rather tramatic after all them years and as messed up as it left her and goin thru all this court mess. I almost got drug into it but they couldn''t find any dirt on me......ya know......maybe if I'd had a lawsuit trail myself or some sort of documented lier lier cases so they could discredit my mom sayin were all liers and sue people all the time for cash crap. Lidigations were interigations....glad I was spared. So all in all it did go to court in front of jury trial....they had slide shows of mom's surgery and how the accident set her back and her face after the accident all yellow and swollen. I still have not seen some of the pics with her nose exposed as it was back then. I don't want to......I knew it looked horrid. So anyhow all in all......the jury could NOT find themselves to sue a hospital that was there to help. The hopital lawyer stated they had used the oxygen tube straped to her chin TO AID my mom's breathing thru the procedure since she was a heavy smoker and drank. My mom does NOT smoke or drink what so ever....she doesn't even cuss !! So it was struck from the records....but people are easily influenced. They sseen it as 'extra helping hands' that they thought so much of my mom's health and recovery that they did the oxygen deal. How thoughtful that was it sounded. So CASE CLOSED......my mom got nothing. And it only proves what a lawyer can do to win......LIE to get a lasting point accross. My mom was devastated....they should of took the 75 grand offer'd at first. I'm not for sueing....but she should of gotten sumthin cuz even the hospital admitted oxygen and sparks DON'T MIX. Bitter 'sue't Pam
edit: dam I am a lousey speller....is there a surgical procedure for that ? I have a friend that sues everyone....goin thru number 3 law suit this year suein one of our best friends (his wife sues x bosses....they've done this before....he wants to get rich the easy way.....so lawsuits get my feathers ruffled sumtimes. Cuz I am real pissed there suein a freind !!
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| « Last Edit: Mar 20th, 2005, 5:26pm by cootie » |
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Lizzie2
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #17 on: Mar 20th, 2005, 5:55pm » |
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on Mar 20th, 2005, 5:19pm, cootie wrote:| edit: dam I am a lousey speller....is there a surgical procedure for that ? |
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Probably a lobotomy (sp? hehe) of some sort!  If you have no brain, it is very difficult to be blamed for the misuse of it! LOL
You and I both know that there are people out there who'd push any sugery to make a buck under the false pretenses of 'helping people.' Ali Sultenah--Mr. "MigraineSurgery" himself is case in point!
I really did luck out with the surgeons I've been to, however. I had high hopes for the neurosurgeon for a number of reasons, but he flat out admitted that he didn't feel any of the procedures he is doing right now would truly help in any lasting sense, and he stated that there are potential surgeries that may one day be extremely helpful, but they are not well enough developed yet. He was very honest and then when I was leaving said, "Check back with me in about 3 years and I'll let you know if anything with a great potential to help has come out!" I liked him a lot.
I've already said I liked the ENT doc that I have. Plus, I know it has a lot to do with the scar tissue from the tumor....they weren't doing the surgery with the intention of really helping my headaches - but that was a potential added bonus. If it does not help the headaches in any way, it'll still be a successful surgery if I can decrease the sinus infections and get more air through my nose.
Then my orthopedic surgeon is my favorite. Well, I would have probably liked the neurosurgeon the best, but I won't be going back to him since he was honest with stating he can't help right now! However, my orthopedic is so awesome. I went to him for Avascular Necrosis. Even though I was diagnosed by a rheumatologist at Jefferson, the rheumatologist told me not to go to Jefferson's orthopedics and go to one of the AVN specialists at Penn. I thought that was a real sign he cared right off the bat...he went beyond loyalty ties to the Jefferson system to send me to someone who he felt was top notch for treating the condition that I have.
The orthopedic surgeon has given me every available detail about potential benefits and drawbacks to the surgery for my knees. He has flat out admitted that while there are quite a few statistics on success of surgery for AVN of the hips, that data is not available for the knees because it is less common. In the hips, they know the surgery prevents the joint from collapsing and needing replacement for about 70% of those who have it done. While that leads a 30% chance the joint will collapse anyways, it is much better than the 90% chance it will with no surgery. And those actually are valid statistics...solidified by research.
However, in the knees they don't have any finite data that the surgery will prevent collapse of the joint. So far, it just hasn't been studied enough...so we are going into this knowing that it may or may not keep me from needing knee replacements. However, the surgery has been found to be quite effective for pain control from the avascular necrosis, which is the only reason they do it. He said that even then, there have been cases where the surgery doesn't stop the pain and a joint replacement winds up being inevitable, but they do have a good success rate with the pain aspect of AVN with the surgery done on the knees.
I just like that he is upfront and honest. He answers every question I have. He doesn't just try to convince me into surgery. He tells me every option out there, and he respects that I've studied it on my own and ask a lot of questions just to clarify things.
So yeah...there are some very bad ones out there (ask my dad...he never pursued a lawsuit, but he was in a wheelchair for a long time and had very delayed healing after a car accident due to malpractice from an orthopedic), but then there are some great ones out there too! Just have to really go into every appointment with a lot of knowledge and take every caution.
At least that's my take on it!
It's a shame we have to be that way and not trust surgeons, but...I think enough damage has been done that we really have to be overly cautious these days!
Carrie
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| « Last Edit: Mar 20th, 2005, 5:59pm by Lizzie2 » |
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cootie
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sumday I'm gonna be sumbody........ ..
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #18 on: Mar 20th, 2005, 10:15pm » |
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My friend had knee surgery this summer and she still can't walk very well......now both knees are bad....but then......she needs to loose about 200 lbs. What do orthopedic docs do for bones that DON'T heal ? My foot has not healed after 3 months.....spiral break. Goin to an ortho doc and have had bout 5 exrays......goin back in bout 2 months. It still hurts like hell. Curious about footsy Pam
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Cause and Effect......"Cause is the effect concealed, Effect is the cause revealed"
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Lizzie2
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"L'Chaim"~Hebre w Toast~"To Life"
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Re: For some reason...
« Reply #19 on: Mar 20th, 2005, 10:33pm » |
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on Mar 20th, 2005, 10:15pm, cootie wrote:| My friend had knee surgery this summer and she still can't walk very well......now both knees are bad....but then......she needs to loose about 200 lbs. What do orthopedic docs do for bones that DON'T heal ? My foot has not healed after 3 months.....spiral break. Goin to an ortho doc and have had bout 5 exrays......goin back in bout 2 months. It still hurts like hell. Curious about footsy Pam |
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I'll tell ya...I don't really know how they fix a bone that won't heal...that was what happened with my dad, and I honestly don't know what finally healed him.
If you have the willingness and means to travel, one of the best foot and ankle docs in the country (of course that's always subjective although he is HIGHLY rated) has offices in both Phoenixville, PA and Media, PA. If ya go to Media, you can stay with Hap. LOL The doc's name is Dr. Nick Romansky.
As far as my knee surgery...well, I guess they are all different. Mine is going to be 3 parts...2 on the right knee and 1 on the left. Both knees will have open incisions right above the knee where they will then drill a small hole through areas of dead bone/marrow/etc. In the right knee, there will be 2 small arthoscopic holes just to repair a torn meniscus. My doc told me that I will need to be on crutches for 2 weeks at 50% weight bearing. Hopefully it'll go well. I don't know the date yet, but I plan to be well-healed (or on the way!) by the time I go to Florida in mid-June.
Nose update again...more bleeding tonight. They told me to go to the ER if it bled again, but it stopped. I just need to watch it. I know they have talked about going back in to fix a few more things if it is still bleeding, but I can't do that right now. So...I think I just need to monitor it and be careful. This sucks. If I go to have it taken care of, then I'll miss school and run into some major problems... We'll see!
carrie
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