Posted by Samantha Smith (64.12.101.183) on November 22, 2001 at 23:58:19:
In Reply to: I'll post this again. Ethier nobody read it, or nobody cared enough to give feedback. posted by Cluster headache suffurer. on November 22, 2001 at 19:04:43:
Thanks for posting the article again. My thoughts.....neurology and many other fields of "modern medicine" are in their infancy when you take into account how long human kind has inhabited the planet earth.Thoughts/Questions (its long but does have a point):Have these doctors done a 20 year follow up on this patient? What if the 20 year follow up is not so favorable, can they doc's go back and "fix" the problem? What if the miss a nerve by .01 mm what happens then? Can this procedure only be done on patients who have chronic CH that appear on the left AND right side? What if they just appear on the left side? What are the odds that these doctors just got lucky? (My neuro in Boston was telling me of some rhizotomy procedures that actually made the pain WORSE.) What are the odds that these doc's can perform the procedure again and get the same results? Can it be performed on both men and women? Can it be performed on episodic and chronic sufferers? How long does a patient have to be "chronic" in order to be a "good candidate" for the surgery? If the pt signs the release form and the doc's fuck up what happens next? Can they do this procedure on people who have a drug/alcohol abuse history? Etc Etc Etc Etc....Do you get my point? Since the age of 13 to the age of 28 I was a chemical dumping ground for neuro's who could help me with "classic" migraine headaches that I was having 3 to 4 times per week. At age 29 I suddenly got chronic CH and the classic migraines disappeared. Again I became a toxic waste dump in order to solve my CH problem.(Yes, I realize I made the choice to be a waste dump due to lack of other viable options because of Medicaid restrictions.) Fortunately I'm on a combo of meds that makes my life semi-livable. The question I guess is: Would I rather take my chances popping pills..... or have a bunch of nueros do surgery on me so they can publish an article, put their !@#$% names on it, and become super heros...mean while I'm just known as "a 28 year old female presents with symptoms of......." As a patient I have NO GUARANTEES as to the outcome....but if the neuros are SUCCESSFUL they get to be worlwide renowned surgeons. If they fuck up...oh well...they just point to my signature on the waiver/informed consent. Yep...I hate doctors. That "patient" in the article was one brave and lucky bastard...God bless him. Samantha