[scotto74]

Harrison -- To be honest, I have never even noticed the "brachial neuritis" history thing before, nor has it ever been discussed by my doctors at Penn!! Having read a little bit about it, I'm not really sure that I have the symptoms... maybe it was a typo?? I'm kidding.. Seriously though, I will make a point to discuss it with my doctor at Penn next time I see him for a follow-up.

Jeff -- Thanks for the condolences, I really appreciate it. I'm sorry to hear about your surgeries also, but I'm hopeful that things continue in a positive direction for you. As for Dr. Z, I definitely will call to follow up and try to get more info. I was really hopeful that they might be the answer for me, so you can imagine how disappointed I was to get the news. They really did not offer a reason behind not wanting to see me, only that I should consult with a local surgeon in Philadelphia, and they also suggested that I get a CT Myelogram. When I asked if I should send the results of the Myelogram CT scan, she said "sure" but also made it clear that the doctors view was that they did not see a surgical solution for me. I'll try to get more info and let you know. I'm not in any way trying to tarnish Dr. Zigler's reputation or speak badly about him or his staff. I was just disappointed that I wasn't going to have the opportunity to see them. I'm really hopeful that Dr. Bitan might have a different prognosis for me next week...

Jeff, I'd really be interested in learning more about the process you went through to choose your surgeon -- because I really have no idea where to start or what to look for. I found Dr. Bertagnoli through a Google search, and he seems to be well represented on here and has done thousands of ADR surgeries -- so that's why I contacted him. Beyond that, I really am not sure where to start...

Thanks again, and I hope you both are having a great day!

Scott