[hezeronek]

I think it would be unreasonable to assume that any surgeon, in any practice no matter what their experience, can claim that they have never had any negative outcomes from their surgeries. Nobody is perfect, and there are absolutely NO GUARANTEES when it comes to surgery. Just because a surgeon has had a few negative outcomes does not mean he's a bad surgeon. And it doesn't necessarily mean that all of the bad outcomes were the surgeon's fault to begin with.

That said, surely some surgeons are better than others, and I would be more inclined to trust somebody with more experience, who also has a decent reputation within the medical community. (Which is why I have ultimately decided to have Dr. B do my surgery.)

Seriously, I appreciate the dissonance you are bringing to the forum. I have read about plenty of positive and negative outcomes here, and I think that criticism is healthy. Especially when it comes to our lives and bodies. It serves everyone well to research as much as possible all aspects of what we are going through. And your point about credibility is also a good one. Scientific articles and doctor input is definitely credible, but first hand accounts can also be invaluable when it comes to assessing the human side of the entire experience. I sincerely hope there aren't any "posers" posting misinformation here. Though I get the feeling that if they were and got caught, they'd be booted in a heartbeat.

I would like to add a bit of perspective to this debate, though. People who come to this forum are looking for support, but also for answers. The reality of our situations is that we all don't fit in the same bracket. What is right for one person may not be right for another. When we make our own decisions, we would like to believe they were the right ones for us. Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't. But that is only really known through the spectacles of 20-20 hindsight.

All of us are doing the best we can with what limited information we have at the moment, all the while while we are mentally clouded from medications and chronic pain. It is absolutely impossible to be fully informed about any procedure or any particular surgeon. The same goes for doctors and surgeons. They are well educated individuals but they don't know everything. They are merely doing the best with what they've got. They will make mistakes and have their biases. That is why they call it medical "practice." A scary concept, yet very real. And, there's no denying that doctors are in it for the money. After all, they do deserve their paychecks too. That doesn't mean that I condone some of the exploits they use to augment their income, just that I believe the concept of "for-profit" vs "non-profit" to be mute when it comes to medical decision making on the patient's part.

Anyhow, I just had to get that out. I understand the anger and frustrations on the parts of those who've had poor outcomes, and those who care about them. I understand the skeptics and the believers. The important thing to remember is that there is no *cure* for those of us with chronic back problems. There are treatments, there are risks and there are choices. But, there is always hope. So long as we don't give up on ourselves, we can find ways to live full lives in spite of what has happened to us.

I'm going to get off my soapbox now.

I am interested in speaking with some of the people you found who had negative outcomes with Dr. B, or at least communicating with them online. Not that it is going to change my decision, but I'd like to know what went wrong. If mistakes were made, I'd like to learn from them. I'll be sure to post Oops-es too...