ADR Decisions - Texas Back vs. India

[scduggan]

Dear Tom,
I am so happy you were able to get things worked out with TBI. I had a couple pieces of advice. First, if you are flying make sure you get wheelchair assistance for the trip home. Your wife will probably be walking well but will tire very easily. Also, there is a Holiday Inn Express across the parking lot from the facility. My husband and I stayed there for my surgery last month. It is convenient and the beds are really comfortable. They offer a discount to TBI patients. My surgery was on a Thursday morning, and we flew home on the next Monday after a post-op check with Dr. Zigler. I was really worried about the trip home but it ended up not being that bad. My surgery was only one level so your wife will have different issues. It is so AWESOME she will only have one incision. This is huge! They will take such great care of her. Because it is a specialty hospital the nurses are very well versed in spine patients. There is a recliner type chair in the hospital rooms. I could only guess you would be more comfortable sleeping in the hotel. Everything you might need is close-by like restaurants, grocery stores and pharmacies.

One final thing (and I know you already know this....I just have to say it), make sure you wake her up in the middle of the night for her meds. I made the mistake of sleeping through the night once that first week....it was ugly!!!:nono :

Please send me a PM if you have more questions! Your wife is is great hands! Just getting a date on the books offers a lot of much-needed peace.
CD

[tigerpaw75]

Thanks...SC (Candee?) for the advice. I remember the waking up thing from her C section a couple years ago...I remember how big a deal it was if you fell behind on the meds...

I just hope the fusion doesn't make things a lot worse than folks who only have ADR...I'm assuming a fusion + ADR will be worse as far as how she will feel after surgery.

How are you doing at about 1 month post op? Are you getting close to some semblance of normal? Are you going to go back to Dallas for a follow up from Nashville? We were informed that typically patients come back for a 4-6 week followup, but didn't know if we had to since we are out of town.

[Harrison]

Tom, glad you got things worked out! I'm happy to speak with you in the next few days if you feel the need.

Hey, thx for th tidbit on Fortis -- that's interesting to me as I try to watch the trends in outsourced healthcare. I have mixed emotions about outsourcing surgical services abroad. I found this story:

Fortis buys 23.9% in Parkway Holding
Mail Today Bureau
New Delhi, March 12, 2010

"...This acquisition will significantly expand our footprint across the region and place us strategically for geographical and clinical leadership in Asia, a big step closer to our vision of establishing a global healthcare delivery network," Singh said.

[Angintx]

Tigerpaw: That is awesome news. Cheryl is great as is the rest of the staff! For the pre-op you will fill out a 300 True or False questionnaire for the psych test along with a little interview with a phychiatrist. You will also see a training nurse and go over the procedure and what to do/not do after surgery. Most of this is a slideshow on the computer. She will then be fitted for her brace. This part made be very comfortable because they are so thorough on everything. When she meets with Dr. Blumenthal she will probably want to have her questions written down. Doctors seem to have short attention spans. Please let us know how the surgery goes.

[tigerpaw75]

Thanks to all for your thoughts...going in for the pre op overview tomorrow. Today we did all the pre op diagnostics and the psyche test...hopefully she passed!

Will start a new post on her surgical outcome over the weekend...

[wgnmn]

I am going to be seeing Dr. Blumenthal July 12 for a consult. He quoted me a 2 level cervical Pro Disc at $35,000 includes everything and a one night stay. In light of what Dr. Rajakumar is charging I will be sending my stuff to him too.

Todd