*** Seminar, New York, 5/1/05 - I need your help

[mmglobal]

Lodi?

[JeffreyD]

Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico; Flagstaff, Arizona, don?t forget Wynonna, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino...

.....get your kicks on Route Mark Mintz

(er)

[mmglobal]

I'm still trying to get the schedule and venue nailed down. My biggest problem is that I've got so much to cover... I should have made this a 2 day event... next one will be.

I'm excited about the non-surgeon speakers I'll be having. In addition to BigJoe, there will be a gentleman who's wife has been severely disabled with cervical problems... multiple unsuccessful surgeries... the whole nine yards. He'll speak about being the spouse of a spiney.

More to come...

[bobb0]

Mark, I vote to include a section for all the surgeons to address the causes and solutions for unsuccessful adrs with respect to unresolved pain.
Of course this is the issue that we personally are consumed with, but for all prospective adr patients it should be a serious consideration also.

I suspect I will be attending this seminar. Although I'm not a fan of flying, will have to fly cross country, don't want to spend the money, and don't expect any earth shattering news to help my wife 'fix' her back, there is always the possibility of obtaining a nugget of info that may be a great value.

My suggestion to anyone doing research or sitting on the fence about this operation is to make every attempt to attend. I learned many years ago in my business, the cheapest thing we can do is to travel and see how others are doing things. A few hundred dollars may be lot out of your present budget, but may pay tremendous dividends if you find some direction in navigating the minefield of spinal intervention.

bob

[SenecaGirl]

Wow -- I would love to attend this seminar, need to get closer to the date to determine if I can go. I would love to hear about recovery/PT from the speakers, as well as long term success/concerns of ADR (ie. what will I be feeling like 20 yrs from now).

This is great -- I can't believe you are able to put this together! I'm floored! SenecaGirl

[mmglobal]

If you aren't too sure about my events...

Bob has come from Washington to CA twice for *** events. This will be his third.

Cervie Queen has been to 3 and will travel from CA to NY for this.

JimM2 has been to 2.

MariaA has been to 2.

Poncho flew from Ohio to CA for the first event.

Justin flew from New Mexico to CA for his first event.

Become flew from Toronto to CA for Zeegers luncheon and will come from Rome for the NY event.

Queen of Hearts, 2 events from Seattle to CA

JennyM has been to 3 events... one in SF and 2 in LA.

Annapurna has been to 2.

[SenecaGirl]

How many people do you exepect to come? Can any of you in mmglobal's post above tell us your experiences from the events?

[Jim M2]

SenecaGirl,
I've seen Drs. Yeung, Zeegers and Regan.

The technical information is incredible. For some reason the doctors are unusually candid at the seminars. There's no weasel talk. You can ask any question you want, but it's best to frame it as a general question, as opposed to your own situation.

The social scene is the best. Everyone is warm, friendly and has good appreciation of your problem.

Jim

[Mariaa]

One thing I have to say is that besides giving great presentations about ADR and other spine information also, the two speakers that I've seen were both amenable to answering questions from individuals and were so nice/down to earth. It's not like the 2 minute out the door spine specialist visit one might encounter along their spinal journey.
As Bob mentioned in a previous reply to this thread, each time I've come away with not only a whole head full of information on ADR or other spine technology information, there's the potential to come away with a gem or two that may specifically apply to my spine problem/case in some way.
The settings for these events have been very nice, and comfortable. I had to lie down more less for both of these as I cannot sit for long and there was either room to do so, or lounge chairs to lie on.
Mark does a wonderful job of hosting the presentation and addressing issues and saying things that come right from the patient's viewpoint, bringing up topics or thoughts that are important to "us" the injured pain population. Mark~ in case you haven't personally met him, he's humorous and humble, compassionate and kind. He gets these events up and running and makes the attendees feel like family and friends.
And that's what it almost seems like, a group of friends, an alumni of Spinally Challenged people, those who've taken the plunge with surgeries, ADR, fusion and other, and those who are in the wings for one or another. Riding the fence maybe, waiting for FDA approval, or just whatever will give each person the "green light" for surgery, or not. There have been persons there with surgical successes, and those with varying degrees of success, or perhaps failure. It's interesting to hear from these people and/or have the opportunity to interact with them as well.
This time is going to be amazing just given there is nowhere else we could hear this many top spine specialists gathered and speaking to "US"!!!!
I'm going to just hope that my back will allow me to attend this event~ I'm going to try to tell my PM doc to "hook me up baby" with something that'll allow me to get there!
This should be a really amazing luncheon/event/get together of East and West Coast spineys and maybe Euro spineys also~

[Justin]

How many people do you exepect to come? Can any of you in mmglobal's post above tell us your experiences from the events?

The events that Mark puts together are unparalleled.

--The speakers are amazing----some of the best surgeons in the world with many, many years of experience. The speakers in the past have been willing to entertain ALL questions about ADR and the spine in general. If they don't know the answer to a question, they'll tell you.

--It is a great opportunity to meet others that have been through similiar experiences with back pain, etc. It is amazing how much you can learn from other patients!

If anyone is contemplating ADR, I would highly recommended attending! I would have paid thousands of dollars to have an entire day with world renowned surgeons before my ADR.

There are many decisions and questions to face and ask before ADR and this is an opportunity to do so----directly to those with the most experience and expertise.

I hope this helps,

Justin