Regular Check In

[drewrad]

Had a great talk with Dr Clavel today. Nice to know he continues to make himself available to his American patients. And when he calls, he'll literally give you as much time as you want.

He is investing in new dr personnel for follow ups which is great news. Also, he is reaching, in his opinion, a new best at recording fewer complications than ever before. Feels as if he is streamlining into a higher level of excellence due to what he has learned. I feel that this will continue as newer devices are introduced over time, a continuous evolution.

Case in point. When I asked about what bone inducing material he used on my L5/S1 fusion. He told me Grafton, a deminerialized bone matrix in its putty form. He likes the putty. I asked not infuse? No. He did not trust it. The putty was interesting and we discussed it. Won't leak out. Solid.

Also asked why he didn't screw through Medtronic Sovereign into bone and instead screwed around it with a plate? He said it was better that way, more solid cage.

Anyway these were a few items I wasn't aware of and was grateful for the clarity. Things looked good. He asked how I was doing? Pretty good overall, I told him. Swam for half hour yesterday at a decent pace. Walked the day before for a half hour. Lift on machines 5 days a week and do core training twice a week.

Still take the occasional muscle relaxer, at night, but hit or miss.

Have occasional nerve flares, but they seem to be mitigating some. Little zaps at incision site still. Occasional warm feet. Could be worse. These things seem to be cooling off. Let you know more as months transpire. Hope everyone well in their respective struggle.

3.5 months.

[colorado babe]

I am so happy you were able to talk to Dr. Clavel and get all you questions answered. Sounds like you are doing great and well on the road of recovery.

[Harrison]

Glad you are well and thanks for sharing.

Just a reminder for patients considering Clavel: there have many been complications with him -- as there have been with any other doctors. If you have surgery in Germany, and complications, you have NO options. German law to protect doctors is the MOST severe of any OUS countries.

A patient recently emailed me to ask me if I knew of a recent patient death with a German spine doctor. Yes, it happens. But I would be the last to know.

My bias since 2004 is to have surgery in the U.S., if you can. Since 2010, my bias is to avoid surgery at all costs; especially if you can change your diet, life and regime to detox your body and make drastic naturopathic changes that will improve your health. Many people have done this!

Sorry for the rant. It's based on many emails and PMs that I've not had time to carefully review and share in a way that is respectful and still preserving the anonymity of the writers.

[Harrison]

It's interesting to see the use of Grafton -- I didn't know that it's used for spinal applications. I saw the animal studies years ago:

http://www.biohorizons.com/documents/MLD207.pdf

[drewrad]

Originally Posted by Harrison

It's interesting to see the use of Grafton -- I didn't know that it's used for spinal applications. I saw the animal studies years ago:

http://www.biohorizons.com/documents/MLD207.pdf

Yeah, me too. Glad he rejected Infuse. Clavel seems quick to adapt. This is because he is a creative and non-rigid, always open to new ideas as things evolve.

Of the variety within the Grafton brand he prefers the putty version. It can be placed wherever there is a bony void, including spines such as inducing and promoting fusion. One of my worries was that if it was BMP2 it might leak out of the cage once dripped onto the sponge. Grafton putty is a matrix that is formable and doesn't appear to have those issues. When I mentioned HO, he laughed it off not in a bad or arrogant fashion but in a way that told me he knew much more about this subject than I ever will and to not worry about it.

I think it's inevitable, we spine patients are doom prone and torture ourselves with catastrophic thinking because we know the risks and sometimes can't help releasing our fears entirely. I told Clavel this. Think he already knew. In Spain he said he suffered with illness himself. I didn't ask of what kind, but there is compassion there for patients, as well as seriousness combined with high level craft. I believe he is nearing the top of his game at what is available at his disposal.