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The Big File All issues not easily categorized in the above forums are here. Comments on general health, diet, "getting comfortable," and more are here.


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  #1  
Old 04-18-2005, 08:21 AM
Rein Rein is offline
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I think it's very important for one to include certain pieces of vital information about themselves and their medical status so all readers can understand an individual poster's condition(s), possible biases and medical predispositions and experience(s). Without this information it is difficult (especially for newcomers to a forum, who must sift through dozens, if not hundreds of posts initially to find out who's who and what's what) to determine how valid any particular post may be or how applicable it may be to their own situation.

Personally, I prefer to include as much detail as necessary in my signature so anyone reading my posts will instantly know my vital statistics and the medical history leading up to my current status, plus any personal issues or thoughts which I might be concerned with or working on at the present time. An example would be whether someone has had (or is intending to have or trying to get) the ProDisc or Charite or Maverick device installed. Simply naming the surgeon who performed the procedure may be enough for oldtimers to the forum or people like myself (who have done extensive research on their own and already know most of the player's names) but for newbies to sort through all the surgeon's names to figure out which surgeon does which procedure(s) and which facility performs which procedure(s) (and then remember all that, once they've gone through the lists!) is a chore in itself.

Towards that end I'd respectfully like to suggest the current limit of 250 characters in the signature cell be increased. I use a whopping 822 characters for my signature in the BPSG Forum and there are others who use more space, so I really have no idea how large it should be. Perhaps no limit should be set on that area.

I'd also like to kindly ask those who have included no signature or very limited information in their signatures that they now rethink that part of their participation in this forum and perhaps rewrite their sigs to include more detailed information. I've been considering some sort of guideline or checklist or format for that information so it can be easily scanned by anyone for specific details.
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03/09/26 - Ruptured L5-S1.

Years of pain, discectomy, research into anatomy, hardware, clinical trials, facilities, surgeons, techniques, insurance. Attempts at ProDisc, Activ-L trials. Now, low bone density. D'oh!!!

At 61 years, no longer qualifying for trials due to my age (chronological, not physical or mental).

2009 - Working on improving bone density or getting rich so I can go to Germany, where medicine and insurance have gone beyond the Stone Age.
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  #2  
Old 04-18-2005, 07:09 PM
Harrison's Avatar
Harrison Harrison is offline
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Good ideas for us to consider. There are some limits in the signature by the Infopop appl., but they may not matter relative to your thoughtful suggestion...
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"Harrison" - info (at) adrsupport.org
Fell on my ***winter 2003, Canceled fusion April 6 2004
Reborn June 25th, 2004, L5-S1 ADR Charite in Boston
Founder & moderator of ADRSupport - 2004
Founder Arthroplasty Patient Foundation a 501(c)(3) - 2006
Creator & producer, Why Am I Still Sick? - 2012
Donate www.arthropatient.org/about/donate
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  #3  
Old 04-18-2005, 08:54 PM
andromeda1111 andromeda1111 is offline
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You know I have to say I agree with Rein.

Laura
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Charite @ L5,S1. W/Zeegers
March 11, 05. Successful.
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  #4  
Old 04-19-2005, 03:00 AM
myprodisc myprodisc is offline
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A different alternative... More detail might be better suited for a persons profile. Saves space, pages load faster and easier to read. Downside is folks have to know to look.

Scott
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  #5  
Old 04-19-2005, 03:12 AM
biffnoble biffnoble is offline
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There could be a hypertext link: more.......


sig
----------------
blah, blah, blah
blah, blah, blah
blah, blah, blah
blah, blah, blah
blah, blah, blah
blah, blah, blah
(click on) more................
================
This would take the viewer to a Comments field in the profile.
================
Down and dirty method.
1) Create a: Signature More Thread.
2) Create a Message with the extended your signature contents.
3) Past the URL to that page in your signature.

Viewers can jump to your signature by click on URL.
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Cervical ADR of interest.
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  #6  
Old 04-20-2005, 12:24 PM
Rein Rein is offline
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Thanks for your comments, folks. I don't think enough people have chimed in on this to get any sort of consensus yet, but I do have some further thoughts.

Scott - I don�t see anywhere in the profile where there is a cell nearly large enough to include the information I want to post. If it�s there and I missed it, save me further embarrassment, buddy, and email me direct! ;-)

Biff - Your idea is really good, and has some merit, but...

Both Scott and Biff�s ideas require one to navigate somewhere else to get information about a member; something I think ought to be available while you are reading a post. Imagine reading for a couple hours and navigating back and forth to a Signature Thread every time you come across a new person�s post. This could involve dozens of navigations to that thread, and then remembering each person�s details or going back once again to the Sig Thread. Yes, I could keep a separate tab on my browser with the Sig Thread available, but even then I�d have to search for the member�s name to get their info.

I�m sure we all get to recognize and remember some of the more proliferous posters (don�t ya just love alliteration?) as we go along, but I�m thinking about the new recruits who join and are daunted by the sheer numbers of differing individual cases. At that point they�re just trying to figure out who�s who and what�s what and if anyone else is trying for the same device, same state, same insurance and whose been successful doing what they want to do.

I�m torn about this, because I agree with Scott that long sigs do take up more space, cut down on efficient reading of a thread and perhaps take more loading time. I�m thinking, however, that the advantages of instant identification of case details is more necessary to the reader�s acquisition of knowledge and critical contacts than the negative aspects might be.

I�d really appreciate a few more people giving their yea�s or nay�s on this. Maybe we should give it a test run, say for a month, to see how it works? We're getting at least two new members per day now, so there are plenty of newbies to test it on!

I�ve been working on the format I mentioned at the top of this thread and would like to submit the current version for everyone�s red ink. You�ll notice it has no subject titles at the beginning of each line; those could be (for the sake of helping the newbie fill out the form correctly) included in a section of the FAQ, perhaps. Anything I left out? Obviously, those who have already received a device would fill in who, what, when, where, (how?) and results.

Rein
------------------
1947/06/18
male
married
sailmaker, self-employed
Massachusetts
BCBS PPO
Want ProDisc
No Surgeon/Facility lined up yet, although talking with Dr. Yue/Yale Medical/CT. Possibly Dr. Bertagnoli/Europe if I can figure out how to push the right insurance buttons, as money *is* an object.

2003/09/26 Ruptured L5-S1, precise cause unknown (suspect lifting/carrying heavy weights incorrectly, aging spine)
2003/10/27 Microendoscopic discectomy
2003/12/18 Finished physical therapy
2004/05/28 First stabbing pain in area of ruptured disc following by period of increasing pain, guarding
2004/07/07 MRI - completely degenerated disc
2004/06 Determined ProDisc was ADR of choice (Can't afford self pay, so waiting for FDA and BCBS to get their act together, hopefully by 2005/06.)
2005/04/13- Determined FDA may not approve ProDisc until as late as 2006/01. Re-commenced exploring options, including Charite.
Current capabilities: Limited ability to work, function normally. One day of work = two days of agony/recovery. Typically limited time sitting, standing stationary, lying in one position, bending, etc., no rapid movements of any kind.
Current damage control: Using stationary bike, BioFlex inversion traction machine, stretching exercises/ab crunches/extensions, occasional Ibuprophen or Motrin. Stretching, BioFlex every two hours seems to give the best results so far.

Would like my life back, if you please, FDA & BCBS!
__________________
03/09/26 - Ruptured L5-S1.

Years of pain, discectomy, research into anatomy, hardware, clinical trials, facilities, surgeons, techniques, insurance. Attempts at ProDisc, Activ-L trials. Now, low bone density. D'oh!!!

At 61 years, no longer qualifying for trials due to my age (chronological, not physical or mental).

2009 - Working on improving bone density or getting rich so I can go to Germany, where medicine and insurance have gone beyond the Stone Age.
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  #7  
Old 04-20-2005, 12:27 PM
mmglobal mmglobal is offline
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Do key words in signature files limit the usefulness of search?
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  #8  
Old 04-20-2005, 01:44 PM
Juli Juli is offline
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I am a new member but I have read through most of the posts in the last couple of weeks, I must say again, what a great forum!

I can see the value of the information suggested but personally would prefer not to see that on each and every post. It is an awful lot of information to wade through and is longer that many of the posts themselves.

I would prefer the information to be included in the profile portion and if someone wanted to find more information about a member, then it would be pretty easy to do. I am not interested in each person's gender, marital status and occupation except on a case by case basis. It is just too much info on what is now 315 members and will continue to grow I am sure!

I am okay with it if the consensus goes that way, of course. As you can seee, my own signature is pretty short because I don't think it is unusual enough to elicit much interest and if a specific topic comes up that I think I may have some value to share or some specific questions, I would then add that info to my post.

I guess it just ends up being each person's preference. So, there's mine!
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Juli
DDD L3-L4 on down since 1990
Surgery 9/26/05 with Dr. Bitan in NYC to complete partial congenital fusion of L5-S1 and ADR at L3-L4 and L4-5.

Feeling great!
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  #9  
Old 04-20-2005, 07:32 PM
Rein Rein is offline
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Mark

Actually, you raise a valid point. I myself have experienced that issue once so far and I'm one of those people who think the ability to do effective searches is critical to utilization of information. Anyone else?

Juli

As I responded to Scott above, I can't see anywhere in the Profile format where there's near enough space for posting what I consider the bare minimum of information I'd like to display. If you see something I don't, please let me know, directly.

I could be getting myself into trouble here, but as to details such as sex, marital status, occupation, etc., I consider those all pertinent to the discussions in this forum. I can�t put my finger on it right now, but I have a strong suspicion that what sex one happens to be may have an important influence on varying factors bearing directly on our common problems. I know it�s not the case, certainly, with all individuals, but I see males as more inclined to physical risk, less inclined to share actual pain levels, less inclined to share emotional or psychological details which can play a huge part in creating tension and stress or relieving same. These are certainly all bound up in the use, care and health of the spine and could certainly affect outcomes. Knowing (or at least being able to make a qualified guess as to an individual�s predispositions goes a long way towards forming a more complete picture of that individual as relates to assessing their particular input into any forum. Personal support systems (wife/husband/family/friends), or lack of same, play a huge part in all our lives, and knowing whether someone is alone or has day to day help with their condition goes a long way towards understanding that individual�s situation. Knowing one�s occupation is certainly important and relevant. I as a sailmaker spend an inordinate amount of time on my knees and bending over to do work on the floor, not to mention other jobs I perform which are related to my profession like climbing masts, sailing in all sizes of boats in all weather conditions, etcetera. My job differs completely from someone who is a computer programmer, a combat soldier, a proam tennis star, a single mom with two small kids, a beautician, a retired country gentleman, etc.. Knowing what one does for a living or how one spends one day, physically and mentally goes a long way towards helping to understand what that person is going through, what they lost and are trying to get back and perhaps why they�re where they are now.

I totally understand the reticence of some members to post what may seem like very personal and potentially threatening information and I always respect and consider first the individual�s right to privacy and security. If an individual chooses to not make all their details public, there should certainly be no stigma attached... I can think of several reasons why someone would choose not to mention specifics of their case, especially if it is ongoing and the outcome might be affected by publicly posted information transmitted to the wrong individual. Of course, the converse is also true, which is why I�ve always tried to be as forthcoming about personal information as possible. Knowledge and truth are power, and trust is often built out of openness and a willingness to share what is considered most private and valuable. I�ve seen a lot of that on this forum; I�m simply trying to codify it so it�s easier to decipher and quantify.

The more I think about it, the better Biff's idea sounds... ;-)
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03/09/26 - Ruptured L5-S1.

Years of pain, discectomy, research into anatomy, hardware, clinical trials, facilities, surgeons, techniques, insurance. Attempts at ProDisc, Activ-L trials. Now, low bone density. D'oh!!!

At 61 years, no longer qualifying for trials due to my age (chronological, not physical or mental).

2009 - Working on improving bone density or getting rich so I can go to Germany, where medicine and insurance have gone beyond the Stone Age.
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