Cervical instability

@csalter Hi Cassie, I can give you some doctors in your other post who I would recommend at Mayo Rochester. See this comment.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/1054384/
This is my spine neurosurgeon.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/biographies/fogelson-jeremy-l-m-d/bio-20055624
You might also like my Mayo Clinic Story
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/using-the-art-of-medicine-to-overcome-fear-of-surgery/
I will gladly answer questions.

Jennifer

Jennifer,
Although I’m not the original poster and my cervical instability is caused by a deformity creating a hemivertebra at C7, I appreciate your comment and enjoyed reading your story. I have my first appointments at Mayo scheduled for October with Dr. Atkinson and Dr. Fogelson, so it gives me some relief to read such a positive experience that you had since I did not make a specific request for a neurosurgeon.

@astphi889 Congratulations on your consult at Mayo. Dr. Fogelson is very down to earth and humble. He's like the guy next door, and excels at his job which he loves. If you look at his background, you'll find a full scholarship for undergrad and awards in his field. He also donates for a college scholarship fund. You will be in excellent hands. I don't know Dr. Atkinson, but sometimes Dr. Fogelson will have another surgeon assist if needed. Dr. Fogelson is a spine deformity expert which is what you need. He will explain your imaging and how he may address the issues. He is very well respected at Mayo. If you were assigned to him, it was because Mayo Neurosurgery thought it was a good match. When I saw him, his surgical nurse also came to the appointment which is nice. It helps you get comfortable when you know who will be caring for you. I chose him when I applied to Mayo because I read literature he had co-authored and knew he would understand my symptoms. 5 local surgeons missed the correct diagnosis. I found medical literature with a case like mine because I looked up a term in a paper Dr. Fogelson co-authored.

You might also like this post with photos of the first time Dr. Fogelson saw his portrait at my one year follow up appointment. There had been damage to the lovely frame in shipping, and I got it replaced, so I returned to Mayo later to deliver it. By then, he had grown his beard and I didn't realize it was him walking up to me until he started talking and I recognized his voice and I laughed at myself. I had really studied his face while painting him, so that is what I expected to see.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/221703/
If you have any questions, please ask. He does surgeries at St. Mary's Hospital which is about a mile from the clinic buildings where the exam offices are. Do you need suggestions about lodging? If you are driving to Mayo, you can stay anywhere. Most hotels have Mayo Clinic rates and transport shuttles to Mayo buildings and the hospital. If you have some time, you may want to look at the historic Plummer building which is right across from the Gonda and Mayo buildings where the offices are. It is the background in my painting of Dr. Fogelson. You can also take the elevator to the 2nd floor and see the historic suites with offices of the Mayo brothers. It has beautiful brass doors full of carved figures about the history of Mayo with many symbols and even the initials of C.M for Charlie Mayo. I discovered all of that when I was painting it.

I thought you might like to hear his voice, so here is a Mayo video of Dr. Fogelson. I almost missed it, I see you just joined Connect today, so welcome! I do all of this on Connect because of my experience at Mayo changed my life. I'm 8 years past my spine surgery and a new beginning.

Jennifer

Your painting looks exactly like him without the beard. You are very talented and I’m glad that Dr. Fogelson and his staff were able to help restore your gift! I also have read some of his scientific journal articles and found that video of him last week. I haven’t found any articles about my issue yet, so I’m hoping he’s previously encountered and treated someone like me. I’ve had two local surgeons (orthopedic and neuro) refuse to even make a treatment plan for me, besides referring me for pain management and physical therapy. Pain management only offers me epidural steroid injections (that don’t help) or mind-altering medications (refuse). There is one local neurosurgeon, who just completed his residency last year, that came up with a surgical intervention, but he’s never treated someone like me before. He’s also overlooking my increasing neurological symptoms.

Thanks for all of the extra info, I’ll have to check out the places mentioned. I haven’t decided whether I’m driving or flying yet, but I live in South Louisiana and it’s a very long drive. I requested for the concierge service to send me info on lodging and attractions.

@astphi889 I was looking up a hemivertebra, and read that this is a congenital deformity where part of the vertebra is missing and it causes a deformity like scoliosis at that point. Is that an accurate description of your issues? I imagine this might be difficult to live with.

A good thing about Mayo is the high volume of patients that come through with unusual and difficult spine conditions. These are cases that other surgeons refuse to take (as it was in my case even though the fix was simple). They probably have seen some similar cases, and that may be the reason Dr. Fogelson wanted your case, knowing that many surgeons are not skilled enough to help. He chose to be a spine surgeon because of the difficulty and challenge of solving the problems and that is what makes him so good. Dr. Fogelson does some big surgeries for scoliosis and spines that are twisted into unusual shapes. He has used 3 d printing to study a patient's spine to work out how he will approach it in surgery.

Thanks for your nice compliment. Dr. Fogelson really liked that painting. It even made the news in his college's alumni newsletter. He took it home, and I also gave him a couple of framed prints I had made from it and that may have hung somewhere in the Neurosurgery department.

Here's some posts with updates about the painting and a video of me painting it at 11 months post surgery. I was still tired and had to take breaks to rest.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/222044/
Article in Realism Today that I wrote
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/222057/
Jennifer