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Thanks, I frankly don't care if they get irritated with my questions after watching my mother die unnecessarily at the hands of incompetent doctors and being a medic for 18 years.
I have questions they will either answer or I'll go somewhere else. Some of the surgeons around Des Moines think they are God and shouldn't be questioned, but it's my health and life we are talking about.
I'm also a woodworker so I want to be able to maintain that hobby. I have heard nothing but good things about MAYO, so we'll see what they say. I preferably would like the less invasive "repair" of my C-Spine but if the only course for correction is Fusion, then so be it!
I'm also concerned about the three-hour ride back to Des Moines from Rochester and how I'll tolerate that.
Replies to "Thanks, I frankly don't care if they get irritated with my questions after watching my mother..."
@matthewpreston - first off - listen to Jennifer. She’s a great source.
I drove 7 hours from Mayo JAX to my home about 60 hours post surgery. I was a little groggy and napped - but road bumps and such were very tolerable and I was only using Tylenol.
Good luck!
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@matthewpreston I'm writing my response for you and the community as well. I had my fusion at Mayo and stayed a couple extra days in case of complications. It was a 6 hour ride back home. They will tell you to stop every 2 hours and get out of the car to walk. After surgery, you have a risk of blood clots, and this reduces the risk, and there may be excess phlegm in the lungs from anesthesia, and walking helps clear the lungs. Likely, you would be sent home in a neck brace. I just put my head on a pillow support and leaned back into the headrest. It was fine. I wasn't more uncomfortable because of the car ride home. I was just tired and wanted to sleep, but the car movement kept me awake. You'll probably leave with pain pills that help a bit.
I'm sorry about your mom and I understand why you are an advocate. Ask educated questions. You probably already know answers to many questions that patients ask. At Mayo, my surgeon explained the imaging saying, you've probably already seen this, but let's go over it. I knew to ask if I could have a fusion without hardware because I had read a medical paper that mentioned it, and I worried about immune reactions to metals, so I asked. My surgeon agreed on a no hardware fusion if I agreed to stay in a neck brace 24/7 for 3 months or until it fused. That is what I chose. There are different ways to address spine problems and your goal is to find the best one for your situation and why the surgeon recommends it over other solutions. Every procedure has risks and possible failed outcomes, and it helps to understand why it can fail, and how you can best prevent that from happening.
Surgeons can back out of helping if they sense you would be an unsatisfied patient and they worry about their ratings for successful procedures. I was refused 5 times because they didn't understand how to connect my case to my symptoms. They can cherry pick their cases and increase their statistics of success which affects their income potential. That being said, Mayo is known for taking more difficult surgical cases, and everyone at Mayo is an employee of Mayo, so that removes the financial bias to perform surgery. The surgeon receives the same salary if he/she operates or not. I can say that at Mayo, I found the best, and all my questions were answered. There is a set amount of time for a consult which was more generous than other places I went. Ask the most important questions first because time is a factor.