Hi Cori,

You're welcome! Great Job on scheduling those appointments.

I didn't check out UCSF very closely, but Dr. Kyle Mitsunaga did a Spinal Deformity fellowship there. Addtionally, Dr. Mitsunaga is Course Director and Chair at a 4 day UCSF educational conference in Spinal Surgery.

Should Dr. Mitsunaga not be able to help you, he should be able to let you know if anyone at UCSF has experience dealing in cases like yours.

It looks like Dr Mitsunaga has strong Spine surgery background.

When you see him you will want to ask him questions to determine whether he is right for you. Below I listed the link to 40 questions to ask your surgeon. You would want to pick the top questions you want to ask. (AI could also help you with a list of questions.)

The main thing you want to know, is how many cases like yours (with Harrington Rod) has he treated and what was the outcome for those patients?

What type of surgery would he recommend for you? (Get details on what he would do)

Would he leave in your existing Rod?
(My rod and that section of my back were fine so my old rod was left in my back. )

What would he anticipate for your outcome? ( My doctor, said if all goes as planned, that I should have 95% less pain. )

What would recovery look like? How long?

Risks/ Concerns?

The main thing to remember is that the more number of surgeries a doctor does of a certain type, the better he will be.

Should you wish to seek a second opinion you can ask the doctor for a recommendation.

Here is the link of to the list of potential questions--pick 5-10 that are important to you:
https://www.spine-health.com/blog/40-questions-ask-your-surgeon-back-surgery
Good luck, Cori!

Nadine