The misery of the NHS!

Tracy - Alastair is a mine of information but in my humble opinion if you decide to go privately and pay it is worth going to Germany. This was my decision on the basis of ADR being a complicated surgery and it being a good idea to go to the very best surgeon I could.

Of course there are disadvantages in going abroad for surgery but my thought process was that if it was unsuccessful (which unfortunately seems to be the case) I would never think "I wish I'd had it done in the UK". In spite of not having a good outcome I still think I made the right decision

Just my tuppence worth.

Good luck what ever you decide and if you want to know anything about the Alpha Klinik (I was there 7 months ago whereas Alistair's surgery must have been 3 or 4 years ago) please don't hesitate to ask.

Vicky

[ans]

I like and respect Dr. Lam. However, as my L4-L5 region's involved, I'd get the creeps of an operation w/o a vascular surgeon.

[Alastair]

Sorry I thought I had said "not only does Mr Lam do some of his vascular work but he has a Vascular surgeon standing by". I suppose as he trained not only in spine work but as a vascular surgeon also he deals quickly with small problems.

However if things look big I am sure he steps back and lets this vascular surgeon get on with his job.

Our NHS (country's health scheme) doesn`t budget for a VS so often the VS works unpaid!!

He does "Private work" so anyone from another country paying him direct goes to a Private Hospital and he has additional help on his team.

He is an amazingly talented man who has the "Gift" needed for an outstanding surgeon -- -He did an ADR on a patient (member here) who has Dynesys and the latest I hear is that he is going to remove the Dynesys(not his implant) and let the ADR be independent on its own!!

Its a "First" in my knowledge of spine surgery -- - -I`m sure the patient will come back and tell us when its all over so I will say no more- - - no date fixed as far as I know - -- - Mr Lam is presenting a paper at the SAS conference now, so if you are going, meet and greet him
Best
Alastair

Hello Chaps, Many thanks your all your kind wishes, thoughts, opinions and ideas, which I greatly appreciate! I was initially thinking of going private either here in the UK (with the possibility of seeing Mr Lam) or travelling abroad because I was not expecting to be offered a good deal (so to speak) on the NHS! However, now that I have seen the NHS surgeon who will do my op.(being a Mr Andrew Hilton working out of the County Hospital in Dorchester, Dorset)I feel very comfortable with his thoughts on my surgery. I still require the Discogram but he is definitely going to do a bone-fusion on L5/S1 because basically there is nothing left and then, (depending on the outcome of the Discogram) he will leave the L4/L5 alone if it is not a pain generator or he will do an implant using a "Maverick". This is the implant of his choice as it is all metal. He feels as yet, there is not enough information to ascertain how the body can support an implant that contains a polyethylene core. Being that I am 40 years old and just under 5 ft tall he believes this is the best implant for me. I am confident in his abilities as he has trained in London. The outcome for/of my op. has been "our" decision collectively, which I liked as I felt as much in charge of making/taking this opinion regarding my op! I know that surgeons have their preferences but having really studied all the implant information that I could find (as we all have done for our own peace of mind) I accept the "Maverick" is a good one for me. My husband says I'll be the Bionic Woman as her surname is/was "Summers" as is mine!
Sending my good wishes and prayers to you all. Finding this amazing website has helped me find a lot of encouragement and it's all to the members, of which I count my blessings to be one of!
Tracy. xxx

[Mariaa]

Tracy,
Congrats on arriving to a well thought out/researched decision. Good luck with the discogram~ sounds like you'd be having a similar surgery to what is proposed in my case (hybrid)minus choice of implant.

Meanwhile hope you keep us posted on the disco results and when your surgical date will be!
take good care, Maria