Texas Back Institute—My Personal Experience

[Justin]

I traveled to the Texas Back Institute (TBI) in 2003 for a stateside evaluation of my spine before ultimately deciding to go to Germany to have surgery with Dr. Bertagnoli.

I saw Dr. Richard Guyer for an evaluation and he was incredible. I flew in from New Mexico to see him and after recognizing the severity of my situation, he recommended a discogram and scheduled with a colleague the very next day. Dr. Guyer already had plans for the next day and was not coming in to the clinic to see any patients, but he knew I was leaving over the weekend to go back home. He told me he had no problem with seeing me the next morning and he came in to the clinic just to see me. It was a very nice thing for him to do, and it showed me that he really cares about his patients.

I have heard similar stories about Drs. Hochschuler, Blumenthal and Zigler and the other doctors at TBI. Their interdisciplinary team is one of the most well-regarded in the spine world. Personally, I would recommend a consult with one of their doctors if you are close to any of their locations, or if you need another surgical opinion in regard to your spine.

I didn't have surgery at the TBI because I was disqualified from the ADR Clinical Trials at the time based on a previous spine surgery and the fact that I needed 2 levels replaced (TBI only had permission to do 1-level replacements at the time from the FDA).

I hope this helps...if anyone has experience traveling to the TBI for a surgical opinion, please feel free to share your story for the benefit of others.

[Gilbert P]

Justin Thanks

I am trying to get all my info on disc

Keep moving forward.

Gilbert P

[KBear]

I am a patient at TBI and love them. I saw Dr. Zigler pre-surgery and planned on having surgery with him. Unfortunately, my insurance denied my claim and subsequent appeals. I was also disqualified from the Freedom disc clinical trial due to previous spinal litigation. The Active L trial had already closed at TBI (they can only do so many patients per site and with so many top notch surgeons, it went quickly). I found that all the other sites were still open. I chose Dr. Rolando Garcia in Aventura, Florida who is the co-inventor of the Active L (Dr. Yue, the head of spinal orthopedics at Yale is the other). I chose Dr. Garcia based on information from others on this site, internet research and lastly, location (came down to him or Dr. Yue, so Florida or New Jersey in March, Florida won out). I had an excellent experience with him.

I was able to 'transfer' back to TBI after surgery and remain in the trial. I now see Dr. Blumenthal for my post-surgery follow up. He is also a great surgeon and man. Both he and Dr. Zigler are extremely humble (which is hard to find in any surgeon, much less top surgeons in their fields), explain things in terms you can understand, spend as much time with you as you need, are honest, and seem to genuinely care. I would highly reccommend TBI as well as Dr Garcia in Florida.

If you would like any more information, feel free to send me a pm.

Kathy

[Gilbert P]

Hey

I am Sending my stuff to the TBI.

Any great places to stay?

If we decide to go I would like some information on where to eat, shopping etc

Thank You

Gilbert P

[KBear]

Hey

I am Sending my stuff to the TBI.

Any great places to stay?

If we decide to go I would like some information on where to eat, shopping etc

Thank You

Gilbert P

Gilbert, There are tons of hotels in that area, depends on what you want to be near to. For me, it's shopping. Lots of good places to eat and lots to do. PM me for more info, I can give you a call and tell you more.