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Reply With QuoteHello Hillary,
I just had a surgical consult with Dr Eugene Carragee at Stanford Medical on Monday the 26th. I was very impressed with him and his staff and the facility. I have surgery scheduled for Oct 25th. Good Luck!
Catherine
This is a discussion on Seeking Surgeons in California within the Spinal Fusion (Including Discectomy & Laminectomy Procedures) forums, part of the Spine Surgery Support category; Hello, I am wondering if anyone on this forum has had fusion surgery from a doctor in California that they ...
Seeking Surgeons in California Hello,
I am wondering if anyone on this forum has had fusion surgery from a doctor in California that they could recommend? I am interested in Orthopedic surgeon and a Neurosurgeon and I'm finding it difficult to get any information on doctors other than vitals.com or healthgrades etc. I would really prefer a firsthand account of someone's experience with a surgeon.
Thanks!
Hillary
1997- Car accident chiro & massage for 9 months
Various bouts of lower back pain about twice per year
2005 to 2008- several falls snowboarding (tailbone)
Chiro for periodic lower back pain
2011- PT spinal decomp, stim, strengthening
MRI- Severely degenerated L5 S1 disc and what little is left of the disc a 5 mm herniation on nerve. PT helps a bit
Consult Dr. Bhatia - recommended spinal fusion of L5 & S1.
Consult Dr. John Brown - same diagnosis
Re: Seeking Surgeons in California Hello Hillary,
I just had a surgical consult with Dr Eugene Carragee at Stanford Medical on Monday the 26th. I was very impressed with him and his staff and the facility. I have surgery scheduled for Oct 25th. Good Luck!
Catherine
ACDF C6-7 1993 - no more pain!
Auto accident 2/08
Three MRI's
Find bilateral pars defect L5-S1 5/08
Pain increases until unable to work 9/09
Find grade 1 Spondylolisthesis 3/10 with left L5 nerve root compression
Left L5 & bilateral pars SNRB 5/11- no effect
7/11 EMG and Nerve conduction test
New MRI, finally! 9mm slip, bilateral pars fractures, facet hypertrophy and mild disc bulging at L4-L5 and L5-S1
Anterior/Posterior fusion w instrumentation 11/8/11
Re: Seeking Surgeons in California Thanks Catherine, best of luck with your surgery!
1997- Car accident chiro & massage for 9 months
Various bouts of lower back pain about twice per year
2005 to 2008- several falls snowboarding (tailbone)
Chiro for periodic lower back pain
2011- PT spinal decomp, stim, strengthening
MRI- Severely degenerated L5 S1 disc and what little is left of the disc a 5 mm herniation on nerve. PT helps a bit
Consult Dr. Bhatia - recommended spinal fusion of L5 & S1.
Consult Dr. John Brown - same diagnosis
Re: Seeking Surgeons in California Hillary,
After bouncing around and seeing many Northern Ca. doctors I VERY happily settled here:
Spine Institute of San Francisco
SpineCare, spine surgery specialists
However, UCSF Spine Center also has a great reputation for top notch care and I did seek one of my opinions there:
Spine Center | UCSF Medical Center
Best of luck in your search,
Kimberly
43 yr. old female with 11 and 13 year old kids.
10+ years of chronic back pain (Severe R/L leg pain for past year)
DDD at L3L4, L4L5, L5S1
Herniations, foraminal stenosis and facet hypertrophy at all 3 levels
Type II modic changes at L5S1
Conservative measures not helpful (medication, NSAIDs, injections, PT, massage, chiro, lifestyle and ergonomic modifications)
Microdiscectomy/Laminotomy (L5S1) 12/10 - Reherniated 6 weeks later.
2-level fusion (ALIF) (L4-L5, L5-S1) 6/29/11
Re: Seeking Surgeons in California Hi Hillary,
I had my posterior hardware removed by Dr. Slosar at Spine Care Medical Group in San Francisco (& Daly City) 2˝ weeks ago. Their web site is www.spinecare.com.
I recently moved to SF from Atlanta where I have my ALIF ~18-months ago. My surgeon in Atlanta was Dr. Heller at Emory Spine Center. Dr. Heller has a stellar reputation and is a Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Emory University. He’s preformed over 2,000 spine surgeries and is the surgeon doctors go to in Atlanta for spine surgery. A recommendation from him carries a LOT of weight for me. You may find some useful info on this web site: http://www.emoryhealthcare.org/emory-orthopaedics-spine-hospital/index.html
Dr. Slosar we extremely personable and cut to the chase, no pun intended.
Hope is helps!
- ~50 years old
- Back pain for ~25 years
- Spondylolisthesis Grade 2 L5/S1
- DDD L4/L5 & L5/S1
- Positive discogram L4/L5 & L5/S1
- Prior PT & injections to no great avail
- 360 degree fusion L4/L5/S1
- Surgery March 15, 2010
- ALIF with Posterior Stabilization Hardware
- Emory University Orthepaedics & Spine Hospital (Atlanta, GA)
- Currently doing really well - 85% improvement (Sept 2011)
- Hardware removel (4-pedical screws & 2-rods) October 3, 2011
Re: Seeking Surgeons in California Hi Hillary,Originally Posted by hillarymurphy
I've just had my one year follow up for L4/5 TLIF fusion performed by Dr. Dean Chou, Spine Neurosurgeon, at UCSF and am happy to report I'm doing very well. This was my 4th spine surgery, 2 cervical and 2 lumbar. A neurosurgeon at Stanford performed the first 3 but he only occasionally performs lumbar fusions--hence I was referred into UCSF by a private practice physiatrist. As a retired Stanford RN, my personal bias is for a neurosurgeon. I highly recommend Dr. Chou, but two spine orthopedists there were also on the list of possibilities--Dr. Serena Hu and Dr. Bobby Tay.
If you would like to chat, please send me a PM with phone number, and I will return your call after 11/3 when I return from a trip.
CardinalTwo
Re: Seeking Surgeons in California I'm not sure where in California you are, but a few of the very best spine surgeons in the world are in the socal area.
Dr. Larry Khoo (Great guy, Better surgeon) has a private practice in LA
Dr. Jeff Wang (UCLA)
Dr. Carl Lauryssen (Beverly Hills) also private practice.
All of these guys are the surgeons that other surgeons learn from. If it was me, I'd avoid a teaching hospital (Like UCLA) because I don't like the idea of residents doing surgery on me.
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