I finally have appointment with Doctor.Oro in Colorado in December. Can anybody tell me what to expect in the 3 day appointments. Any information would geatly help.. Thanks..
My appointment with Dr. Oro is in November. Originally I was scheduled for the first 2 appointments to be with Kimberly and the 3rd appointment with Dr. Oro. However, they have changed my 1st appointment and now it will be with Dr. Oro. I am both excited and nervous to my appointment!
I searched this forum and I found a lot of posts about other peoples visits with him. I seems like some of them had additional testing ranging from MRI's, to eye doctor appointments while they were there and some we sent home for some follow up tests.
I know I can't give you specific details right now, but I will try to let you know what I experienced after my appointments.
Thank you for the update.. I look forward to hearing how it all went for you..I will keep you in my thoughts & prayers..Thank you for your time..Best wishes to you..
It will be easy! The appointments take about 1 hour each. Then they send you for additional tests, if needed, on the same campus. The staff is very helpful and friendly. I went last month and my surgery (c-spine) is in 2 days…
Hi Pebbles..If you don't mind can I ask what is wrong with your neck and what Doctor.Oro is going to do to fix it...Thank you for your time..I will keep you in my prayers..
Cord compression due to stenosis at C5-C6 level. It is very common to have stenosis with CM1. They are going to fuse the vertebrae and shim it to pull the bones off the spinal cord. Oro told me its to dangerous to put me face down on a table to do the brain decompression with my spinal cord the way it is right now. Once the spine surgery is done we can reevaluate the remaining symptoms and need for further surgical correction. Hopefully I’ll regain the feeling in my arm and fingers! We shall see…
Pebbles, you are in my thouhts and prayers...Best wishes for your surgery tomorrow.I'll check in on you in a few days..
pebbles said:
Cord compression due to stenosis at C5-C6 level. It is very common to have stenosis with CM1. They are going to fuse the vertebrae and shim it to pull the bones off the spinal cord. Oro told me its to dangerous to put me face down on a table to do the brain decompression with my spinal cord the way it is right now. Once the spine surgery is done we can reevaluate the remaining symptoms and need for further surgical correction. Hopefully I'll regain the feeling in my arm and fingers! We shall see...
I’ve never been so ready! Thank you for the support!
I have an appt with Dr Oro in Dec as well. Thank you for posting this...I was curious myself.
Hi Heather..When is your appointment with Dr.Oro? My appointments is Dec 4th,5th & 6th..I can let you know after I see him.
Heather said:
I have an appt with Dr Oro in Dec as well. Thank you for posting this...I was curious myself.
I had surgery with doctor Oro 10/24/2013. What do you want to know?
Hi Ron...Thank you for replying to my post..If you don't mind can you tell me what problems you had and what Doctor.Oro did for you..What happens in the 3 day visits? I'm very nervous as I've had nothing but a big run a round with all the Doctors here! Any information I would greatly appreciate..Hope you have a speedy recovery..Thank you for your time..
Ron Wagner said:
I had surgery with doctor Oro 10/24/2013. What do you want to know?
I had a 10mm herniation. I had a previous decompression but it was bone only. No duraplasty.
The first day I met Kim and did a basic neuro work-up and medical history. They sent me for Mris that afternoon. Day two, I saw Kim again and filled in some additional info regarding symptoms and medical history. I met with Diane Mueller to discuss my symptoms and did another neuro review. They sent me to see an eye doctor that afternoon to look for pressure on the optic nerve and a field vision test.
Day three I saw dr oro. He review my films with me. He immediately told me my last surgery did not do enough and that I am a candidate for surgery. He walked me thou his surgical process and then I asked him questions for over an hour. I left feeling very comfortable with dr oro and his team.
Lesson learned being 10 days post op. They did not give me nausea meds before I woke up post op. I puked everywhere.
In ICU, my nurse was on top of everything but when I move to the general ward the nurses were too busy to keep up with my meds schedule. I had family members keep a schedule and I had to call them to remind them to give me meds on time, otherwise they were up to two to three hours late.
Thanks for the information Ron..I'm really hoping that Doctor.Oro will be the one to help me!
Ron Wagner said:
I had a 10mm herniation. I had a previous decompression but it was bone only. No duraplasty.
The first day I met Kim and did a basic neuro work-up and medical history. They sent me for Mris that afternoon. Day two, I saw Kim again and filled in some additional info regarding symptoms and medical history. I met with Diane Mueller to discuss my symptoms and did another neuro review. They sent me to see an eye doctor that afternoon to look for pressure on the optic nerve and a field vision test.
Day three I saw dr oro. He review my films with me. He immediately told me my last surgery did not do enough and that I am a candidate for surgery. He walked me thou his surgical process and then I asked him questions for over an hour. I left feeling very comfortable with dr oro and his team.
Lesson learned being 10 days post op. They did not give me nausea meds before I woke up post op. I puked everywhere.
In ICU, my nurse was on top of everything but when I move to the general ward the nurses were too busy to keep up with my meds schedule. I had family members keep a schedule and I had to call them to remind them to give me meds on time, otherwise they were up to two to three hours late.
Hello Pebbles..Just wanted to check in on ya..Hope your surgery went well & your on the path of speedy recovery.Thoughts and prayers sent your way...Take care Dear...
victoria said:
Pebbles, you are in my thouhts and prayers...Best wishes for your surgery tomorrow.I'll check in on you in a few days..
pebbles said:Cord compression due to stenosis at C5-C6 level. It is very common to have stenosis with CM1. They are going to fuse the vertebrae and shim it to pull the bones off the spinal cord. Oro told me its to dangerous to put me face down on a table to do the brain decompression with my spinal cord the way it is right now. Once the spine surgery is done we can reevaluate the remaining symptoms and need for further surgical correction. Hopefully I'll regain the feeling in my arm and fingers! We shall see...
I love love love Dr. Oro and his staff. Each of them have been amazing to me. I saw them in July and had a decompression with lamenectomy and duraplasty in August. I’m 9 weeks post op and feel better than I have in years. They wrote for nausea meds during my first appointment. I had zero nausea during my recovery because they always had me on something. They gave me a scopolamine patch, zofran, and compizine post surgery. I came home on compizine which I took with pain meds. I saw Dr. Oro after two non specialists said I don’t need surgery for my 8.5 mm surgery. I had a cine mri before I saw dr. Oro and was told it was normal, no crowding or blockage. Dr. Oro told me that no one he knows would call it normal and that the flow was in fact blocked. He gave me an 85% chance that the surgery would offer some relief of some symptoms. The quality of my life has increased so dramatically! I am taking zero daily meds and about to go to work full time again. My story is definitely a success story with dr. Oro. My husband is a RN and he felt that my care was top notch, I do too of course. If you have any other questions I’m happy to answer anything 
Thank you Patchoulimama for your reply to my post and your time.. It's been a VERY long haul for me and this journey, to say the least!! At this point and time I'm not sure what Doctor.Oro will do for me, but I'm hoping he'll treat me kind and most important as a human.. I greatly appreciate you for your support and allowing me to ask you questions.. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers along with a speedy recovery..Thank you again for your precious time..
Patchoulimama said:
I love love love Dr. Oro and his staff. Each of them have been amazing to me. I saw them in July and had a decompression with lamenectomy and duraplasty in August. I'm 9 weeks post op and feel better than I have in years. They wrote for nausea meds during my first appointment. I had zero nausea during my recovery because they always had me on something. They gave me a scopolamine patch, zofran, and compizine post surgery. I came home on compizine which I took with pain meds. I saw Dr. Oro after two non specialists said I don't need surgery for my 8.5 mm surgery. I had a cine mri before I saw dr. Oro and was told it was normal, no crowding or blockage. Dr. Oro told me that no one he knows would call it normal and that the flow was in fact blocked. He gave me an 85% chance that the surgery would offer some relief of some symptoms. The quality of my life has increased so dramatically! I am taking zero daily meds and about to go to work full time again. My story is definitely a success story with dr. Oro. My husband is a RN and he felt that my care was top notch, I do too of course. If you have any other questions I'm happy to answer anything :)
Keep us posted on your visits! I’m certain you will be treated with kindness and compassion. I was worried about the same thing before seeing him. Kimberly and Diane were also very kind and reassuring. I truly believed I was going to see Dr. Oro and he was going to say I have fibro and surgery wouldn’t help. I thought I was always going to feel badly and that I wouldn’t be able to work again. After the second doctor, who was very thorough but just inexperienced with chiari, said he didn’t think surgery would help I didn’t even want to put my family in the financial situation it would take to travel out of state to see Dr. Oro. The only reason that I did was because my husband wanted me to see an actual specialist. Again, working in hospitals with many doctors gave him a perspective that I have no way of possessing myself. In the midst of my discouragement my husband knew I needed surgery and knew it needed to be done by a specialist, no matter the cost. I cannot describe the gratitude I feel for Dr. Oro and his staff. I think, at a minimum, you’ll feel respected and listened to, and leave with some answers. There is a Facebook group called Colorado chiari, I think, with members who’ve seen Dr. Oro. They are each very kind and helpful. I deleted my facebook after surgery because I was sitting home comparing my life to others and feeling sorry for myself. Not good 
But you can find the group and get some more info if you’d like. Feel free to contact me any time sister
I will keep you posted..Again Thank you for your time and kindness..
Patchoulimama said:
Keep us posted on your visits! I'm certain you will be treated with kindness and compassion. I was worried about the same thing before seeing him. Kimberly and Diane were also very kind and reassuring. I truly believed I was going to see Dr. Oro and he was going to say I have fibro and surgery wouldn't help. I thought I was always going to feel badly and that I wouldn't be able to work again. After the second doctor, who was very thorough but just inexperienced with chiari, said he didn't think surgery would help I didn't even want to put my family in the financial situation it would take to travel out of state to see Dr. Oro. The only reason that I did was because my husband wanted me to see an actual specialist. Again, working in hospitals with many doctors gave him a perspective that I have no way of possessing myself. In the midst of my discouragement my husband knew I needed surgery and knew it needed to be done by a specialist, no matter the cost. I cannot describe the gratitude I feel for Dr. Oro and his staff. I think, at a minimum, you'll feel respected and listened to, and leave with some answers. There is a Facebook group called Colorado chiari, I think, with members who've seen Dr. Oro. They are each very kind and helpful. I deleted my facebook after surgery because I was sitting home comparing my life to others and feeling sorry for myself. Not good ;) But you can find the group and get some more info if you'd like. Feel free to contact me any time sister :)
I saw Dr.Oro mid October and had such a great experience. He was kind, compassionate and spent an hour with me explaining things that no other dr ever did. I also had been dx with fibro 12 years ago and was really surprised when Kimberly, the Nurse Practicioner, told me that almost every patient that comes to Dr.Oro for Chiari has at some point been told they have fibro. It makes me really sad that there are so many people out there, suffering for years, thinking that they have no hope of recovery. I feel so blessed to be able to go to Dr. Oro for my decompression surgery. I am just trying to decide when I want to schedule it. On a side note, Denver is so beautiful to visit! I hope you have great visit and appointment as well!
victoria said:
I will keep you posted..Again Thank you for your time and kindness..
Patchoulimama said:Keep us posted on your visits! I'm certain you will be treated with kindness and compassion. I was worried about the same thing before seeing him. Kimberly and Diane were also very kind and reassuring. I truly believed I was going to see Dr. Oro and he was going to say I have fibro and surgery wouldn't help. I thought I was always going to feel badly and that I wouldn't be able to work again. After the second doctor, who was very thorough but just inexperienced with chiari, said he didn't think surgery would help I didn't even want to put my family in the financial situation it would take to travel out of state to see Dr. Oro. The only reason that I did was because my husband wanted me to see an actual specialist. Again, working in hospitals with many doctors gave him a perspective that I have no way of possessing myself. In the midst of my discouragement my husband knew I needed surgery and knew it needed to be done by a specialist, no matter the cost. I cannot describe the gratitude I feel for Dr. Oro and his staff. I think, at a minimum, you'll feel respected and listened to, and leave with some answers. There is a Facebook group called Colorado chiari, I think, with members who've seen Dr. Oro. They are each very kind and helpful. I deleted my facebook after surgery because I was sitting home comparing my life to others and feeling sorry for myself. Not good ;) But you can find the group and get some more info if you'd like. Feel free to contact me any time sister :)