Five Things To Ask My Neurosuergeon on First Visit

General
1

I am new to all this, so I thought I could ask you all what are the five most important things to ask a NS on my first visit. I am in Australia, so the health care system may be different than other places, but I am sure that you could make some good suggestions.

Many thanks for your time!

I am learning SO much from this wonderful site!


:-) Sonj

2

Thank you, Emmaline! That is such a comprehensive list. I appreciate this.

3

Wishing you the be best. Please send me any other questions you might have, I did put up a blog on this topic that you might find of interest, but here are the five questions/thoughts I would want to know:

  1. What is your surgical procedure for what you recommend
  2. What is your success rate and how is this success rate determined
  3. How many of these particular surgeries have you done in total and in the last year (a NS who has done 100 total and 20 within the last year ranks higher on my list and they seem pretty rare)
  4. What does your post care look like (when do I do post surgery MRI, is there physical therapy involved, what should my diet/exercise/lifestyle look like, etc.)
  5. CSF leaks seems to be more common than we would like, what do you do with a leak (many NS's feel the body will fix itself – I had a leak, it made me regret surgery and I didn’t have an infection, but I was drained physically, mentally, and I was extremely emotional – I hated every minute of my new pain free life – it was so bad I missed the pain); I would want someone who would go in and fix the leak – just my thoughts
4

Hi Mr Teach,

That is just what I was looking for, too.

Grateful. Off to work & followed by this appointment.

Thanks,


Sonj

5

All I can tell you is the questions I asked my NS. The first one was how long would I be in surgery and describe to me what exactly would you be doing. I also asked how long would I be out of work. I also asked what would be my benefits if I did not have the surgery. Each surgeon is going to give a different answer, but my NS told me what I needed to hear even though it's not something I wanted to go through. I have pain on the left side of my neck and shoulder. It hurts when I sneeze, cough, or laugh too hard. I have a nagging pain in my side and sometimes in my mid to lower back. I don't think I want to live the rest of my life with this pain. I have syringomyelia and my NS told me the pain would only get worse or cause permanent damage to my spinal cord. I still have plenty of miles to go and do not want anything that can be corrected to stop me from enjoying and living my life. I hope this helps. The people on this website are very supportive and the resources is useful as well. Good luck to you and God bless.

6

Hi Val!

What a great reply. I am so sorry that you are affected by this syringomyelia & the pain. I wish we had it different, but we don't. I am glad your NS has helped. I saw my new NS last night & I was comfortable with this kind, gentle & open & honest man. We came from the appointment with appreciation for the situation. It seems I will be a zipper head soon enough.

Blessing back! Sonj

7

Hi Sonj,

Zipper head. LOL. I like your sense of humor. I am seriously laughing my head off. Thanks, you have made my morning. I am going to have to use that. No matter what, I will be praying for all of us to be pain free. It seems like my symptoms are getting worse. I am slowly having trouble swallowing and it feels like something is in the back of my throat. Now, I can't wait to have my surgery. I want these symptoms gone.

Val