Does anyone out there have good experiences/ Dr recommendations at the Mayfield Chiari Center? I am looking to get a second opinion and want to make sure I am not choosing poorly again and hope to get some real answers and solutions. I am willing to travel and have good insurance so any other centers or doctors that you feel are truly experienced in this will be helpful. Thank you!
I haven't personally, but I know several people have had very positive results there. In the discussions page, if you type in "Mayfield" in the search bar, you will be able to see all the discussions about the center. Also you can checkout the recommended doctors tab at the top. These are recommended by other MEMBERS, not insurance companies or other third parties. Hope this helps!
I had surgery with Dr. Ringer at Mayfield on Oct 15, 2012 and am very pleased with the care I received. I consider my surgery an overwhelming success. I can't speak of other doctors there or anyone else's experience with them but in my case Dr. Ringer and his staff were lifesavers!
I had a consult with Dr. Ringer October 2014. He ordered a CINE MRI for the same day as my appointment. I thought he was wonderful and very patient. He took his time explaining everything to myself and my husband. I also started sobbing in the exam room and he was very kind about it. Ultimately I am having the surgery closer to home with another doctor but seeing Dr. Ringer and getting the results from the CINE MRI were invaluable to our peace of mind about going ahead with the surgery.
Wow the censorship here deleted my post BC it was an honest account of my visit with mayfield. Mods delete this one also I get far better info with out the cencorship on Facebook any way.
Decompression surgery is a treatment and not a cure. So a good NS won’t do this surgery unless they are 100% sure your symptoms are chiari related. There is a small percentage of people who see no relief or feel worse after surgery so I think it’s a good thing that they rule out other causes first!!! Some people don’t feel the same. For instance Dr. Ringer wanted to take time to rule out tethered cord before he agreed to do my surgery. So yes I had to wait 2 months between appointment to get more tests and have them reviewed before we scheduled surgery. That was fine with me because tethered cord surgery is an easier recovery. Turns out I didn’t have it and ended up with decompression which luckily for me went well. I was made aware that I might see no benefit and was prepared for that.
Also this is a rare disease and not a lot of NS agree as to when to consider surgery. Several of the more well known chiari surgeons have faced recent lawsuits from people who claimed they didn’t see a benefit and had other doctors tell them they didn’t need the surgery in the first place. So I’d say other doctors are proceeding with caution in light of that.
Sorry to hijack this thread but I think people forget this isn’t a bad appendix with a 100% cure rate when removed so yeah doctors aren’t going to operate unless they have good reason to suspect it’s only chiari. Not all headaches are chiari!!!
Again PLEASE use private messaging if you have negative things to say for liability reasons! Do not make negative posts in the discussions where the clinic, hospital, or doctors name is identifiable. These replies will be deleted!
I whole heartedly agree that "decompression surgery" is not a cure but a treatment! However, when a dr wants you to go on many different pills which could cause several other serious health conditions, I can not see that as a good possible solution. I know my 4th ventricle is blocked, I was told that by one of the dr's in Cincinnati oh, who falsified the report to my PcP.
I felt like I was pushed from NS to NS to NL to NL within the same organization in Cincinnati oh., all because I did not willingly take pills like a drug addict.
I would not mind working with the NL if there might have been a possible solution or time frame to find out if the "pills" worked, but when the NL states "Chiari 1 gets blamed for so many symptoms that are unrelated to Chiari". When I questioned the NL, she said "well I don't know" lets examine you. Way to avoid a simple question. And push drugs down my throat that could possibly cause more harm to my body then good.
Please help me understand the logic in that! To me this train of thought or reasoning is completely asinine.
They also did an MRI on my lower back which shows that I do not have TC but the concern with that is that I have way to many symptoms that gives the appearance of TC.
Anglyn - If I may ask you a few questions. What was the size of your herniation? What were all of your symptoms?
Why don’t you delete me I find this site useless anyway. Can’t get an honest opinion as some one will get their fragile feelings hurt.
It’s not a matter of hurt feelings. It’s a matter of disregarding the policies of this site and exposing it to liability! This has been repeatedly explained to you. You’ve been told numerous times you can say what you like in a PRIVATE message.