Does anyone have any thoughts on the Chiari Institute in Wisconsin? I am thinking about making the trip and was wondering if it is worth it? Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated.
Hi Mercedes, I currently go the the Chiari Institute of Wisconsin. Dr. Heffez is my doctor, and I can not tell you how blessed I am to have finally found a doctor who was able to diagnose me take care of my Chiari. One thing you should know about Dr. Heffez, is he will not see you if he does not think he can help you. One thing that impressed me to go to him, besides his great reputation is that any doctor that continues to publish papers and always tries to find solutions and help people, is a good doctor in my opinion. I have Ben to countless doctors as many of us have. I was at a point where for over a year I sat in a chair all day long in pain and if I did get out for something, I would be in even more agony. I felt helpless and useless. I met Dr. Heffez and he confirmed my chiari and a narrow spinal canal. I had a Chiari Decompression and Cervical Laminoplasty on 9/23/13, and I felt immediate relief. I started having some more pain again recently, and found out that I have Tethered Cord Syndrome, which I guess about 20% of Chiarians have. Unfortunately I have to have surgery for this on March 13th. This will be dine by Dr. Heffez, and I hope this will get rid of my pain. Dr. Herbs and all his staff are very understanding and caring people. I highly recommend him and trust him completely. It is so hard going through this journey, it is important to find a good doctor that you can trust. I hope this was helpful and I wish you get some relief. God Bless Karen
Karen thank you for your reply. I am from Florida and this is a major trip for us. I just wanted to make sure it was worth considering and it sounds as if it it. Thank you again and I wish you the best on your next surgery.
It is difficult having to travel to see a doctor. I am lucky, I live in WI, about 25 minutes away from Dr. Heffez. I know people come from all over the world to see him. If it were me and I know what I know about him, I would travel to see him. He only agrees to see people he can help. If he sees you if will continue to see you until you are better. I really cannot say enough good things about him. I know some other people on this site have traveled to see him. If you don't get some more responses soon, you. Right want to add a new discussion and ask if anyone had traveled to see Dr. Heffez and what they think. I wish you the very best and if I can answer any more questions, send me a message or you can friend me if you want a private message. This is such a great group for their wealth of information and true caring for people. God Bless Karen
http://www.chiarisupport.org/forum/topic/search?q=heffez
The best thing to do here is put Heffez in the search bar under the Discussions tab on the left. It pulls up all discussions related to him, and there is a lot of info. here. I provided the link above, and hope that works. Good Luck
Geoff
Mercedes, Heffez did my decompression. He is a compassionate person and I believe he does a great decompression! He will check you for hypermobility during your consultation, and if he determines you have it just please make sure you guys rule out cranial cervical instability before he operates. Let us know how it goes.
Jenn
Its not a choice. Go to a chiari clinic. I did not and it is the worse decision I have ever made in my life. Now two of my children may have chiari and I will beg, borrow or steal to get them there just so they don't have to have to have the life I have! Please GO TO A CLINIC!
Hi Mercedes,
If you don't want to travel any farther you have to, try the Chiari Institute in New York. It is a teaching hospital that treats all kinds of brain disorders. Dr. Rekate is fantastic and you would love him. He did my surgery and I don't even have a scar two years later.
Bob