Maybe Bob's approach is a bit aggressive, but maybe he's trying to get Steve's attention. You have to admit if you brought your dog in for a surgery and you had this type of an outcome would you go back to the same vet.?
With that said this forum does put Dr. Bertagnoli on a pedestal. Many times I see postings as the "great" Dr. B., "The worlds best surgeon Dr. B." He may be a great surgeon, the are a lot of very good surgeons. I would say he is probably an outstanding representative for Pro Disc. Most of his trips to the states is probably somehow related to Synthis Pro Disc training. I doubt it's to train on another product. Of course this is just my observation.
So if everyone keeps calling him the "best", a patient could hold on to false hopes. In Steve's situation, his neck is messed up. No question he needs a very good surgeon. If I recall correctly he was close to getting in with Dr. Reagan a couple of months back but held off because Dr. B. recommended massage therapy.
So just recapping, the guy pays x dollars for 2 disks and that's changed to 3, he has a subsidence issue and Dr. B's assistant says it's urgent he goes back to Germany, then Dr. B. thinks it's not that bad and a massage is the solution. Now he's in great pain and desperate and still the go to guy is Dr. B.?
If anyone wants to give advice for a particular Dr., in this case you may want to throw some names out for Dr's who have performed extensive reconstruction. Again I am not questioning Dr. Bertagnoli's skills and I'm sure he has many successful surgery's but it may be time to get a couple of independent opinions. It seems like Steve has got one in Texas and now he'll get one from Dr. Reagan. So hopefully he'll make the best decision he can.
Everyone with an ADR is a pioneer. There will be many successes and many failures. This board should allow people like Bob to speak their mind. We can't all drink the cool aid.
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