Dr Zeegers surgery alone.
 

Hello All,

I have a second MRI done at the end of March since my old films are about 6 months old. I want to make sure nothing has changed. Just a bit of history, I have DDD of the l5. 85% disc height loss, and the disc is bulging. So if i do absolute nothing, the pain in minimal. Hard when I use to be an active guy.

I have sent my previous data to Dr all over the world and all seem to indicate that a ADR would have a high success rate to return my spine back to normal health. After researching many different Dr's I decided upon Dr Zeegers. I am getting all my stuff ready for his review and most likely will be a candidate.

I may have to go down and get the surgery alone, just curious if anyone has done this before, and what the experience was like?

Thanks,

Karger

Karger, Going it alone will be OK as long as everything goes well. Getting home on your own may be tough so I would not try to travel at a week post-op. Leave 10 days (IMHO that's aggressive). I'd recommend 12 days or more. If you do great, you'll feel like you wasted money staying the extra days. But, if you are feeling that well, you'll be taking in the sights. If you do poorly, the extra few days will VERY important. Note that I had a terrible time after my lumbar ADR. I was scheduled to come home at 10 days, but could not have traveled then. I came home on day 15. My immediate post-op experience was way worse than average, but this does not say anything about success of the surgery. I was playing tennis at 3 months and skiing black diamond runs and SCUBA diving at 4 months.

The Kameha Grand Hotel that is right next to the clinic and right on the Rhine is an awesome 5 star hotel. The Betaklinik has a great rate with them... a couple of years ago, it was 120 Euro. Call me during the week and I'll tell you where to find the 40 Euro 'Guest House' that has clean rooms, great service, internet and breakfast included. It's a 15 minute walk from the clinic.

The best place to stay is Schlosshotel Kommende Ramersdorf. It's about 80 Euro, but it is incredible.

http://globalpatientnetwork.com/misc/castle_1.jpg

http://globalpatientnetwork.com/misc/castle_2.jpg

http://globalpatientnetwork.com/misc/castle_3.jpg

The castle hotel is a long walk from the clinic... probably OK before your surgery, but not after.

BTW, the Betaklinik is among the best places to go it alone. It is absolutely first rate and being a private clinic, everything is in their control. I have been there several times and have never seen a language problem or anything other than first class treatment and service.

Good luck.

Mark

PS... give me a call during the week and I'll tell you more.

Thanks Mark,

I appreciate the info :). I'll probably find a buddy to go with for moral support! I'll probably stay the 15 days just to be sure. You mentioned that you had a bad post-op was worse then average, how so if you don't mind answering. I am just trying to gauge the best post op vs the worse post op experience.

Thanks in advance.

Karger

Karger, I am a week post-op right now. I do not think I could have handled it, no I know I could not have handled it alone. My 1st 4+ days were HELL, pay your friend's airline ticket, do what it takes (that will be best investment you will ever make) When you start closing in, lean on me (Zeegers & Axel Jung his partner in all lumbar surgeries) saved my spine. I know it's early to say it but that is how I feel. I can pass on some great techniques to deal with the post-op misery too. I had friends who helped me and I want to do the same

Thanks Henry,

I plan on bringing my wife and finding a baby sitter for my kids for the 2 weeks. Hope all is well.

Karger... sorry I missed your question about why my recovery was worse than average. It has to do with the amount of post-op pain I had. After my wife's ADR surgery, I could never even get her to say she was in pain... "I'm uncomfortable" is all I could get out of her. She was up and about the day of her surgery and we were sightseeing just a few days later.

Most of my adult life, I was a really serious athlete. In the years before my spine surgeries, I played soccer 6 days a week and went rock-climbing and skydiving several times a month. I like to believe that I have a very high pain tolerance and still see it today as I have done nearly ALL of my dozens of facet injections, epidurals, costo-vertebral joint injections, intercostal nerve blocks and discograms without ANY sedation. I usually watch the monitor during the procedure. In first day post-op, I literally passed out from the pain twice when I tried to get up to go to the bathroom. I was more than a week post-op before I could walk the 1/2 mile to the clinic, while I watched other patients sightseeing 6 miles/day at less than a week post-op. I was scheduled to come home on day 10, but there was not way I could have (reasonably) made the trip home. I rescheduled and came home on day 15.

There are some interesting trade-off's in waiting till day 15 and I believe that most patients will think that is too long. Call me and we can discuss it... too much to type here.

When are you scheduled.

Mark

People should note that while I describe such a difficult first 2 weeks post-op, the recovery after that was stellar. A few weeks later I was riding my bike to PT, rollerblading around the neighborhood backwards with 2 yellow labs on leash. At 3 months I was playing tennis and at 4 months I was skiing black diamond runs and scuba diving.

If you are lucky, you'll have an easy time. If you are unlucky, it will be difficult. BUT... the difficult times are just a few more days or weeks of the same kind of hell we all lived with for years before our surgeries. The only think that matters is how you feel at 6 months, 2 years, 5 years....

Good luck!

Mark