I just got home after very long day. Whoop tired, but a great day!
Did big anterior posterior scoliosis reconstruction in 44 yo woman today, then a complex proximal junction kyphosis correction this evening using navigation technology from Brainlab and bone cement , pmma. I WANTED TO SEND OUT A VERY BIG THANK YOU TO NURSE KELLY, WHO CAME IN AT 2PM AND STAYED THROUGH DINNERTIME TO HELP US WITH THIS COMPLEX SURGERY TO HELP A VERY NICE LADY FROM SPRUCE PINE NEAR ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA! KELLY, YOU ARE A GEM!
In between surgeries, I saw a 12 yo boy and his dad with new diagnosis of 55 degree scoliosis. My nurse practitioner, Brittaney, asked me to join her for visit when she saw how big the curve was. The boy is big, and growing fast, and hid the curve with his big size. Dad looked a bit like a deer in the headlights, which I can completely understand. Had to be gentle, spent a lot of time. Curve too big for bracing. Gave them a bunch of good info, and both seemed peaceful and well informed by end of visit. We can talk more later. Surgery later this winter, to do what is right in long run. Showed them picture of 55 yo who never had scoliosis fixed on my blog, from Mississippi, who then was suffering with terrible collapse in his lumbar area, and faced strong possibility of not being able to work due to constant pain. This boy also has a very unusual left thoracic curve pattern that we will also work up with an MRI. There may be a congenital scoliosis component to this as well, which we will see better on MRI.
Yesterday spent a LOT of time with another family with a teenage sophomore with a 55 degree congenital proximal thoracic scoliosis, seeking to help them to make choice. Very smart family. Boy is big time athlete.. More to follow.
I’ve been experimenting w Twitter. Find me at drlloydhey. Might be helpful since it is really hard for me to sit down and take time to write a full blog entry. Met a friend who is a blogger who researches and writes for 4-5 hours every day. Yikes!!! No time for that! I can’t tweet while doing surgery, but I have had Howard, my instrument rep Tweet for me on my iPad while I was doing surgery…..I am amazed to see how much some people Tweet — like Ken Rosenthal from FoxSports.com. Man, that guy is Tweeting every 2 minutes! Wow!
Had dinner Monday night w Mike Levin, a fraternity brother from MIT visiting from California. He contacted me out of the blue, finding me through the MIT alumni website. Wow, it is amazing how fast 27 years has gone by since graduation from MIT! Those were very special years, with very special people that I wish I had stayed in better contact since then.
Mike and I had a great visit! He also inspired me to use the MIT Alumni website, and my old fraternity team photos to reach out to several of my old fraternity brothers, including Dr. Joe Sabik, my big brother, now at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Heard back also from Bruce Schena, my “little brother” out in the Bay Area of San Francisco, who has been very successful entrepreneur and inventor, including doing a robotics startup with Mike Levin. Bruce emailed me back, and has great family, and is still “tinkering” in the machine shop, while working with daVinci Robotics for surgery!
Mike told me about his several successful companies he has helped start, and is on yet another startup now which is going very well in the computer sector. I got a chance to show him Chapel Hill, and also go over to see Duke Chapel and the other “Duke Chapel”: Cameron Indoor Stadium for basketball and Coach K!!!!
Mike shared how many of our fraternity brothers have gone off to do successful startup companies, including Mike Saylor, who I’ve followed in the news, as well as my classmate Pete Diamandis — the Space guy. We used to call him “Pete in Space!!!” — and he definitely has kept his focus on space ever since. This was an inspiring group of guys to spend time with. Thankful for Dean Koutsoubis, who first invited me to pre-Frosh gathering at his home before going to MIT, as well as my old roommate and friend Khanh Hoang, who was also my sailing partner on the MIT sailing team. David DiPietro was one of my “little brothers” along with Tom Esselman, now in Minnesota and Bruce Schena as mentioned above. I also sent word out to Joe Parrish, who apparently is doing extremely well.
Hope to connect with more of the Brothers from the Theta Deut Chapter of Theta Delta Chi at MIT. So thankful for the upper classmen who mentored me, like Guido, Dino and Ed — 3 seniors who shared a Quad with me my first semester freshman year! My bed that first year sat on a door which rested on 4 paint cans. Every night at midnight, the 3 seniors would open up the front window on the Flag Room, and play REO Speedwagon at about 110 dB and yell at people walking down Memorial Drive. I sat at my desk, and wondered if I’d ever pass Calculus! I still listen to REO Speedwagon really loud sometimes and fondly remember those days in college, looking at the Boston skyline from Memorial Drive.
I shared this Fraternity Brother photo with Mike when we got together from 1984, the year of my graduation from MIT. Also found a bunch of other photos, including taking hikes in New Hampshire with the Brothers, and Lindsay Russell, our elder mentor for many years at Theta Delta Chi.
Thanks again Mike for getting in touch.
If any of the other Theta Delta Chi brothers from MIT (Theta Deuts) who are coming to RTP / RDU area, let me know.
Would love to see you and possibly share a meal!
Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery.
http://www.heyclinic.com
One Comment
contraption
Nice post Lloyd! Cheers!