Positive News from the Neurosurgeon

First, he's a real person. He's kind and attentive and funny and engaging and has an impeccable reputation. In other words, the opposite of Dr. Surly Got-My-Degree-From-Heehaw-Online-College we saw 2 weeks back.

The good doctor's advice: No surgery for mom just yet. He suggested that she wait a month and come back to him, to see how much better she was feeling, and his guess is that Mom is about halfway there. His own mother had compression fractures in some vertebrae awhile back and she was in agony. She couldn't have surgery because of all the other health complications she had. And even she healed completely from the back pain in 4 months. So, we'll see. And we'll pray.

(We did find out that of the three compression fractures, only one is a new injury. Thus, the other two would not be candidates for the cement-injection surgery anyway.)

Another other-end-of-the-spectrum experience at this doctor's office: We got into an exam room ten minutes early, and the doctor entered the room five minutes later.

AND, while we were in the waiting room, a patient of his had come out, a pretty blond in her 40s, turned to all of us in the waiting room and said "Just so you know, Dr. _____ is the best surgeon there is. I had 9-hour back surgery, with rods and pins and the whole works, and I have not had a single problem since."

I've never seen anyone do that before. It was just more confirmation that we had come to the right guy.

We got to ask all our questions, we got to go into another room with him and see the MRI results for ourselves, and my mom was so comfortable with this surgeon that she had to tell him her favorite joke before we left.

"She's going to do stand-up in the Catskills one day," I told the doctor.

When he first entered the room and saw my mom and looked down at her information sheet, he said "You are one good lookin' 88-year-old!" My sister said "Everybody says that, but she never believes it."

I wish I could put a photo of my mom here. She is beautiful. Perfect, peachy skin and an electric smile. I am so grateful for her.

And thank God for talented doctors with abundant smarts and personality.