Dr. Lloyd Hey's Blog. The Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

FW: THANK YOU! Encouraging email from daughter of our surgery guest from yesterday.

------ Forwarded Message
From: Michelle
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 2009 23:15:44 -0500
To: Lloyd Hey
Subject: THANK YOU!

Dear Lloyd,

Words cannot express how grateful I am for your professional and personal care toward my dad today. My dad is quite a character (which you will experience over the next few days) and has a heart that is tender and deeper than most men I know. It has pained me throughout the months to see him suffer and to watch his level of activity decline so rapidly. Thank you for spending time with us in clinic last week and for working him into your schedule so quickly.

It has been a pleasure to learn more about you through your website and blog and to see how God has used your accident at 16 years old, your incredibly gifted intellect, and your heart for people to give you this wonderful spine surgery ministry. May God continue to bless you, your family, and your practice.

Thanks again!
Blessings,
Michelle

Monday, November 9, 2009

"Dr. T" and "Dr. Chika" head back to San Francisco, then home to Tokyo

2 or 3 weeks ago, I got an email from “Dr. T”, a physician from Tokyo, Japan that I had fixed his lumbar spine back at Duke Medical Center several years ago. He did great for many years, playing tennis, etc, but over past few months had developed severe clumsiness in both legs, to the point where he was having trouble walking.

A couple weeks ago, after getting up extra early at 4 am, I sipped on cup of coffee, and was answering some patient emails, before going off to exercise. While I was sitting there, up popped email from “Dr. T” -- outlining his progressive troubles. He was surprised that I emailed him right back at 4am! He then emailed me the MRI images that allowed me to see the problem, with two areas of tight pressure / stenosis on thoracic spinal cord above his previous lumbar fusion, which could explain his progressive myelopathy.

I offered to send him the special wrenches that he would need to have surgeons in Tokyo fix it there, or set him up to have surgery with one of my SRS colleagues in San Francisco, where his daughter Dr. “Chika” lives, but he chose “Choice C: Come to Raleigh and have Dr. Hey Fix it.”

Our Hey Clinic team got to work right away to make necessary arrangements.
We even coordinated his return travel to San Franciso to recover at Chika’s home to coincide with the beginning of the North American Spine Society (NASS) meeting, so that my OR nurse Kelly could actually be on same airplane as Dr. T to help with transportation before we knew that Chika could get the time off from work to come out for his surgery, and travel back with him.

When I saw him in clinic last week, it was great to see him again, but his gait was quite bad with severe clumsiness.
His surgery late last week went great, and his walking is already much stronger and more stable.
Today, Chika and Dr. T gave me a couple of generous presents, and we took our picture together with my iPhone before they headed off for the airport at RDU (15-20 minutes away).

Get well soon Dr. T, and keep in touch. Chika: good to see you again, and stay in touch.
Kelly: thanks for being willing to accompany them on the trip out, and enjoy the NASS meeting with Brittany!

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
http://www.heyclinic.com

14 yo Ann gets her wish for a "straight as possible" spine with scoliosis surgery. Tears of concern / Tears of Joy.

First thing this morning, I met with 14 yo Ann and her parents in the preop area at Duke Raleigh Hospital.
Ann had a severe adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).
Ann introduced me to her new little bear, wearing a Duke Raleigh Hospital blue sweater.
She told me that she named her new bear "Lloyd", after me! How cool is that? I felt really special that she would choose to name her bear after me, even using my first name rather than the more formal bear name, "Dr. Hey". Teddy bears I think prefer to be less formal, more personal I guess.

I then asked her this morning: "How straight do you want to be?"
Her answer: "As straight as possible!"
We shook on it, and I promised to get her as straight as I could! She smiled.
After sharing a short (optional!) prayer together, I could see that her dad had a tear in his eye. I shook his hand, and let him know that I would take excellent care of his daughter. With a teenage daughter of my own, I could definitely put myself in his shoes. This is intense stuff. Really important stuff.

As I walked out of preop, and up to round on my patients upstairs, I took a moment to reflect on the way in which I get to connect with my patients and their families each day in such an intense way, discussing big surgeries, getting ready for big surgeries, and seeing love at work between parents and children, spouses, brothers and sisters, and good friends. This is an intense life, sometimes stressful life, but it is very, very real, and very powerful, and very moving. I'm so thankful to have opportunity to serve in this way, and to be involved in this web of relationships that really matter every day.

Her surgery went great, with an awesome correction, very little blood loss, and about 3 hour surgical time.
I used a couple new techniques that I have been perfecting for better screw placement and better correction using some special "pursuader" techniques with simultaneous rod insertion and derotation. These new techniques are really bringing some better corrections. Very Cool. I love to learn and innovate and improve these techniques.

After surgery, I came out to see Ann's mom and dad, and both sets of her grandparents were there as well.
I held up the X-rays shown below, with the before and after so that mom and dad could see them.
I could actually see both of their faces through the X-ray, and I could see that they both began to weep.
Weeping not for concern for their daughter going into surgery, but weeping for joy and relief.

Tears of loving concern.
Tears of joy and relief.

This evening, after my second surgery, I went up and saw Ann and her mom in her room. She's doing great, and gave me a HUGE smile, knowing that her wish had indeed come true: she was indeed "as straight as possible."

Her bear, "Lloyd", was next to her, wearing a surgical mask, and keeping a close eye on her recovery.

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
http://www.heyclinic.com
Check out Scoliosis Research Society (SRS.org) website.

Ann gets her wish for a "straight as possible" spine with scoliosis surgery. Tears of concern / Tears of Joy.

First thing this morning, I met with 14 yo Ann and her parents in the preop area at Duke Raleigh Hospital.

Ann had a severe adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).

Ann introduced me to her new little bear, wearing a Duke Raleigh Hospital blue sweater.

She told me that she named her new bear "Lloyd", after me! How cool is that? I felt really special that she would choose to name her bear after me, even using my first name rather than the more formal bear name, "Dr. Hey". Teddy bears I think prefer to be less formal, more personal I guess.

I then asked her this morning: "How straight do you want to be?"

Her answer: "As straight as possible!"

We shook on it, and I promised to get her as straight as I could! She smiled.

After sharing a short (optional!) prayer together, I could see that her dad had a tear in his eye. I shook his hand, and let him know that I would take excellent care of his daughter. With a teenage daughter of my own, I could definitely put myself in his shoes. This is intense stuff. Really important stuff.

As I walked out of preop, and up to round on my patients upstairs, I took a moment to reflect on the way in which I get to connect with my patients and their families each day in such an intense way, discussing big surgeries, getting ready for big surgeries, and seeing love at work between parents and children, spouses, brothers and sisters, and good friends. This is an intense life, sometimes stressful life, but it is very, very real, and very powerful, and very moving. I'm so thankful to have opportunity to serve in this way, and to be involved in this web of relationships that really matter every day.

Her surgery went great, with an awesome correction, very little blood loss, and about 3 hour surgical time.

I used a couple new techniques that I have been perfecting for better screw placement and better correction using some special "pursuader" techniques with simultaneous rod insertion and derotation. These new techniques are really bringing some better corrections. Very Cool. I love to learn and innovate and improve these techniques.

After surgery, I came out to see Ann's mom and dad, and both sets of her grandparents were there as well.

I held up the X-rays shown below, with the before and after so that mom and dad could see them.

I could actually see both of their faces through the X-ray, and I could see that they both began to weep.

Weeping not for concern for their daughter going into surgery, but weeping for joy and relief.

Tears of loving concern.

Tears of joy and relief.

This evening, after my second surgery, I went up and saw Ann and her mom in her room. She's doing great, and gave me a HUGE smile, knowing that her wish had indeed come true: she was indeed "as straight as possible."

Her bear, "Lloyd", was next to her, wearing a surgical mask, and keeping a close eye on her recovery.

Dr. Lloyd Hey

Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery

http://www.heyclinic.com

Check out Scoliosis Research Society (SRS.org) website.