Jan. 1, 2008
Dear Dr. Hey,
This time last year, I had never heard of you or the Hey Clinic. One year later, if I were asked to list the very best Christmas gifts I have ever received, the gift of good posture would be at the top of that list. This most wonderful gift was from you! Your incredible understanding of the angles of the spine combined with your very capable hands is nothing short of a miracle to me.
I am thrilled anew each morning when I check in the mirror to make sure I am still straight! I am also able to walk again which had always been one of my most enjoyable activities but one which had become so hard for me I had given it up. After my first spinal surgery in 2005, I had become bent forward at a very uncomfortable angle. I would try so hard to straighten up (my family was constantly reminding me) and would think I was perfectly straight but if I checked I would see an old bent-over woman. When I walked, it was no longer something I could do spontaneously but seemed to require thought to put one foot in front of the other. This feeling is the hardest for me to describe but I can tell you that walking was no longer pleasurable.
My family and friends recognized my distress at this most unfortunate change in my posture so not one photograph was ever taken of me in profile that would show how really terrible I looked. My husband, who photographs absolutely everything that goes on in our life, admits now that he refrained from filming my posture because he feared it would upset me. Everywhere I went, I would watch everyone around me walking so effortlessly and so straight and would think that I had lost this ability forever. Now my husband and I are once again “mall walkers” and getting faster and walking further each day.
We had talked with several fine spine surgeons in the Atlanta area about my back problems which did include a lot of lower extremity pain and not one had ever addressed the posture problem nor offered any suggestions when I commented on this most important issue. I was unwilling to undergo surgery a second time with only the hope that some of my pain could be alleviated. The memory of the slow, painful recovery plus the possibility in my mind of still more deformity was something I wasn’t interested in. Then friends of ours put us in touch with a former patient of yours, Dr. Cecil Bendush. My husband spoke with him extensively by phone and a small ray of hope began to emerge. I was still prepared to be disappointed once again as we made the trip to Raleigh for our consultation with you. How very wrong I was!
You and Jaclyn explained so thoroughly everything concerning the spine: then you examined me and said those magic words, “I can solve all three of your problems and you will once again be straight……in one operation”. After a thorough discussion, I trusted you completely and I never once wavered in the weeks before my surgery. And you did what you said you would do! I AM straight again and I can never thank you enough. The only thing I can do is offer advice to others in similar situations to know that there is help for this problem. Already a friend of one of my sisters is keeping up with my progress through second-hand reports and I’ll be talking with her soon. She lives in Texas, but like me, would be willing to travel any distance to be properly treated. Thank Thank you so very much for your gift to me and I hope you and your family had a most wonderful Christmas with lots of time to relax with no emergency surgeries or similar interruptions.
Sincerely,
Carolyn
Alpharetta, Georgia
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Carolyn’s Nov 1 2007 Blog Entry with X-Rays:
http://drlloydhey.blogspot.com/2007/11/hey-clinic-surgery-nov-1-carolyns.html
Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
Raleigh, NC - USA
http://www.HeyClinic.com
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