Fwd: Thank you - from young lady who had revision kyphoscoliosis surgery and scar revision

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Amy
Date: Thu, May 29, 2014 at 5:30 AM
Subject: Thank you
To: Lloyd Hey

I never thought i'd be confident again while putting my hair up and having a bare back. The work you did on my back was incredible, but the scar was a gift. My old scar never even began to heal, and only 7 months later this scar looks incredible. I wear it with pride. Thank you so much for all you do every day.

-Amy

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I did a complex revision kyphoscoliosis surgery for Amy last year, and also revised her surgical scar at the same time, which is discussed on this blog:  
http://drlloydhey.blogspot.com/2013/09/revision-kyphoscoliosis-surgery-for.html

Thanks for sharing Amy!! Your back is looking awesome!

While the majority of the scoliosis and kyphosis surgery we do for children adolescents and adults is primary surgery, I also perform revision deformity surgery when patients are not satisfied with the surgical correction of the deformity and/or if there is ongoing pain or progressive deformity or hardware loosening/breakage or adjacent level failure.  Last week, for example, I revised a scoliosis surgery on a young lady who had scoliosis surgery in Colorado for a thoracolumbar curve, and had collapse in her thoracic area above the curve, and has significant residual deformity.  I was able to correct the upper curve, and also took apart the fusion below using bone wedge osteotomies, and was able to get a very nice correction, 6 years after her original surgery.

This morning I am helping a 14 yo with a 63 degree scoliosis -- a primary surgery, and we will be using our latest techniques to get her the best possible correction, best scar / incision appearance and get her through this large surgery minimizing blood loss, and other potential complications. 

Dr. Lloyd Hey

Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery

http://www.heyclinic.com

Friday Thank You Notes & Videos

Today we saw almost twenty patients at the Hey Clinic, and we are glad everyone is doing very well! We want to thank everyone for coming in and share with you some testimonials. Everyone had wonderful things to say about Duke Raleigh Hospital and their care. We are always grateful for all the nurses and staff at the hospital who help Dr. Hey with his surgeries and patients' recoveries. 

Over $500 Donated to SRS & 6 Gift Baskets Donated for our Young Scoliosis Patients

Emily had scoliosis surgery with us six years ago, back in 2008 when she was 12 years old. She had a 47 degree thoracolumbar curve and had a T5-L3 instrumentation and fusion with thoracic and lumbar pedicle screw instrumentation. This month, Emily will be graduating from high school, and we are flattered that she chose to include the Hey Clinic with her senior project.

Emily posing with her scoliosis gift baskets and Dr. Hey at the Hey Clinic.  

Emily held a fundraiser where her Bluegrass band performed to raise money for adolescent scoliosis patients at the Hey Clinic and the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS). She put together beautiful gift baskets for several of our adolescent scoliosis surgeries this summer. It could not have come at a better time, as we are always very busy over the summer months taking care of many of our younger scoliosis patients who have just finished the school year.

Emily performing during her fundraiser with her Bluegrass band. 

Click her to access Emily's CD and listen to her music

Emily filled the baskets with cross word puzzles, magazines, scar cream, stuffed animals, journals, and more! In addition, she also made a substantial donation to SRS to help fund scoliosis research. After collecting over $1000, Emily used $500 for the pediatric scoliosis baskets and donated $500 to Scoliosis Research Society (SRS)!

It is incredible to know that even after six years and after having surgery at such a young age, Emily still comes back to the Hey Clinic to visit. We could not have asked for a better Tuesday afternoon treat than seeing Emily and her mother! Thank you again for everything you have done!

 Emily and Dr. Hey discussing her gift baskets and SRS donation. 

Below is Dr. Hey’s blog post the day after Emily’s surgery back in 2008. 

>> http://drlloydhey.blogspot.com/2008/06/12-yo-emily-goes-home-from-hospital.html <<

“This past couple of weeks has been very busy caring for many of our younger scoliosis patients who have just recently gotten out of school. This past Wednesday, we cared for 12 yo Emily and her family. Emily had a 47 degree thoracolumbar curve, and got an excellent correction of her curve. Preop she had quite a crew here, including her parents, grandparents, pastor and his wife. The pastor led all of us in a wonderful prayer before surgery. Emily’s surgery went very smoothly, completing a T5-L3 instrumentation and fusion with thoracic and lumbar pedicle screw instrumentation. Her surgery took a little over three hours, and we were able to spare 3 discs below her fusion, based on preop bending films and intraoperative findings. As shown in X-Rays above, her correction is close to 100 percent, with the lower discs also leveling off nicely. Her estimated blood loss (EBL) was 1100 cc, and 500 cc was returned to her with the cell saver machine. She did not require blood transfusion. Her mom and dad and family were totally psyched to see her preop/postop X-Ray comparison right after surgery. They greeted Emily a couple hours after surgery up in their large private room, where the family stayed with her for the 3 nights in the hospital. Emily’s posture is excellent, with complete removal of the thoracic and lumbar “humps”. Her torso is in excellent balance, and she looks about 2 inches taller! Emily went home this morning with her parents, doing very well.

Best wishes, Emily, for a speedy recovery!”

Friday Thank You's

We had a great Friday here at the Hey Clinic. Thank you to everyone for sharing your stories! We had a lot of recovery testimonials that I am happy to be able to share below. Different ages, surgeries, and stages of recovery, but all are doing well, and we wish them the best!

Hannah, 5 years after 53 degree scoliosis surgery with new blog and thankful for better quality of life and posture.

www.scoliotastic.blogspot.com has left a new comment on your post "Word for the day: "Beautiful":

Dear Dr. Hey,

It has been 5 years today since I had my surgery. I am feeling more grateful than ever for you and your amazing team. You truly changed my life.

God Bless,
Mary Hannah

Posted by www.scoliotastic.blogspot.com to The Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery at May 14, 2014 at 7:50 PM

Below is a copy of Mary Hannah's blog following her surgical recovery over the past five years. 

"Today marks five years since I had my scoliosis surgery.  I am eternally grateful to Dr. Hey and his team for their incredible work.  Most days, I don't even remember that I had the surgery.  I am reminded only by the faint scar on my back, by minor pain when I sit in church pews since they simply hit my back in the wrong place, and by metal detectors in airports. Otherwise, I am fully functional.

I walked four miles today.  Five years ago, I could not even walk to classes at Duke a few hundred yards from my dorm without experiencing excruciating pain and terrible shortness of breath.  My experience has been truly amazing, and I thank God every day that I have been given the opportunity to live as I live now.  I am so incredibly blessed."

Patient Sends Pictures from Recent Trip to Peru

Taylor, our 19-year-old patient had surgery last August 2013 to correct her scoliosis curve. Barely seven months after surgery, she took a ten day trip to Peru. Taylor, we are glad to see you had a great time! Thanks for sharing your pictures!

Dr Hey,

I want to share with you a few pics from my trip to Peru! It was March 25- April 6- I had an amazing time! There were so many blessings on this trip!  Thank you for fixing my back! :)

Love,

Taylor

How Does Dr. Hey Place Hardware into a Patient’s Back?

Leslie joined us at the Hey Clinic today for his 6 month post-op visit. In 2013, he had a partial removal of hardware and T11- iliac wing revision extension instrumentation and fusion surgery. During the visit, Leslie asked how Dr. Hey actually did his surgery, prompting Dr. Hey to pull out several spine and hardware models for a closer look.

They discussed how and where his screws are placed in the pedicle hole in the spine, and about how Dr. Hey calculated the angles the screws should be placed at. Furthermore, Leslie inquired about the rods and the special tools Dr. Hey used to contour the rods in the surgical room, in order to achieve the proper sway.

We hope this video will help anyone with similar questions to Leslie’s!

Below are Leslie’s x-rays, so that you may get a better look at his hardware placement.

Leslie gave us permission to use this video and his x-rays on the Hey Clinic blog.

6 Weeks After Surgery- What does the Recovery from Scoliosis look like on Someone with Friedreich’s Ataxia?

Mary: “Hi, I’m Mary, and I just had my back fused. I’m doing pretty good. I’m taller and I’m feeling pretty good, so thanks to all the nurses and Dr. Hey.”

Mary’s Father: “And I would like to thank Dr. Hey and his staff and everybody at the Hospital at Duke Raleigh. It was great, and it went much better than I thought it might. We were very pleased.”

24 year old Mary came to the Hey Clinic about a year ago with Friedreich’s ataxia, progressive scoliosis, and back and neck pain.  She was first diagnosed with scoliosis at age 9, but over the past 8 years, her scoliosis progressed almost 5 degrees/year. At the time of her surgery, 6 weeks ago, she had a C6-T7 curve measuring 40 degrees and a 52 degree curve from T7-L3. In addition, her kyphosis measured 72 degrees. It was great seeing Mary back in the office today! Below are Mary's pre-op and post-op x-rays. 

Mary gave us permission to use her testimonial for educational purposed on the Hey Clinic blog.

17 year old Corbyn – underwent scoliosis surgery for a 50 degree T6-L2 curve and a 5 cm trunk shift

Three days after her scoliosis surgery, Corbyn, a 17 year old dancer and athlete from Granite Quarry, NC, was sitting up taller and straighter in her hospital room. With the support of her family, I met Corbyn as she was preparing for her two-hour trip back home. This sparked my interest in how often and how far families will travel for the right medical care. For several years, Corbyn’s doctor monitored her growing curve.  However, it was not until Corbyn’s mother noticed her daughter’s rapidly increasing trunk shift that she sought out a second opinion and came across Dr. Hey online. They initially made the trip because of Dr. Hey’s credentials, but chose to remain under his care after the encouraging words and compassionate care of the Hey Clinic team. Shortly after her surgery, Corbyn and her mother were already amazed by her significantly straightened posture. As a high school senior, whose dancing and cheerleading required Corbyn to find unique ways to center her balance, her family is very excited about how her surgery will transform her sense of balance. Everyday at the Hey Clinic, we are fortunate to meet families who will make the trip to Raleigh, NC. We are grateful to always be inspired by families like Corbyn’s who remain optimistic and will travel the distance to receive medical care from Dr. Hey and his team. 

Jennifer Sends Photographs of her Cruise, 6 Months after Surgery

Our 62 year old patient sent us pictures of her most recent cruise vacation. 6 months ago, she had a T3 to iliac wing revision extension instrumentation and fusion surgery to correct her PJK (Proximal junctional kyphosis) at 47 degrees. She is looking great, and we are very glad to see she is having a wonderful time!