Thursday 19th November: 6 days to go
I held back today, and bought time for more online research and also to try and speak to a couple of Wooridul patients who had the same TLIF surgery. I was called in the morning by Wooridul, as requested, with two names and numbers…
Patient Ambassadors, they're called.
Female patient
Had surgery in May 2015: TLIF on L4/L5
She is in her 50s, and has had a spine surgery 35 years ago due to an accident.
The end result was totally satisfactory, but she has some residual pain, which she feels is because of her previous surgery which needed realignment done this time.
She had the surgery at Saudi German Hospital with Dr Patrick Choi, and Dr Shim. The attending specialist nurse was Sunny (who was fantastic). Sunny was around all the time and made all the difference “marvellous”. She said the Wooridul team were amazing.
The SGH staff were not really the best – the nurses were distant and almost uncaring. It made a difference having someone with her through the time, but her husband was at work so wasn’t there always.
She was in there for 2 nights and was released on the 3rd day after surgery in the morning on a Friday. The surgery itself for her was painful, and debilitating, but she was expecting that. Five months post-op she does have some nerve related pain and stiffness – simple tests become difficult, but your body learns to adapt and relearn. And anyways, her case is different because she had a similar open surgery many years ago and has always had back problems. She is clear: the surgery does not fix your back, it finds ways of managing the pain and making it better.
Immediately post op, it is uncomfortable and the effects of anesthesia are somewhat overpowering. You are given a PCA (Patient Controlled) painkiller which is morphine and she just did not take kindly to it – it made her nauseous. She relied instead on Voltaren muscular injections which is given on-demand. On release from hospital, you are only given Panadol, antibiotics and Nexium.
As soon as the bleeding stops, possibly on night two, post op, they literally “yank” the two pumps out. That IS painful, because their pipes are deep embeded and it hurts a lot pulling out. The team will want you walking down the hall from the very next day, and the nurse helps. You still have a catheter for peeing. Your release date really depends on when the bleeding stops, and the pumps are out.
Walking is difficult, and she suggested an SUV for pickup. The staff take you to the car in a wheelchair. You have to be really careful getting in and out. You HAVE to wear the brace provided.
She was told to wear the brace for 3 months, but it was uncomfortable, so she got a different one after 5 weeks and wore that instead. The brace is important.
You will need to go see Dr Shim after 10 days and he will start you on 15 sessions of Physio. The Physio team is trained in Korea and are very, very good.
At home, the first few days (and weeks) getting in and out of bed, you have to use the ‘log roll’ method. There is no other way, or you will cause pain and damage.
Overall, she highly recommends Wooridul – they were fantastic. Dr Shim is very quiet and hardly ever speaks, but he does exactly as he says, and their whole team is based on Precision and doing exactly what is needed and what’s right.
Male patient
Had surgery at SGH at age 71. Surgery took 5 ½ hours even though was supposed to be only 4.5 hrs but he is a big guy. Had same TLIF surgery in March 2015. He seems English.
Had tried injections and many other alternatives, and finally heard of Wooridul through a hospital inspector who said that they were THE BEST i spine surgeries, so he went there.
The surgery was done by Dr Shim and Dr Choi. He thought Dr Shim has excellent bedside manners once he opened up, and a good sense of humor.
He felt better from Day 1 and has never looked back. He had minimal pain and discomfort but all his back problems have just gone. He stayed for 3 nights. They pulled his two drains out and that made it quite comfortable and then they let him go home anyways. He was driven all the way to his daughter’s home near Abu Dhabi and had no problems.
He had an attack of gout, post op, but Dr Shim explained that was because his nerves were now beginning to feel again.
He is on a full regimen of exercises with a personal trainer, and his work requires a lot of walking every day, and he is absolutely pain free. He can bend, lift etc no problems.
He wore the brace for 3 months and did not have a problem. Adjusted to it and got used to it and feels it actually helped him.
He said the Doctors, and particularly the nurse Sunny was fantastic. The SGH team were ‘poor’ and uncaring and almost unprofessional. It did help having his wife and daughter around.
The Physio sessions were amazing (trained in Korea) and it really helped his rehab. Overall, his recovery from the pain and discomfort was quick and the surgery very successful. He says if Dr Shim says he will fix you, he will do so, no questions. They are the best.
He has no pain now, no regrets and says in conclusion “The Koreans are miracle workers”.
Terrence requested that I call him and update him on “how well my op went”. He has cats.
Sunny the nurse called...
Asked how I was doing, and if I had decided or not. She asked me to text her latest by Saturday morning if I am going ahead. She has also put me down for Dec 9th just in case. She wounded amazing.
She has seen my reports and told me that Physio, electrotherapy were non options because my case was advanced. She said it was important that I go ahead and get it done sooner than later. She also assured me that in most cases the doctors try and avoid surgery, so if other conventional therapies would have helped they would have said so without a doubt.
She also was aware of my concerns with Saudi German. She says she would be there for me, and, while yes, SGH were quite bad during Dr Lalonde (she remembers him), they have improved a lot. But she will be there as well as the doctors.
Fadi Salameh texted
after speaking to his Paris doctor again, who agreed that TLIF was the way to go. He also said to ask if I really needed the ‘cage’ put in...
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