Surgery

[Crys86]

It has been decided that I have severe overcrowding in the foramen magnum, he believed my CSF wasn't flowing very well through there. My questions and concerns..

Okay.. I'm scared. Like pee my pants scared :(. Do a lot of people die from this surgery? Or have really bad problems? What are some things I need to look for after the surgery to indicate something may be wrong? What should I not do after surgery, or try to do that will help recovery?

My surgery is December 19 @ Piedmont Atlanta. It will be performed by Dr. Wray of Atlanta Brain and Spine Care. (I know he is also doing Mrs. June's on here in September). I have to wait til December because I'm eligible for STD at work in Dec and I can't just run off and have surgery before that without any other sort of income. (Single mom of a toddler). How long before I can go back to work on average?

[selmaS]

  I was a HR manager b4 I had my surgery so I had to deal with the forms for other employees so I know the drill...lol... each state may be diff and each employer can apply the use of the terms differently too...some add it on after all STD is used, while others start at day one of STD and count from there,

And if they do not have a certain # of employees they do not have to follow these guidelines for FMLA.

SO always talk to ur HR rep.

[The_Marine_Corp_Brat]

Selma is right about the hours, I forgot to add that part, thanks! Brain fog gets me every day! Thank you so much for the information on the Dr. I will look it up in a minute! I have family that lives there I could stay with so that would work out great! I am actually receiving long term disability through the company I worked for. You do need to read there policy and see if the cost is actually worth it or not, for me it was, I started on their short term and then had to go to the long term....thank God I had decided to purchase it! I had to jump through a few hoops here and there but they have only given me a few problems, and most of those are just requesting information or letters from my doctor's assuring them that not only am I disabled enough that I can't do my job I was doing but am now disabled enough that I can't do any job. I have heard horror stories about some long term disability co. But so far mine has been pretty good. I hate that Selma had issues with hers, the problem is the laws in most states are geared for the co. Not the individual that's suffering, I deal with that with a different company.

[selmaS]

  Hi,,, FMLA is 12 rolling months b4 u apply but 1250 hours so if u work full time and ur employer fits the criteria to offer this u still may qualify, so do ask.

  Do not look into LDT as it is a waste of money, I had it and was denied it 2x's and u can not fight it as it is a federal case, and would cost more to fight then I could get...and I paid into it for 15 yrs....

As for what to expect we do have a list in the Health Pages, and ur Dr will tell u what they do as all of them do things differently.

So look to the Health Pages for tips for the hospital stay.....

  As long as u had all ur testing b4 surgery u should be ok, u have to trust ur Dr that he is monitoring all of ur vitals along with ur nerves during this surgery so  the outcome is to ur benefit.

Check out the Health Pages  http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/list?cid=186

[Crys86]

December will be a year for me... :(. December 21, and they wont let me take it since my surgery is before that. So I guess I'm just going to take my Med leave then go back to work in 6 weeks, if I fall apart after that take my short term disability or something.

Dr. Wray is in Atlanta yes, beside Piedmont hospital. He is a really nice surgeon to talk to. He listens and doesn't come in on his high horse and have rude demeanor about him or act like you're insane. He always says to me "well let's go look at your films together." And points out where my problems are and shows me what everything is, answers all my questions, and schedules whatever tests I feel I need. His website is here:

http://www.atlantabrainandspine.com/subject.php?pn=steven-wray

[The_Marine_Corp_Brat]

I wish I had the answers to your surgery questions! I don't, however the dr you were talking about is in Atlanta GA? I live in AL and was looking for one nearby, may send him my info. Why will it be December until your STD kicks in? have you recently started this job? You do know that after a year on the job you also get FMLA. I will get back to that in a sec. Do you also have LTD? If not you may want to ask your job for FMLA paper work but have it filled out so that it does not run concurrent with the long or short term disability, the reason is if they run concurrent with each other and you need that time off toward the end you may not have it. Now FMLA id time off without pay but you are entitled to it by Federal law if you have worked somewhere for a year and they have to hold your position or one comparable to it for you. It will also allow for days when you do return to work if you start feeling bad and just need to go home early but are out of leave time they have to let you use FMLA time with no penalty to you. I know it's hard with a little one especially when your single! I will be praying for you! And I will see if I can find out any more info for you!