If you believe in excellent medical care with personal attention provided
by an experienced and world renowned surgeon and his caring staff, you
have found the right clinic! Our goal is to give personalized, top quality
medical care to each and every patient. Unlike other clinics, we do not
overbook our schedule for office visits or surgeries. PATIENTS ARE NOT
JUST A NUMBER TO US. WE STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT EACH AND EVERY PATIENT DESERVES
PROPER TIME AND CARE... [more]
The patients in the Testimonials list below have had the
same procedure displayed in the video above.
January 11, 2003
Today is the third anniversary of my three-level cervical endoscopic
discectomy (CED), which was performed by Dr. Schiffer near San Jose,
California. Prior to surgery I had radiating pain down my left arm,
electrical shock pains down my left arm, frequent numbness and tingling
in my left arm and hand, constant muscle spasm pain and tenderness
in my upper back, some pain in my neck, and some numbness and tingling
in my right arm and hand. My pain ranged from a 3 to an 8. I infrequently
dropped things and had lost hand strength in my left hand. My cervical
problems affected every part of my life and I was having tremendous
difficulty in performing my job and home activities.
I can still remember what my local neurosurgeon told me before
I had the CED surgery: "You will be back in three months begging
for an ACDF." Well, he was wrong. Scarcely a day goes by that
I am not grateful that I pursued my gut instincts and had a CED
instead of an ACDF. This is the main reason why i have remained
on the forum: I feel a responsibility to share my success in choosing
an alternative to fusion.
The good news . . . I got my life back. I live a relatively normal
life with only sporadic bouts of muscle pain. I work fifty hours
a week at one full-time and two part-time jobs. I drive about three
hundred miles per week. I walk about five miles per week and plan
to walk more this year. I have no pain, numbness, or tingling in
my neck, arms, or hands, except for a slight feeling of deadness
at the very tips of my fingertips. I have no scars on my neck.
The bad news . . . if I overdo or ignore my restrictions, I end
up with muscle pain between my shoulder blades and occasionally
down my entire back. Usually the muscle spasm pain is minor and
I use ice or an inferential machine. However, I have had three bad
bouts of muscle pain going down my entire back since surgery, two
of them this year. The first bout was about two months post op and
occurred after I spent two days at an overcrowded conference, sitting
in a narrow chair with little back support, surrounded by others
and unable to move much. The second bout came after I went on vacation
and rented an economy car with poor suspension and then proceed
to bump and lurch over unpaved mountain roads. The third bout came
after I flew back from Europe in coach and sat for about twelve
hours barely able to move. Each time muscle relaxants, my inferential
machine, and massage have been able to end the muscle spasms. I
have not needed pain relievers.
All in all, I consider my surgery to be a great success. Faced
with the same situation, I would choose to have the surgery with
the same surgeon again. However, I do not feel that I am 100% recovered
from my spinal injury and believe that few spinal patients do recover
completely, regardless of surgery or treatment. Spinal surgery should
usually be a last resort and one should investigate all options,
non-surgical and surgical, before making a decision. Artificial
disc replacement and endoscopic surgery will become much more available
in the next few years, and hopefully, spinal patients will consider
these options prior to deciding on fusion surgery.
