Despite some of the repetitive criticism of Dr. Jho (including those who have never seen him) he did a great job for me. I can't recommend him enough IF you have the type of condition that he specializes in correcting.

The front office IS a little weak and slow but they get calls non-stop. Once I established a relationship with them the communications were no longer an issue.

I flew to Pittsburgh thinking that I was going to have a 3 level cervical surgery based on MRI films only. After I met with Dr. Davidovitch, (Jho's assistant until 9/1/08) and went over my actual symptoms, we re-thought the idea. After reviewing the MRIs and symptoms with Jho and Davidovitch we decided to stay conservative and only do one level. The reasoning was that he might be able to open the canal enough on one side to relieve subsequent compression. The downside was that I might have to come back. That fit my philosophy in advancing slowly and hitting the big spots first.

Dr. Jho IS very brief but that's because he doesn't need to ponder what he's doing and he's not paid to hold hands. I know others don't appreciate that approach but I certainly do. I could tell he was someone whom I needn't question.

I was concerned about intubation side affects do to a GERD/LPR issue. I was told to discuss it with the anesthesiologists, which I did, and they added a little more steroid to the mix. I really had minimal intubation issues - I ate the pork chop that was served for dinner as testimony!

In fact, after surgery, the main problem was urinating which is side effect of the anesthesia. I really had to go but I just dribbled.... It resolved itself the next day. Just drink lots of fluids to flush it out of your kidneys - stupid advice if you can't pee but eventually it does work. ( My sister's take on this was "you had spinal surgery and your main complaint is that you dribble...? Must have been good drugs! (Except I NEVER took a Percocet even though they gave me a jar of them. ))

Anyhow, the surgery was a success and I could sleep on my right side for the first time in years. I never had great pain, just nasty paresthesia, and it's going away. I also feel my muscles are waking up as the re-innervation continues. I was up and walking right after I recovered. Each day gets better and there's no bed rest - NONE! (Just no swimming for couple of weeks to keep water from soaking into the incision.)

I AM SO GLAD I NEVER HAD A FUSION or a laminectomy! I'll do this procedure over and over if I have to. Eventually I might have to have a fusion or an ADR but I'm sure I bought myself years of relief before I ever have to do radical surgery. Since I'm an active old guy that means a lot to me.

Also, Allegheny General Hospital treats Jho's patients with TLC. He and Dr. Jannetta are like rock stars there. Jho's patients get private rooms as part of the contract he negotiated with AGH when they wooed him away from PITT. That's a nice perk that he didn't have to do. It's more than just statistics...

I do agree that it's too bad that more docs don't know the technique. As younger deans come in to the med schools I think we'll see a jump in scope procedures and a slide in knife procedures. These young docs grew up with scopes so they're comfortable with what they're doing. Let's hope it spreads quickly.