This thread is more of a system to HELP eachother if we have to move (or trade in because of changes in insurance...etc.)

Me. I have a wonderful neurosurgeon who I will reccomend to anyone without hesitation.

His name is Dr. Roman Filipowicz and he works in Indiana (roughly the northern half of the state). He has a great personality and treats his patients with compassion and understanding. I have never seen him in a bad mood. If you need to see one in an emergency, I HIGHLY reccomend him.

Good idea! I live in the UK and I know there's not many of us but anyhow! My current surgeon, Laurence Watkins, is definately the best I've had. He's understanding, doesn't patronise, LISTENS and works with your symptoms rather than going by the textbook. He doesn't fob you off if the answer hasn't been found yet...he wants to resolve things for you, not give up. He also has all the newest gadgets including the NASA infra-red hand-held scanner which can give an indication of blockage/shunt function without x-rays or invasive procedures and the new gravitational shunt which I've just had fitted. He's very jolly and fun to boot. He works from the National Hospital of Neurology in London and I'd recommend him to anyone.

Sounds like you two have some awesome Docs. I wish I was in UK. I wouldn't mind trying out that infrared...

Well, I've been seeing my current neuro in Milwaukee at Froedtert. He's a professor of neurosurgery at Medical College of Wisconsin. I've seen him since my pediatric neuro retired in... 2001 (? -- Hailiesmom, help me on that, would you? Hailie's 1st neuro was Dr. Dunn) he was a GREAT doctor. Fun & easy to talk to. Had his own private practice downtown Milwaukee. Often we talked about (as I got older) the possibility if I could go shuntless or if there was a pill developed to help hydro could I try it...this was before ETV and everything...

In the last year, I found out I CAN NOT go shuntless unless I wanna be falling over myself after 24 hours...my current neuro Dr. Wade Mueller put me through a bunch of tests..and I had my 1st revision in 23 yrs this past August. At 1st I didn't trust Dr. M, but after all this, I'm really glad he waited until he was sure I needed a new shunt. Thats' the only thing about going from your ped neuro to an "adult" neuro...probably general neurosurgeon would be a better word, I guess...he DOES see kids for epilepsy, tumors & stuff, but...anyway...the general/adult neurosurgeon isn't going to really know your case if there's something going on right off the bat like I believe was my case all this time....

I don't know how I got so lucky to get to see mine because he doesn't normally accept chilren.(I was 13) What can I say, he's great!

This is a great idea.

First the good we've seen: Dr. Ann Ritter (our favorite) who is currently only working at Dupont hospial something-or-other in Wilmington, DE for one week per month though.

So far we love Dr. Myseros at Children's National Medical Center as well, though he has not performed any of Becca's surgeries - we're new here and hopefully she will not be needing any!

The Bad: This comes from the mouth of a doctor, though I do not have any personal experience with him: Dr. Magram of Inova-Fairfax is a kind, great man - but is a BUTCHER. Supposedly he sticks shunt peices in very odd places that can be dangerous to nerves. etc (like FACE!) - and leaves some awful scars.

I think I would rather have a jerk for a NS that does things well and neat, than a nice butcher - how about you? Our original referral was to him from our insurance . .. and I QUICKLY got that changed.

Peace,
Kathleen

We have been so happy with our ns. He is Dr. John Treves at Midwest Neurosurgery. We met him before Megs was born and he has never made a decision I have felt uncomfortable with or like I wasn't a part of. He has called us when he isn't on call to check on us, called us on his way home to answer questions after being in surgery all day, hugged me when I was a devastated mommy, remembered our names every visit, and talks to Jack too. The office staff there (esp. Dr. T's scheduling clerk) is excellent too. Sara (the sch. clerk) remembered my name the first time we went there! She is great. There have been 2 other ns's that have taken care of Megs when Treves was out of town. Dr. Puccioni was also excellent and is in the same office as Treves. I don't remember the other guy's name cause he was just covering for the weekend and only did an externalization. He was really nice though and waited to do surgery at my request because he looked so tired I didn't want him cutting on my daughter. He came back the next day looking much better and then did surgery. I haven't heard any bad names around here... but I don't like the way Dr. Hellbusch spoke to me. He is supposed to be "the" doctor to see, but he is rude. I also think he is retiring. I have heard many more doctors NOT to see as far as neurologists. We love our neuro though. Dr. Pavkovic is great. His office staff needs work, but at least his nurse is nice.

about Ms (yes she is married) Maixner and her predecessor, Mr Klug. I have had one other neurosurgeon who performed my first shunt replacement while we were in Canada, but I was only three then, and so can't remember his (I think?) name. Both Ms M and Mr Klug have been fairly reliable, although I wonder whether Mr Klug's skills were not quite so sharp when he performed his last operation (unless he allowed another intern to do the op, but I don't know).

They are both/have been fairly blunt and to the point, which at times does not inspire a lot of hope for the future ( ), but I guess that is necessary. Better to be blunt and to the point than tell a lie. I think part of the problem may be that they are not that acquainted to talking to adult patients, which may require a different tack than the one they normally use.

The main thing is that Ms M can do her job, and do it well, which she seems to be able to do, seeing I have not had any surgery in nearly 6 years - keeping my fingers crossed!

Nat.

Great thread!

We've been very happy with Dr. David Frim at the University of Chicago. Great bedside manner, always has plenty of time to discuss concerns/questions--even on busy days. He actually spent over an hour with us at a pre-op appt and 45 min going over post-op scans. We also like his partner Dr. Curry, although he's not done any of Molly's surgeries we have seen him in the hospital.

LOVE our neuro Dr. Kohrman also at the University of Chicago. Its hard to get an initial appt with him though. It took us about 4 months, but well worth the wait. We like our neuro and ns so much we plan to travel to continue seeing them despite our relocating out of state.

The bad...Dr. Oliver a ped neuro. He always treated us like we knew nothing about our daughter and he didn't seem to care what our opinions were.

Lori

Absolutely travel out of state to see a doctor you like. I think that is the way things are going for me because I haven't been told otherwise. Heck, I am thankful that things "cooled down" neurologically for me douring the gas price "spikes"!

My nsg, whom I have known all my life, is 2 hours away from me, in MA. I would never see anyone else as long as he's practicing (although he's ~75 yo or so, so I don't know how much longer that'll be ). If you get a nsg you trust, wherever s/he is, count your blessings and stick with them!


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