Problems with Joshua Prager UCLA
 

haven't posted in awhile. i've been dealing with the monster lately. my SCS has begun to shock me, they have tried to reprogram it for hours on end. and my doctor and Medtronics Rep ended up throwing their arms up, saying there was nothing else they could do for me. Now my stimulator is off. my father is very upset with this. and wants to know if anybody else has had an issue like this? especially with Medtronics implants and having Joshua Prager from UCLA do the surgery. i'd love everybody's input.

I am so sorry you have had such problems with Prager and you SCS. Unfortunately you are not alone. Please see the discussion below.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...timulator+CRPS

For additional information you may do an advanced search of failed SCS and CRPS.

You are so young to be dealing with this. How long did your SCS work? Have you considered less invasive treatments? A second opinion might be in order, particularly if your SCS needs to be removed. If so you will need to take precautions to prevent additional spread.

Take care and hoping better days are ahead for you.

thank you. my scs worked on my upper body for about 4 months. i have seen doctors all over the country and we thought prager was a good choice. i also have a baclofen pump. as of now we do not want the stimulator removed because of the fear of spreading.

I had a consult with Praeger for Ketamine, where he pushed the SCS. I honestly don't trust him. He made claims that just didn't add up, and I felt there was some stretching of the truth at the very least.

Did you simply have the implant? Or did you go through his 30 day program with all the extra bells and whistles?

He does offer Ketamine on an out patient basis, thought he did not volunteer this info. He said my insurance would never approve Ketamine--period. I've just been approved for a Ketamine trial by my insurance... ;) Although I'm not sure I'd have him do it.

He is supposed to be an expert. I liked him in person. But many patients have lots of complaints. His resident warned me to not get offended by his ego (more or less) before he walked in the room.

SCS is great if all goes well--and it works well for many. It is a major gamble, though...

How many blocks did you have, btw?

I did his "program" for six weeks. i have been in many programs, including the children's boston hospital program. and his program was a complete joke. He has the biggest ego I have ever seen, once again i have seen a lot of doctors. We went in wanting ketamine also, he pushed scs. I did end up receiving a round of out patient ketamine from him, and it ended up making me very sick. Then we went on with the SCS, the worst decision we ever made. I have had 10 blocks total and 7 of them from him. Congrats :) on the approval for ketamine!! I wish you the best of luck with that!

Good luck with your ketamine infusions!! Check out the Ketamine Klub on FB - there is an updated list of docs. You may not want to let a doc you are not comfortable with administer your ketamine....

Xoxox. Sandy

Thanks Sandy. I see my doc next week and we've discussed other options on who to use for Ketamine previously. I probably will choose someone else. I do believe Praeger is a skilled doc, and that's the rub... I can deal with his ego, but I do need to trust docs I work with, and I might be beyond the point of no return with him... He did pick up a few things no other doc had ever before, so in some ways he did impress me. Sigh.

For the OP, this reminds me, fmichael talked about USC starting to offer Ketamine a month or so back. I'm not sure if they offer the SCS or not.

Ketamine and insurance
 

How are you able to get insurance to cover ketamine infusions? We've tried and not succeeded. We have BC/BS Personal Choice in Pennsylvania, who do you have. Thanks.

My wife was approved about 5 years ago using BCBS CareFirst. She received her ketamine treatment at GW Hospital in Washington DC. Her doctor was Dr. Chin.