Trading car advice for medical advice...

[e9Leveque]

I've learned so much from all of you here on the forum over the last 4 months. Everyone has been congenial, informative and thoughtful with their responses, even when my questions reveal my new-ness to all of this. Since I haven't been able to return the favor quite as much, I thought that perhaps I can give back in some other arena in which I am a bit more knowledgeable. When I'm not spending nights and weekends under or inside of this E9, I spend my days as a spine-focused neurosurgeon mainly dealing with patients with back pain, arm pain, leg pain, etc who are considering or having surgery. Since most of you on this forum fall squarely within the general demographic I see in the clinic and the OR (even if only 50% of the population seems to be represented here), I suspect that some of you will have to deal with such problems in the future. So, if there's some issue that's going on for which you have seen a surgeon or are considering surgery, I'm happy to serve as an independent second opinion. I'm only licensed in the states of Washington and Alaska, so I'm not going to say that I'm providing medical consultation. Let's say it's more along the lines of "thoughts from someone with experience". Because just like I see here daily, there are different opinions on how to solve some of these medical problems and sometimes knowing the different options helps you make a more informed decision. Without tooting my own horn (I guess pun intended), I am good at what I do, and I handle everything from the simple outpatient to the complex procedures that are more equivalent to the barn find restorations some of you guys are taking on. So feel free to reach out - send a direct message and we can hop on a call. Just my attempt to pay some of the favor back and have a great Sunday.

JC

 

[CSteve]

JC, a generous and timely offer for many of us square in the demographic bulls eye you describe. I am a firm believer in second and even third opinions based on our experience with back and arm pain issues. Your comment, "...we can hop on a call." reminds me of the time when, along with a fellow E9er, autokunst, we did a run of CSREGISTER grill badges. One of the buyers was a surgeon in Ohio. I am not being sarcastic when I say doctors are truly busy people.

But we were on a deadline, and I had to call the Doctor about his badge:

Me: This is Steve ONeill and I need to speak with Dr. Smith.

Receptionist: I am afraid that is impossible.

Me: Please just tell him it is about the BMW part he ordered, and we are running out of time.

Receptionist: Please hold.

Within 30 seconds: Hi this is John, what's the problem?

I suspect his receptionist knew how important this call was and acted accordingly.

One more Doctor story, please indulge me.

Thirty-five + years ago when our children were younger we were looking for a new Pediatrician. A Dr. Fitzpatrick was highly recommened by all the parents. But I heard his practice was closed. It was Dr. Tom and his nurse-wife Jinke. So I drove over in my 2800CS on a warm summer day and gave it a try anyway. I walked in and asked Jinke if we could join the practice. She said I'm sorry but Tom's practice is closed. At that moment he charged out of his office, asked me if that was my Coupe in his parking lot.
I said yes, he said, Jinke they are now in our practice. He was a BMW/Porsche guy and he knew the sound of a BMW six.