Donald Lively

When the "warranty" on my creaky old spine expired, and the Kaiser spine surgeon said it's time to start carving, this patient decided to see what the "literature" had to say about less troublesome or painless ways of solving the problem.  The term "minimally invasive surgery" kept popping up. It soon became apparent, that the term had many meanings... all the way from promises of "walk-in, walk-out" surgery to "special and unique instruments no other spine practice possessed."

With a number of spine surgery practices around the U.S. finally led me to Dr. Lieberson — the first and only doctor who was not immediately ready to get out the endoscope, laser and scalpel.

Two lengthy consultations, in which he described his strategy for treating lumbar spinal stenosis, revealed the following:

1. Epidural steroid injections
2. Physical therapy
3. Acupuncture

...and only when none of these worked, was surgery an option.

What was really impressive though, was Dr. Lieberson's final recommendation to me — "Don, if the Endocet is containing your pain and facilitating a reasonable quality of life, stick with it as long as you can — you've already tried 1, 2, and 3 — and I can't guarantee surgery will always fix a problem like yours."

So, finally, when the Endocet does began letting too much pain slip in, Doctor Lieberson was willing to consult again about the other options – including offering his support of the new minimally invasive "X-Stop" procedure (the tiny titanium device inserted between disks to relieve nerve pressure — and, not being used in place of some of the traditional spine procedures with less sure outcomes).

Best of all, Doctor Rob respects and accepts the "studied and thoughtful input" of patients — figuring, I guess, that every doctor can't stay on top of everything medical... and, that perhaps "patient input" is worth considering. Not every doctor does this type of "listening".

Donald Lively