Dr. Wong recently attended the Macnab Orthopedic Research Society meeting in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, whose members are orthopedic surgeons who did a fellowship with Dr. Ian Macnab.

At the scientific portion of the meeting, members present some of their research, discuss unusual cases and present topics of interest to them. Dr. Wong gave a talk on head and neck fractures and dislocations from his experience as an American College of Surgeons Advanced Trauma Life Support Instructor. Another Macnab Fellow, Dr. Terry Trammel, was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame last year for his efforts in enhancing safety for Indy Car and Formula 1 racing. Terry (a former Chief Medical Officer for the Indianapolis 500) was instrumental in developing the cockpit protection system, head and neck restraints, and tire tethers (to prevent tires flying into the crowd after crashes) that have significantly reduced deaths and injuries in high-speed motorsport racing.

One of the most interesting talks was by Dr. Gordon Crawford from Ontario, who is a Risk Manager for the Canadian Medical Protective Association. He presented data on injuries and deaths from “Pet Trauma.” The most common problem are falls from tripping over pets or being jerked by a leash. The age group most at risk was those over 65. The falls resulted most in wrist fractures, ankle fractures, shoulder fractures and hip fractures respectively. Deaths were in those over 65 who sustained hip fractures where the mortality in that age group is 30%. There were a number of deaths reported from dog and cat bites as well. Recommendations included:

• Small pets only for those over 65
• Short, fixed length leashes (expandable leashes give a dog room to build up momentum and increase the risk of jerking causing shoulder injuries and falls)
• Those over 65 should comply with the World Health Organization recommendations to take Vitamin D 500 mg/day and Calcium 1,000 mg/day supplements to address osteopenia/osteoporosis risk.
• Always ask the owner/handler for permission before petting an animal to avoid bites.

The meeting itinerary included a tour and high tea at Butchart Gardens, which is a national historic site for Canada. The garden is still owned and operated by the Butchart family, and Afternoon High Tea is served in the old family residence. Definitely worth a visit for anyone going to Victoria, British Columbia.

Angie loves kids, which is a good thing since she spends her days as a middle school teacher, and the rest of her time with her three teenage sons. Her family takes adventure to heart - bungee jumping in New Zealand, zip lining in Costa Rica, and hiking volcanoes in Iceland are all par for the course for the Mays. Two years ago, while in Puerto Rica hiking a waterfall, her boys encouraged her to slide down the natural rockslide they had just completed, so she did – and then hit the water too fast and knew she had hurt her neck. Her husband swam out to make sure she was ok, and she had to spend the rest of the vacation in the hotel room.
 
But as this tough mom and teacher does, she soldiered through when she got home. She tried massage, yoga, a chiropractor, but her neck hurt – all the time. She kept hoping it would get better, but the pain never went away, and then it traveled to her shoulder. She had to quit her beloved tennis team because she was having trouble swinging a racket, she couldn’t throw a ball with her boys, she started dropping things, and worst of all she was forced to become an observer of her family’s adventures instead of a participant. After two years like this, her tennis team gave her an ultimatum: they wanted her back, and she had to go see a doctor.
 
Angie’s husband is a psychiatrist, he and the other medical professionals in her family set her up with an orthopedic doctor specializing in shoulders. Tests proved the problem was not in her shoulder, but in her neck. Her husband asked around the medical community, “which spine doctor would you send your wife to?” and Dr. Jatana’s name came up repeatedly. Angie and her husband immediately liked Dr. Jatana, “he puts you at ease,” Angie says. Dr. Jatana gave Angie three options and explained them all to her at length. Angie had help making her decision by asking her follow-up questions to Heather Weber, Dr. Jatana’s Physician’s Assistant. Angie thinks, “Heather is the yang to Dr. Jatana’s yin; Heather is a ball of energy and Dr. Jatana is calm - they are a perfect team.”
 
Angie decided on a C5-6 artificial disc replacement surgery, which was performed on August 1. The surgery went seamlessly, Angie spent one night in the hospital, and didn’t have to take any narcotics, which she hates. Dr. Jatana prescribed motion, which was easy for this boy mom. She was walking half a mile after a week, a mile after two weeks, doing yoga after three weeks, and attended a four-day Phish concert, including all the dancing and standing, after a month. She says she didn’t realize how much the pain was affecting her life until after the surgery, “I felt like I was aging four months for every one month with pain, I felt decrepit and thought I had to accept that body, but I have a new lease on life after meeting Dr. Jatana.”
 
Yoga helped Angie get through the rough spots, she grew to relish the spiritual side of it. And now that she is free from neck pain, she wants to explore yoga more deeply. She cut sugar out of her diet as part of her recovery and has kept that up. She is happy to have her body back, and has a new respect for it.
 
Angie is grateful her tennis team made her seek medical help, and grateful she found Dr. Jatana. “Dr. Jatana is a skilled surgeon, but he is also a great person, I am honored to spread the word about him. I actually think my husband is tired of hearing about him!” Angie says. The Mays family will be traveling to Costa Rica this Thanksgiving, and Angie will be thankful to be back in the thick of it as a participant once more.

Colorado Spine Partners

 Dr. Gary Ghiselli, Dr. Sanjay Jatana, Dr. Chris Johnson, Dr. David Wong

145 Inverness Drive East, suite 100

Englewood, CO 80112

303-MY-SPINE

www.coloradospinepartners.com

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