United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Kim- I know how anxious you are to get an operation and get on with your life, but I think it is really important to consult with at least two BPI specialtist. As I said, I initially was going to goto Dr. Terzis but she didn't take insurance and the initial consult was going to be @ $4000. That was just to talk to her. Her website was exciting to me because it showed a man who had a flail arm before surgery and then a picture of him raising his arm up over his head. The whole website made it look like she was a superwoman and gave no realistic percentage rates of regaining recover. She stated that her procedure required at least two surgeries each at @ $80,000, none of which you could set up with your insurance - that was for you to figure out.
I'm not saying that she's not good at what she does but it seems to me she's more interested in financial gain and making a name for herself. I talked to Dr. Kline about her and he said she was well versed in her field but extremely radical and that is probably the reason why she doesn't except insurance.
I guess I wish you would at least talk to another specialist perhaps at johns Hopkins (dr. Belzberg), the Mayo clinic or even at Duke University. I wish you the best with whom ever you choose, just please go in with both eyes open and don't rush into something that may sound too good to be true.
THANX LOVE SUSAN

I Just looked at her website and I cant get the videos to play can anyone else?? Here is where they are ... http://www.jkterzis.com/Brachial%20Plex ... alysis.htm Her website makes her sound like she is the greatest hting in the world... NO ONE is a god!!

COurt xx

Punchy Sue, I am from NC. Who is the Dr. Youre talking about at Duke?

I Live in the Uk -where as jenny ahs pointed out, we have at least 3 eminent surgeons ( two of them professors) who are working in the same field as Dr Terzis.
I am astounded at the cost of this surgery - has anyone consdered travelling to the Uk and paying for surgery over here? - I can asssure you that the cost would be nowhehre near that amount- our state funded surgesons don't even earn $180,000 in a YEAR !!
I paid for a mod quad surgery for my son and it cost us about $2200 for everything- surgeon anaesthetist, hospital nursing staff etc etc.
Has anyone ever enquired about the cost of surgery over here in the UK?

Hello Everyone,

Just as followup to the earlier posts about bpi specialists worldwide: Dr. Alex Shin is the member of the Mayo Clinic team who was recently awarded the fellowship that will enable him to travel extensively in 2005, meeting with prominent BP surgeons.

Dr. Shin will be visiting Bangkok, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Japan, Korea, Montreal, London, Paris and Amsterdam. He'll start next month in Thailand & mainland China.

Ellen

Hi Ellen, just a quick question for you. Since he's traveling the world next year, will he have a replacement and how will the cases be handled? Thanks!

I asked Dr. Shin about that back when the announcement was initially made, and he'll still be part of the team for surgeries in 2005. That was a relief!

Ellen

I know there is only a few people that post here from Australia, but I just to make mention of two fantastic doctors in Sydney. Dr Biggs & Prof Tonkin performed by 9 hr exploritory surgery then 1 wk later after conversing with some of the leading doctors worldwide, performed my 17hour world first sugery. (my R arm was torn off in my accident and L was paralysed so they 4 of my right arm nerves around the front of my neck and connected them to my flail left arm).
These 2 doctors are nothing short of brilliant and Prof Tonkin does a lot of ops on babys born with bpi's.
That's my little plug for "Down Under"!!

Hi Gayle,

You are absolutely right - I've been amazed by your story ever since I learned of it. And given the distance to Australia, I imagine in a sense your doctors have had to be pioneers - although technology has probably eased some of that.

When I listed the cities Dr. Shin will be visiting, I realized there are many more outstanding doctors - also in the US - but the main point was to address the claim made earlier in the thread that there were only four doctors worldwide who performed this surgery.

Are you getting some movement yet? I can't remember how long ago your surgery was.

Ellen

Kim - I had 4 ops from Terzis. My longest and last procedure was 27.5 hrs long where my left wrist was fused. My other 3 operations averages 21 hrs each. Any further assistance I can provide, give me an email. BEST of luck...!