Visit with Dr. Hackman in NC 1/23/2024

Symptoms and Treatments Doctor Information
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Tuesday January 23, 2024 I had the initial consultation with Dr. Hackman. The weather in NC has been brutally cold! The worse weather I’m told by locals in memory.

A warning to all about Chapel Hill, NC. It’s a college town as such, the cuisine options are terrible. I mean it; mostly burgers and fast food.

I stayed at the Hyatt Place Chapel Hill / Southern Village. The hotel food is in fact better than the food up the hill “Southern Village” but their is a grocery store in that village that carries organic food. Problem is, that this hotel does not have kitchenettes. Also the water from the water fountains tastes odd, and I think it MAY have contributed to my stomach illness (see below).

One place to avoid is “La Cosina” a Mexican restaurant chain where I dinned the night before meeting with Dr. Hackman. Oh the food was great! But at 3AM that same night, I woke, walked into the bathroom and my body began to involuntarily throw up, along with diarrhea – FOOD POISONING!! Fortunately I packed Pepto Bismol but had difficulty keeping that down. My meeting with Dr. Hackman was set for 730AM and I nearly missed it! But I soldiered on, being determined to meet him. Please learn from my mistake.

Moving on, Dr. Hackman agreed that my styloids are “thick” as opposed to long. Unlike Dr. Osborne in Los Angeles who simply explained the risks of the surgery, and sent me on my merry way (Dr Ryan Osborne in Los Angeles - #23 by HappyBear). Dr. Hackman told me that though he could not make any guarantees about my health improving, that previous patients he’s worked with do tend to show improvement. I explained to him that I believed that I developed ES from having been rear ended at high speed in 2012, and that my condition had only worsened after being rear ended by a truck on 9/2023. I accepted that risk knowing that the headaches, brain fog, orthostatic hypertension, numbing of arms and jaw pain are caused by the styloids which are blocking both jugular veins by 50%. He did say that hearing loss and tinnitus are typical symptoms of TBI, and though I suffered hearing loss from the TBI caused by that 2012 rear impact, other NEW symptoms seemingly developed suddenly in mid 2021 and paralleled symptoms common to ES, including difficulty swallowing.

He said that he was fine with patients flying out within 2 days, however I intend to remain in NC at least 6-10 days, and ideally, stay at the SECU Family House with a posted rate of $54/night (they require a referral from the UNC health provider, Dr. Hackman’s surgery appoint person). I am DEFINITELY looking forward to getting the surgery done, and moving forward with life.

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So glad that he’s agreed to do the surgery for you, & that you feel confident with him! Any idea when the surgery might be scheduled?

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I just confirmed with Dr. Hackman’s scheduler – Yes, GAME ON. Surgery is scheduled for Friday March 22nd. Any and all prayers are appreciated :slight_smile: No idea what time;
I’m told that the time is determined the day of. I intend to arrive one day before to NC on the 21st.

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I’ve added your surgery date to my calendar, @HappyBear. I will be praying for you especially that day. I am also hopeful & expectant that getting your styloids removed will help you feel better. Hopefully removing the styloids will allow your IJVs to open fully. It will be interesting to see if you get any hearing improvement once they’re out.

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Thank you Isaiah_40_31 :slight_smile: All prayers are good and welcomed. I concur with your feeling, the removal of the styloids will DEFINITELY open the IJVs fully. I expect my hearing to improve dramatically. I have a “knowing” about this. And I’ll definitely be praying too! I plan to marker my favorite Saint quote to my chest: “Act and God will Act!” – St. Joan of Arc. Something to remind me of the importance of ones actions when coming out of anesthesia.

Some background info I didn’t include: I’d visited Caring Medical (Dr. Hauser) back in June 2023 for cervical treatment. Like others, because of him following up a neck CT Cone Beam scan with an MRI, the styloids were uncovered. They are the direct, long term result of being rear ended at 40MPH back in April of 2012 near the White House in DC. Prior to meeting Hauser, I had NO IDEA what ES was. I sought Hauser’s help after finding his clinic online, as I had been suffering incredible pain from what I now understand to be “typical” ES symptomology; in short, living hell. Add to that, NO DATING, NO SOCIAL LIFE, and no one in my circle including doctors who understood what ES is. The aggravation, pain and suffering had gotten so bad, that at one point I considered suicide and that had the affect of compelling me deeper into my faith, a life of prayer; and developing a deeper understanding of the reality of humanity’s enemy; that which the demonic.

Then, September 11, 2023 while sitting in traffic in my car at a stop, when I was rear-ended by an 50-70 ton 18-wheeler. Fortunately I had the 4th visit with Hauser set up later that week so I was able to receive prolotherapy treatment fairly quickly (more on that below).

Hauser initially referred me to Dr. Ray Osborne in LA and I did visit with him 10/2023. However he does not do bilateral styloid removal, does not accept Medicare, and wanted about $53,000 for both styloids to be removed. Plus the requirement to hire a nurse for (and I don’t remember exactly) either 24 or 48 hour around the clock care. Of greater concern is that I didn’t feel a “connect” with the guy as he immediately went into all the bad things that can happen because of the high risk surgery.

This is in stark contrast to Dr. Hackman who was highly communicative. Yes, it did not help that I’d had food poisoning 15 hours earlier. Despite that he was very compassionate and accommodating. I WAS FLOORED. He asked poignant questions about my symptoms, while his staffer took notes. In contrast, Dr. Osborne did not have a staffer taking notes (just he and I, that’s it).

At the end of the meeting with Dr. Hackman, he formally accepted me as a candidate for surgery, then he left the room, and I sat alone in a state of blissful shock. His assistant Brittany entered, and at that point I began to cry being overwhelmed with emotion. Now I’m a big guy…6’ tall, and have been described as the man you don’t want to meet in a dark alley. None of that matters…emotionally it was a relief to be formally accepted as a patient; to have my concerns, experiences and history validated by a man who clearly knows what he is talking about, and knows what he is doing. Keep in mind that I’ve done all of this alone as I have not been able to have a family, and ALL the doctors I’ve had before Dr. Hauser had no idea what ES was. One of my doctors I vividly recall, simply looked at me during a consultation (don’t remember if 2021 or 2022), and while shaking her head, said in a sad voice “how sad…and you’re soo young too” and showed me the door.

Blessings to Dr. Hackman :slight_smile: :innocent:

Moving on…I should arrive in NC March 20th or 21st to do quick shopping at costco (2 of them, about 30 minute drive, the one north of the hospital is a FAR safer road trip as the trip does not involve single lane, 55MPH highways through the woods—
i.e. ensure, peanut butter, stool softener, ice packs). The plan is to remain at SECU house until April 2nd to allow a follow up meeting with Dr. Hackman on April 1st. His scheduling assistant Marcela is the one who must pre-approve the SEC stay. SECU does have a shuttle from it to the hospital, which is a HUGE positive. When I stayed at the Hyatt Hotel 8 minutes away, I did have to make my way to public parking on Manning across the street from the Oncology Department location. The parking structure itself is fine, but you’ll have to walk a considerable distance over a sky bridge to get to his location; this was an issue for me because of the 9/11/23 rear impact by that 18-wheeler that left me with a torn right hip, left shoulder, and another TBI (NOT FUN). The timing of my visit coincided with EXTREME cold weather so prepare accordingly.

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Update:

Yesterday morning, I was at a local gym working my legs out, when I somehow forgot to take my wallet with me from a leg press machine, or it fell out of a pant pocket. Since I’ve been under so much stress cause of the surgery, I didn’t notice that someone stole it. Within 25 minutes the person was attempting to withdraw money from a Bank of America ATM. Since ALL my credit cards and identification cards were in it, I had to cancel today’s morning flight out of LAX. Surgery has tentatively been rescheduled for June 5th. Unless their is a cancellation in which case I immediately head out to NC.
I’ve spent hours on the phone with the banks, ordered a new drivers license, made out a police report, and reached out to the scheduling person at UNC, all because I dropped my guard in a room with about 10 people in it.

The evil act of the person who stole my wallet completely blindsided me. I’m left to suffer longer.
Isaiah, any biblical stories come to mind on this experience?

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I answered your other post where you mentioned this, & the best I can say is that God sometimes alters our plans because His plans/timing for us & our activities are better. I referred you to Romans 8:28.

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Beyond frustrating for you, sending you a hug… :hugs:

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