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Nashville #11 It's a call that's telling me I'm here to
serve. It's a need to make a difference in the world. 24 hours day or night these healing
hands will make it right. Looking in their eyes I know that I'm changing lives, changing
lives, changing lives for the better, for the better, changing lives. Hi there again
everyone, Kandace Krueger along with Jim Knox and we’re back again with another edition
of the Best Docs Network featuring some of the best physicians in the Nashville area
that have helped change people’s lives. That’s right Kandace. This is also the place
to come to Best Docs Network that can help find a doctor that meets your needs. Like
our first doctor, one of the best bariatric surgeons in the Nashville area, Dr. Hugh Houston.
I had gained quite a bit of weight, I’ve had three children and was unable to lose
the weight myself with multiple diets, changing eating habits and I was unhappy with myself.
I kept it very hidden from my family including my husband. I think I was kind of at my last
straw. I just told myself you know this is what we need to do because you need help and
you’re unable to do it on your own so let’s go find the people who can help guide you
in the right direction to go to figure out what’s best for you and let’s get the
process started today. Most patients we see have tried everything. This is their last
effort, this is their last hope and so when we see them they’re close to 100 pounds
overweight. He said what are we looking at what do we want to do and I said well, I want
to change my life. I want to be happy, I want to be healthy. I don’t want to end up like
my mom and have several medical conditions that years later I can’t fix. We went through
the options, he again reviewed each different piece of which one it was and ultimately I
made the decision to have the gastric bypass done because for me I think accountability
is number one. Being an athlete I like to be accountable and that procedure was going
to keep me on the path I needed to be on. Gastric bypass surgery has been around for
years and it was kind of our early original way that we knew how to create a smaller stomach.
In doing so you had to re-route the GI tract and it left them with a small pouch. But food
doesn’t pass through their native stomach and as a result there’s some malabsorption
of vitamins and minerals but they have a profound appetite elimination. They’re extremely
not hungry after surgery, they don’t care about food, they don’t want food. They actually
have to force themselves to eat for their bodies minimal needs. That’s why they lose
so much weight so fast because their calories are so low. If you can be committed to this
and you can follow the process as well as you can, your whole life will change and you’ll
see things that you used to love are going to become a passion. And that right there
really stuck with me. This really changes these patients lives more so than taking out
somebody’s gall bladder or doing a hernia repair or something like that and it really
does make a huge difference for them. Dana was in a great deal of pain until she met
Dr. Kroll. To find out more about Dana’s story and other life changing stories, logon
to bestdocsnetwork.com, that’s bestdocsnetwork.com. I was experiencing some difficulty with some
pain in my tooth. It was just a feeling, it wasn’t really painful but it was just, I
just knew it was there. When you look at the x-rays in Jean’s case, it looks pretty standard,
a silver filling, not a lot of gross decay or anything along those lines. Constantly
we have to monitor and test and diagnose exactly what’s going on because symptoms are coming
from somewhere and x-rays are 2 dimensional and only one of the tests of many different
tests that we use to determine whether a tooth is infected and needing a root canal. I’d
never had a root canal before and I was you know a little nervous about it. So he explained
to me about IV sedation and I decided that that was probably a really viable option for
me. Some people just require the local anesthesia, some require the gas, some want oral sedation
and some want IV sedation. We tailor the sedation, whatever it might be to that person’s needs.
One of the benefits in this office you know was she never felt the injections in her mouth,
she never felt claustrophobic under the rubber down and it allows us to do that more thoroughly
as well as protect the airway. When I was given the IV I did feel the initial prick
and that was the only thing that I felt from then on. Working under the microscope once
we removed the silver filling, we found a crack and there was a slight vertical crack
in her tooth that did not show up on the x-ray, so using the microscope you can see down the
root canal system many times to the tip of the root internally. It’s almost as if you’re
inside the tooth walking around and without that you don’t have that benefit, it’s
a guess. The procedure was completed and afterwards I was awake, I was aware of what was going
on around me. I was wheeled in the wheelchair into a privacy elevator towards the back of
the office and taken downstairs and my husband was in the car waiting for me and I was helped
into the car and we went home. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, both of my daughters
were pregnant and everything I was looking forward to turned into everything I was going
to miss. First words, first steps, being there for my grandchildren, for my daughters. Today,
those babies are three. I'm with them all the time. I don't know what's next but I know
I'm here today. My name is Alantheia Pena. I am Susan G. Komen For The Cure. Help cure
breast cancer and save women's lives. My degenerative disk disease is hereditary, it’s genetic
so it was not the result of any type of accident or anything, but it was very debilitating
when I was first diagnosed with it and ultimately had spinal surgery on it. I was advised later
that the surgery had failed and that I would never recover. It would only be treated versus
healed and I was actually told that what I was diagnosed with was usually diagnosed in
80 year old people and I pretty much felt that way. An ideal patient for sacroiliac
joint injection whether it be one side or both is that individual that usually presents
with quite significant and severe low back pain which extends down into their hips. I
was not able to sleep well. I could not sit excessively, I could not walk for long periods
of time. I was feeling sorry for myself because I feel like I’m too young to have those
debilitating type issues. The injection of steroid and in this case an anesthetic into
that joint space, the articulation of those two joints as they merge together can be extraordinarily
helpful for people with sacroiliac pain. When I came to Dr. Arney I was actually using a
walking stick and I had considered getting a walker for around the house. She was a very
strong candidate for injection on both sides. As he did the injection I could actually feel
the medicine and at that moment even on the table I was sighing in relief. After the injection
she said well that wasn’t bad at all. She was helped off the table and frankly walked
out of Comprehensive Pain Specialist office with a smile on her face. It takes me away
from the oral medications that I prefer not to take. When he gives me an injection, it’s
durable, it lasts long and it’s effective. She has done extraordinarily well, she’s
once again regained function, regained life as we like to say and we’re quite happy
for her. Depression is a very common and a very bad disease. It’s different than sadness.
Sadness is what happens when you go through bad times in life and it just tends to come
and go in all of our lives. Depression is an abnormality of the chemicals in the brain
that brings on a lot of bad symptoms and often needs treatment with medications. The two
main questions you should ask yourself to decide if you’re depressed are these. Number
1, have I felt hopeless and sad for most of the time in the past two or three months and
number 2, have I lost my interest in those things that I usually get a charge out of
doing. For example, ballgames with the kids, movies, certain meals, certain things on TV.
If you’ve lost your joy in life, that’s a sign of depression and it needs to be treated.
What can you do about depression if you have it? Well, you can do a lot, you can take medication.
There’s a lot of medications that work, most with few side effects. Exercise helps,
getting adequate sleep and counseling also helps. So there’s a lot ways to go from
sad to glad. For the first time in my life being scared of driving at night. I was driving
a friend back from her father’s funeral and we were on I24 where they were doing construction
and I realized that I had a very difficult time in reacting time because there seemed
to be a blockage of my sight. I’ve been wearing glasses since I was in the fifth grade
so I pretty much thought that I would come to find out that I had cataract problems.
I looked for the doctor on my insurance and there was Dr. Bregman. And I had been with
a friend here before so I called and got an appointment and they were able to find out
that I did have cataracts in both eyes. One that was ready for operation and then the
second one that needed a little more time. She would be the sort of a patient where I
would look at their testing preoperatively and look at them and say oh this patient has
some astigmatism and say to them are you interested in being less dependent on your glasses after
surgery? We can correct your astigmatism with this toric lens implant. I didn’t know anything
about the toric lens. I did not know that astigmatism could be corrected in a cataract
surgery so that was an added value because that had been the bane of my visual experience
my whole life. If someone has corneal astigmatism the light that comes into their eye gets focused
on two spots instead of one because their eye is shaped like a football instead of a
basketball and so if you put a standard lens implant into a patient that’s got astigmatism
they will still need glasses to be able to see far away. When someone gets a toric lens
implant they will only have to wear reading glasses to see their computer and to read
after surgery but their distance vision will be clear. That means they can buy non prescription
sunglasses, they can do a lot of things without their glasses. After the surgery, not only
did my cataract problem go away with my right eye at first and then they did my left, I
can see. My life has improved amazingly because of my ability to see and it’s all due to
the surgery and Dr. Bregman. As always, for more information on any of the doctors you’ve
seen on today’s show just go to our website bestdocsnetwork.com. That is the place to
go to find the doctor that helps meet your needs. Right now the place to go is our next
best doctor. It’s one of the top plastic surgeons in the Middle Tennessee area, it’s
Dr. Ronald Gilmer. I’ve known Dr. Gilmer his entire professional career. I started
noticing the Christmas pictures and I had these horrible bags under my eyes that make
you just look stupid. I’d always thought to do something about it and then we just
kind of got to talking one day and he said well just pick a time, I think it was in January,
and we’ll do those eyes for you. His complaint was that he had droopy eyelids, he had bags
underneath his eyes and he was always being referred to as looking tired and he wanted
to know what we could do to help alleviate that and to make it better. So we discussed
a blepharoplasty with him and he felt like that was an ideal surgery for him. A blepharoplasty
is one of the most common procedures that we do today. It really enhances somebody’s
youthful appearance. And what blepharoplasty consists of is removing excess skin of the
upper eyelids and fat pads, excess skin of the lower eyelids and the fat pad and then
reconstructing through the incision and it gives a person a much more youthful appearance.
Not only did we do my lower eyes, took those bags out from under there, we did the upper
eyes and I had had some damage in the right upper eye before so he cleaned all that up
and then kind of perked up my brows a little bit and I’ve got a real good friend that’s
in the music business that had baggy eyes like I had and took that sleepy look right
out of him. We can do it under local anesthesia, we can do it under local anesthesia with IV
sedation, and we can do it under general anesthesia. It’s pretty quick, it’s easy, there’s
not a lot of recovery time. He did it under local anesthesia with sedation and he was
in recovery room maybe thirty, forty minutes and his wife came and picked him up and they
went home and he did well. I was very, very pleased you know from the time I spent with
Dr. Gilmer in his office, from the time I spent in the preoperative areas with the girls,
the anesthesia involved, the recovery involved. Dr. Gilmer even made a house call that night.
I’ve been very, very pleased with it and so is my entire family. I play in an adult
hockey league here in Nashville. Unfortunately during the game I sustained a very serious
injury on the ice when a puck deflected off of my stick and hit me in the mouth. Immediately
my entire mouth went numb. I knew I had a big problem. I could feel that my teeth were
extremely loose. My front four and bottom two were very loose. I knew I was going to
need some emergency services. Myself and my staff, we immediately came right to the office,
met Tom and his wife and started to collect the data to help make the decision how to
handle his injury. Because I’m a physician, I instinctively knew that I had a big problem.
And when I was able to get in touch with Dr. Locke, he was very clear, there wasn’t a
lot of sugar coating or misinterpretation of exactly what he wanted me to do. Many of
the teeth were knocked out of place and dislodged and we were able to reimplant the teeth putting
in a physiologic splint which is very similar to braces only slightly moveable and it allows
for the tooth to re-anchor into the mouth and give it the best chance to reestablish
a blood supply and stay alive. Over the next couple of visits where we were monitoring
the teeth, some of the teeth did die. But we were able to save and maintain his natural
smile by doing root canal therapy, getting his jaws and teeth healthy again so that he
can go back to focus on practicing neurology. Although we are colleagues and friends he
spoke to me in a very professional manner, made it very clear exactly what was going
to happen, what I could expect, what I would be able to do afterwards and he was exactly
right. I was able to go to work the next day, it was minimal discomfort, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories
like Tylenol and Motrin was all I required and I haven’t had a problem since. He was
able to return to work Monday morning without every missing a beat, able to smile and see
his patients and return to the quality of life that he’s used to. I came to see Dr.
Gilmer because I was referred to him by somebody who used to shop with me at a clothing store
that I worked at. So, she had just gotten her procedure done with Dr. Gilmer and I’d
always thought about it so I came in to see him. Brianna came in requesting a tuba augmentation.
And what the tuba augmentation is, is you put the implant in through, around incisions
around the umbalicus, the belly button. Now that doesn’t leave any scars on the chest,
it’s a quicker operation, has less complications and has less pain. I came in and met with
Dr. Gilmer and everything was just set up very quickly after that. I think I was on
the books in less than a week. You know I had already made the decision to have the
procedure and Dr. Gilmer just made it very easy. And when we talked to Brianna we asked
her exactly what she wanted and how she wanted it done. Did she want the implants put above
the muscle or did she want the implants put below the muscle, what size she would like
to be and all those things are discussed with the patients at length. Now when you go through
the belly button, you can only use saline implants so if a patient elects to go with
silicone implants they have to have a different surgical approach to put those implants in.
I was more nervous about being put to sleep than anything. I’d never had anesthesia
before and it made me feel very safe and secure in that decision. Everybody was very professional
and courteous. I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. Sometimes you think there’s a stigma
attached to it to having the procedure done and I didn’t feel that way at all. I wasn’t
hesitant in any way. The procedure takes from start to finish, anesthesia, awake, about
an hour. She’s in the recovery room about an hour and then she goes home with assistance.
I’m very pleased with the results of the procedure performed by Dr. Gilmer. It was
something that I had always wanted to do and made a big difference for me on a personal
level. I feel a lot more confident in myself and it was something I decided to do for me
and I’m very glad that I did. I was 21 years old when I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast
cancer and when you confront your own mortality you realize what am I going to leave behind?
I’m never going to have children, I might not see my husband grow old, what have I done?
I’m sitting here today with tumors in my liver, my lungs and my bones. But I’m sitting
here with hope. My name is Bridget Spence. I am Susan G. Komen For The Cure. Help cure
breast cancer and save women’s lives. My name is Katie Uckly and I’m with Musicians
On Call and our mission is to bring live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients
and healthcare facilities. We’re here tonight taking Ashley Gearing room to room to play
music for patients. I’m volunteering tonight here with Musicians On Call. I sometimes may
feel a little goofy walking into a room with a guitar by myself but then you see the reaction
and you see their expression completely changes. Bariatric surgery is not new to Centennial.
It’s been performed at Centennial for probably more than 30 years. But when I started the
program in 2000, I realized the importance of integrating all aspects of care to have
a comprehensive program to treat all aspects of the bariatric patient. Because in addition
to the physical issues and the metabolic issues we also have the psychological issues that
play into obesity and to maximize success you have to address all of these aspects of
care. We have three dedicated surgeons who care about the patients, who care about this
disease. We’re not a factory trying to turn out a ton of cases every year. We’re really
trying to improve the lives of these patients. Our program itself, we feel is special and
set apart from other programs. We have wonderful dietitians on staff, exercise physiologists,
we have support groups with psychological after care programs to help the patients deal
with the emotional side of eating. We like to see all patients come through our informational
seminars and it really goes A-Z about bariatric surgery and what it entails. What the risk
of the surgery is, what the outcomes are and what to expect long term. So when you have
bariatric surgery at Centennial, the dietitian’s consultation, the exercise physiologist’s
consultation, our physiological after care program, it’s all included at no additional
charge. We’re a center of excellence with the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric
Surgery which is the national bariatric surgical society. We’re centers of excellence with
many insurance programs. But when you’re the center of excellence that means you have
to meet the highest criteria and that you have to have excellent results, minimal complications
and follow up and take care of patients long term. From the check in area and the admissions
department through the holding area and the surgical department to the operating room
and even on the floor after surgery. Special beds, special bathroom accommodations, special
gowns and all these things make it possible for the patients to have their best, safest
experience with bariatric surgery here at Centennial. I was prescribed some medicines
and it, I had a reaction to it. It weakened the muscles in my back and I ended up being
out of work probably seven months. I had surgery on my neck, they put a bracket to fuse some
joints in my neck but I still had trouble with my lower back. I was unable to stand
up right. The surgeon said there wasn’t much they could do so they recommended pain
management so that’s when I met Dr. Kroll. I told him that I needed some help with the
pain but I didn’t want to be, you know, medicated to the point that I was just sitting
in a chair and staring out the window. In Michael’s case, he has lumbar spundalosis
or what we call fiset arthropoy or fiset syndrome. He’s been through multiple treatments and
pain management including medications and physical therapy. And Michael has undergone
greater frequency oblation in his lumbar spine with significant response. Greater frequency
oblation is a procedure that we utilize in pain management and this procedure involves
placing a needle inside the patient in a very specific area where the nerve is traveling.
It goes to the arthritic area or the fiset and this needle then is heated at the very
tip by a radio frequency energy device that basically destroys the nerve with heat. That
relieved a lot of the pain and since then he’s been doing that probably every year,
I guess the last six or seven years. And he’s been able to reduce the amount of pain medications
that he takes. He describes increased activity and his quality of life with his family activities
and it’s been very successful for him. All in all he’s helped me where my wife and
I can get out and walk and most people don’t know that I’m really being treated for pain
management. Dr. Kroll has given me the ability to have quality of life even though I’ve
got a lot of restrictions with my back. Cataract surgery is one of the most common operations
performed in the United States. So the way vision works in your eye is the light goes
through the cornea, through the pupil, through the lens, and then hits the retina, the light
impulses goes out through the optic nerve and go to the brain. 1999 I was diagnosed
with having a fully matured cataract in the left eye. I came to see Dr. Bregman and after
a thorough examination, he determined that I would have cataract surgery, remove the
cataract and ultimately put in an implant. A cataract is when the lens of the eye gets
clouded over and turns yellow. There are many reasons why people get cataracts and I get
asked this question a lot. It can be from aging, sun exposure, certain types of medication,
trauma getting hit in the eye and genetics. Sometimes it runs in the family and people
get early cataracts. The light comes in through the pupil and hits this stuff and gets scattered
all over the inside of their eye and then they get halos and night glare. If you don’t’
do anything about cataracts they sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly can steal your
vision away to the point where you’re really you’re blinded. As time went by, 2007 the
right eye began to get a little fuzzy. The stage of this cataract in 2007 I could see
light but that was about all. So after the surgery that day I was sent home different
than some years prior. I was sent home with a pair of glasses and a shield over my eye.
Came back the next day, I couldn’t believe how well I could see. Cataract surgery has
a 98 – 99% success rate. People really don’t feel a whole lot during the procedure and
depending on how dense or thick the cataract is the recovery is usually until their vision
comes back is usually one to seven days. My vision now without reading glasses is 20/25.
I owe that to Dr. Bregman. In addition to being a professional, he’s a great man.
Well, Jim, that’ll do it. That’ll wrap up another edition of the Best Docs Network
featuring some of the best physicians in the Nashville area that have helped change people’s
lives. Exactly right Kandace and for more information on any of the outstanding doctors
you’ve seen on today’s program, head to the website, bestdocsnetwork.com or head to
the website to find a doctor that may help your needs. And as always if you have a question
or comment for us, we’d sure love to hear from you. Send us an email at info@bestdocsnetwork.com.
So long everyone, we’ll see you next week.