Tommy John Surgery questions . . .

I have alerted JH to your post and he will respond as soon as he is able to!

JH had TJS with Doc Andrews in FL.

Cannon315 I'm sorry to hear about your son.

I can't help you with information regarding Dr. Andrews however I see you are in Ohio so if things don't work out with Dr. Andrews you might want to check out Dr. Timothy Kremchek from the Cincinnati area. A friend of our son had his TJ surgery done with Dr. Kremchek and they were very pleased with him and the results. You may already know of Kremchek however thought it might be an other option for you to look into.

Best of luck to you and your son.

cannon315- I'll first provide you with the link to the blog I kept during my experience with TJ Surgery: joshherzenberg.blogspot.com

I injured my arm pitching on April 22, 2011. I got an MRI and received the results that following Monday, the 25th. The original doctor, who was an orthopedist I had seen several times in the past in my hometown, informed me that I tore a flexor muscle in my forearm and that I'd be required about 6 weeks of physical therapy.

I worked hard during the PT sessions and moved into my host family's house in summer ball. I began trying to throw with my summer league teammates and there was no positive progression with the arm. The elbow still hurt the same way.

Around the 3rd week of June, I packed my bags back up and headed home. The next week was spent on the phone with both the administration at my college and my personal insurance company. Once it was determined that the school's insurance would be of no assistance (which is a whole different conversation), I had to focus on my personal insurance coverage. I was very fortunate to have very good coverage due to my mom being employed in the local school system.

Being from New York I reached out to Dr. Altchek in NYC. I have heard extremely positive things about Dr. Altchek (including from TPM) but logistically it was a hassle. He was in and out of the office for the next several weeks and being that I wanted an answer a.s.a.p., I wasn't willing to wait. I ended up getting another MRI scheduled with Dr. Rokito out of NYU.

During the few days in which I was waiting for a response after the MRI, I got increasingly anxious. I decided that I wanted to try to see Dr. Andrews. It wasn't anything against Dr. Rokito, who had been outstanding and very communicative throughout the process. But, Dr. Andrews was considered the best.

I called down to Pensacola and just simply inquired if the Andrews Institute accepted my health coverage. The woman on the other line was incredibly polite, patient and helpful, and informed me that I was completely covered. I then asked if Dr. Andrews would be willing to read my MRI if I sent it down, and she told me that he would be.

I sent the MRI down to Pensacola on June 29, and had my appointment with Dr. Rokito on July 5. Dr. Rokito informed me that I tore my UCL and that he recommended physical therapy. I wasn't extremely receptive to that, being that I had just done almost two months of PT for an injury that is in almost the same location as the UCL.

The following day, July 6, I received a phone call from Dr. Andrews on my cell phone, telling me that he also saw a tear in my UCL and due to both my physical therapy and the severity of the tear, he recommended Tommy John Surgery. I was pretty confident that he was correct and had mentally prepared myself for that result, and requested to schedule a surgical appointment with him.

I flew to Pensacola on July 20 and was cut open at 7 AM on July 21.

Here is the link to the archives of the July blog posts...chronicled in reverse order in timeline format: http://joshherzenberg.blogspot...1_07_01_archive.html

Hope this helps, and good luck.

Kremchek has done TJS on some friends of son and very highly recommended.
All of these doctors are considered the best in what they do.
TJS for these doctors is second nature. The success is usually in the rehab.
Keep in mind that most of the time the surgery is done and the patient is on a plane home the next day. Geography might be a consideration

i'm sorry to see your son needs this operation.


my son had tj surgery in 06. Dr Andrews was wonderful, the whole team of people walk you through everything. evan to set up rehab with facility he recomended.

at that time there were 6 surgeons from around the country that work with Dr. Andrews to learn his way. so i'd guess there are oodles of Dr Andrews trained guys out there.

rehab from the surgery can be difficult, in my mind. because there isn't really any baseball. the mental part isn't easy either. but anything new can be scary.

quote:

TJS for these doctors is second nature. The success is usually in the rehab.

That's spot-on. It's one of those things where you have to have successful events in both in order to have success overall.

A) Great Surgery
B) Great Rehabiliation
C) Great Outcome

A+B=C. Without A or B and you cannot achieve C.

Be ready to work, be ready to make sacrifice, and I think most importantly be ready for the mental and emotional distress that is likely to come. As an athletic trainer, we sometimes joke that we aren't psychologists regardless of how much our athletes expect us to be. Hopefully a relationship has been established with an athletic trainer or a physical therapist who has experience in elbow injuries in pitchers. This is not something you want to leave to anybody with a degree; you want somebody specific to be there for the rehabilitation aspect.

At Kremchek's office they have the mri done right in their building. Since you are from the Akron area, they will do exam, x rays, mri, get your results the same day during your trip there. If Johnny needs to get cut they also do the surgery in same building as well.

Thanks to each of you for replying and especially to you JH for doing so, sending me the PM and most of all, for writing your blog. The good that comes out of being involved with this site never ceases to amaze me.

UPDATE - After getting a whole lotta help on this site (especially THANKS JH and TPM), we just returned home from Cincinnati after Dr. Kremchek performed TJ Surgery on my son Friday. Upon him going into my son's elbow, he learned that Johnny had a "severely injured arm" and probably has had a torn UCL for approximately 4 years based upon the thickness of the ligament and the scarring which I learned occurs upon injury. His arm tried to heal itself several times . . . and apparently did well enough for him to throw as he did the past several years . . . but was not able to overcome the complete and final tearing which happened this summer. Fascinating procedure to observe and I have since watched the video a bunch of times and am amazed at the procedure's intricacy. Dr. Kremchek was WONDERFUL . . . fantastic guy and his ability to relate to Johnny and his goals and ambitions was literally such that it brought tears to mine and my wife's eyes. If it is possible that surgery on your son can be a positive experience, this was it. Thanks to all the well wishers on this site and the road to recovery began yesteray at PT. Will keep people posted from time to time as we go along. Thanks again.

Glad to hear things went well.

Glad to hear he is on the road to recovery.

Cannon...awesome news to hear! Dr. Kremchek was simply amazing to us and our son as well a few years ago. Personable is an understatement and his promise to get my son back to playing, he kept his word. Plus following his protocol on rehab worked wonders. Keep up the hard work and I look forward to seeing the boy play while in the MAC.

Thanks Eric. Met one of your fellow Ohio Elite family's in the waiting area as their son Cameron (Comer) was also getting TJ performed by Dr. K like Johnny - actually literally the one directly prior to him. Seemed to be a great "baseball family" and got to meet the kid Sat AM at PT and he seemed really upbeat. We talked briefly about my interactions with you stemming from meeting you on this site which I indicated I was familiar from that with the Ohio Elite program. Thanks again and I can't WAIT until our kids are playing against one another in a year in the MAC which means Johnny has make it all the way back after the surgery.

Good to hear that the surgery went well for your son, cannon. My son is 13 weeks post-op today, please feel free to PM with any questions. JH's blog has been helpful as well.

Thanks so much. We are now in a unique club which is one both of our son's would prefer to NOT be a member of LOL. I am sure I will take you up on your offer . . . thanks again. By the way, how is your son doing at 13 weeks?

Cannon, I knew Cam was going there soon. Great kid, have coached him a tad over the years and watched him play. Always positive and great family, he will be fine as will Johnny!!!
My youngest has played with Cam many years and will be doing things beyond HS ball with Cam I am quite sure, God willing!

quote:

Originally posted by cannon315:
Thanks so much. We are now in a unique club which is one both of our son's would prefer to NOT be a member of LOL. I am sure I will take you up on your offer . . . thanks again. By the way, how is your son doing at 13 weeks?

He feels great, but he's extremely bored and tired of handling Radar Gun duties...but that's his job right now. He'll hopefully be released to start his throwing program within the next few weeks, possibly around Thanksgiving? In the meantime, he is learning the skill of "Patience".