A Great Oral Surgeon - and a WSU Fan

[Aargh]

I sincerely hope you don't need and don't know anyone who needs an oral surgeon. If you do, I highly recommend:

Dr. Roy Cole, D.D.S., M.D., P.A. He's with Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Associates. Has offices at 13th and Tyler and 19th and Webb - also Great Bend.

I have a lot of experience with doctors. I prefer those who demonstrate they are interested in my well-being, and the money is something that comes with that. There are a lot who have their priorities in the other direction. I also like docs who tell me straight up what I'm dealing with and don't tend to sugar coat anything. My bad news was that sometimes things don't heal in areas that have had radiation. I'm not having an issue with that. I'm just losing teeth because of the radiation 5+ years ago.

I found Dr. Cole easy to talk to on levels I understood. He's got a good sense of humor. I was wearing Shocker gear for my followup today. He went to WSU in the late '80's, loved going to games in the student section, and is still a large fan. He can intelligently discuss the current team, and predicts another undefeated Valley run.

Oh, and he does great work. I've had 4 teeth he's worked on. On a scale from 1 to 10, my total pain level is about 1.1 - in other words, I could just barely feel anything during and after the procedures.

[MoValley John]

I sincerely hope you don't need and don't know anyone who needs an oral surgeon. If you do, I highly recommend:

Dr. Roy Cole, D.D.S., M.D., P.A. He's with Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Associates. Has offices at 13th and Tyler and 19th and Webb - also Great Bend.

I have a lot of experience with doctors. I prefer those who demonstrate they are interested in my well-being, and the money is something that comes with that. There are a lot who have their priorities in the other direction. I also like docs who tell me straight up what I'm dealing with and don't tend to sugar coat anything. My bad news was that sometimes things don't heal in areas that have had radiation. I'm not having an issue with that. I'm just losing teeth because of the radiation 5+ years ago.

I found Dr. Cole easy to talk to on levels I understood. He's got a good sense of humor. I was wearing Shocker gear for my followup today. He went to WSU in the late '80's, loved going to games in the student section, and is still a large fan. He can intelligently discuss the current team, and predicts another undefeated Valley run.

Oh, and he does great work. I've had 4 teeth he's worked on. On a scale from 1 to 10, my total pain level is about 1.1 - in other words, I could just barely feel anything during and after the procedures.

Could hyperbaric oxygen treatment help you?

[MoValley John]

http://www.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?id=502&action=detail&ref=675

[Aargh]

Could hyperbaric oxygen treatment help you?

I was warned that I may need that. Dr. Cole gave me the whole rundown on how that worked. He checked with my radiation oncologist and decided the better route was to bypass hyperbaric and closely monitor my healing progress.

I don't know if I should say it because it might not apply to every patient, but I haven't been charged for any of the follow-up visits to monitor my healing.

Since hyperbaric was brought up, I have a friend who wasn't warned about possible post-radiation complications and had a breast reduction done after radiation for breast cancer. She's had 50 hyperbaric sessions and still has a hole in her chest from the surgery.

[SPEShockAlum]

I've used Dr. Nelson in the same practice. They do good work.

[MoValley John]

I was warned that I may need that. Dr. Cole gave me the whole rundown on how that worked. He checked with my radiation oncologist and decided the better route was to bypass hyperbaric and closely monitor my healing progress.

I don't know if I should say it because it might not apply to every patient, but I haven't been charged for any of the follow-up visits to monitor my healing.

Since hyperbaric was brought up, I have a friend who wasn't warned about possible post-radiation complications and had a breast reduction done after radiation for breast cancer. She's had 50 hyperbaric sessions and still has a hole in her chest from the surgery.

That's too bad about your friend. I don't know a lot about hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) but I do know some. I know more about ebola.

Anyway, this is what I know about HBO. HBO probably doesn't work so well on wounds like your friend has. HBO works by increasing blood flow to areas that have circulation problems. I don't think a chest would benefit much, it's probably a hail Mary where nothing else worked. HBO promotes capillary growth in areas with poor circulation. Diabetic foot wounds and radiation injuries to bones especially. How this happens, I don't know.

HBO also works on necrotizing fasciitis, gas gangrene and other anaerobic infections. Oh, and carbon monoxide poisoning. That's about all I know. I also know some physicians, mostly surgeons, hate HBO as it cuts into their turf. I think you couldn't lose anything by looking into it further.

[MoValley John]

And I know you've had a rough go, but at least you don't have a Case of fournier gangrene. That can be very painful. Fournier gangrene is also treated with HBO.

[wsushox1]

Getting surgery likely over winter break there.