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| - Bustling, clean downtown location for appointments. Our sporty 11 year old fell in garage, fractured elbow & was seen for 5 months at OrthoCarolina, shuffled between surgeon Dr. Clark, physician assistants, physical therapists & a consultation specialist surgeon, Dr. Gaston. Despite many appointments, our son now types primarily with his pinky on his right hand, because his elbow doesn't turn properly. He can't put his palm down. (Imagine you have a permanent handshake-like elbow angle.) This impacts activities like playing basketball or how one would get change from a cashier's hand. OrthoCarolina proposed another surgery, but consultations at top medical schools & hospitals discovered OrthoCarolina failed to diagnose bone in wrong place (synostosis), making more surgery too risky. Sometimes it is best to accept poor outcome. -------Other ideas if problems occur. #1) consider calling a NC teaching hospital for a "specialist." (In-state, UNC was quite helpful. Out-of-state, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia agreeably did their consultation via telephone. " #2) Consider private physical therapists (Standouts are St. George Physical Therapy & Matthews Physical Therapy) #3) Medical record errors occur, so purchase & read all records ASAP. When you get copies of xrays, make sure views are individually listed on the disc. If you went to an urgent care facility 1st, you may need to get records there also. #4) Don't delay if you suspect problems. If needed, Facebook's ProPublica Patient Safety Group has members who offer advice & a "SurgeonScorecard" form for reporting errors. Novant's Matthew's Medical Library helps with research. Good luck, post your experiences & let's help others! Also, don't miss YELP reviews "not currently recommended" & found at the bottom of page.
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