Dr. Alan J Ostrowe, MD

I love Dr Ostrowe is so patient with me and gives me I think even extra care

Approx. nine years ago due to chronic pain in my right lower extremity caused by reflex sympathetic dystrophy Dr. Ostrowe and I reviewed my options and plan of care. He was my pain mgmt. doc. We discussed the treatments I had been receiving, the pain medications I was on, the procedures he had done for me and we both felt at that time that almost everthing that could be tried he had done for me to keep my pain under control and/or tolerable. Yet, that wasn't enough. It seemed like I had reached a peak and my pain started to spiral out of control. I required more medication and procedures just to get by from day to day. He suggested putting in a spinal cord implant which I knew nothing about. He explained the procedure to me in great detail, alleviated any concerns I or my family had about the surgery, and went to bat for me by filling out numerous documents so Medicare would approve the surgery.Immediately upon approval I was scheduled promptly for the "trial" surgery whereas one has… the implant put in generally 5-7 days as a trial to see if the implant reduces their pain.During the trial period mine reduced the pain so we would proceed to the next step.While in the operating room, after Dr. Ostrowe permanently implanted the stimulator, and after it was adjusted to the right setting that was comfortable for me I started crying uncontrollably for a moment. His assistant became very concerned and thought I was hurting and I told her, "nooooo - these are happy tears. I don't feel any pain. For the first time in years my foot does NOT hurt! This is amazing and I wish I had this done a long time ago." I was told that the battery life of the stimulator would probably last somewhere around two to three years. Suprisingly it lasted an unexpected nine years with just a few check-ups to "tweak it" during the entire nine year period!In '09 the battery finally ran its course, and I thought maybe I could do without the stimulator for awhile. I decided to do a trial run on myself. It did NOT work. You don't realize how good something is until it's gone! My foot and calf felt like they were on fire once again and it hurt to walk. I called Dr. Ostrowe's office to let them know the situation and an appt. was scheduled for me to meet with him in a timely fashion. He checked the battery and it was out of juice. I told him about my increase in pain, etc., and he let me know that in nine years medicine had advanced and a new smaller implant was now available.We discussed the pros and cons of taking out the old and putting in the new. There were really only pros of putting in the new from my view point. Surgery was scheduled ASAP. Old was taken out. New one was put in.The surgery was no big deal and I went home that same day. The only thing I find different about the new implant is that it is very positional which makes it harder to regulate the settings to a comfortable level. I would highly encourage anyone thinking about having this procedure to go for it! There are other doctors who can do this surgery, but the only one I would personally trust who is very knowledgeable, experienced, and trained to perform this is, Dr. Ostrowe.He also does occipital nerve blocks that seem to last longer than blocks I have had done by other physicians.And, out of over 30 something lumbar sympathetic blocks I have had over many years different anesthesiologists: hit the wrong spot which caused me to have a bleeding collapsed lung; another knicked my kidney and caused me to to have blood in my urine; someone else hit a major blood vessel that hurt like heck and caused me to faint, etc. Dr. Ostrowe did the most lumbar sympathetic blocks on me and not once did I have ONE complication.I think that record says a lot right there.