Mr James Bourne 2018-09-19 Person 5 5 0

Having previously had 2 discectomies I was referred to Mr Bourne for a possible spinal fusion. I was nervous about seeing a new surgeon as I completely trusted my old one. My first appointment didnt get off to a great start as i was late - he must have known i would be trouble then!! But he was amazing he talked through my options and we agreed on a way forward without a spinal fusion...Having gone away and thought about it, I asked to see Mr Bourne again as I wanted to go ahead with a spinal fusion. Since having my daughter 3 years ago, I wanted to be able to live a normal life and do the things mummy's do without being in pain. I was expecting Mr Bourne to talk me out of it but he didn't, he was brilliant and I remember him saying I want my patients to be happy and if we go ahead as planned you wouldn't be happy. So he discussed all the possible options of the different spinal fusions by way of either an ALIF or TLIF. He explained the whole procedure so that I knew exactly what to expect..then he threw in a curve ball at the end and said they were your only 2 options until recently..now there is a brand new procedure called an XLIF which isn't as invasive..detail by detail it was sounding like the best option - where do I sign I thought.. until he said himself and a colleague had been to Europe to practice this procedure and no-one in the trust had yet to have it done - they had only practised on dead people!! So I thought ok I'm going to be a guinea pig so to speak..but by the end of the consultation I left feeling I had made the best decision to go ahead and have the XLIF procedure- they would fly in a top surgeon from Milan to assist so not only would have have 2 of the best surgeons from our trust but i would have a top surgeon in this field from Milan. I had my surgery on the 19th July 2018 and I am now 8 weeks post op, we've had a few complications along the way and Mr Bourne likes to refer to me as his problem case (I take that as a compliment) but honestly from the bottom.of my heart, I can't thank him and his team enough for giving me back my life..He came to see me in hospital on his weekend off which showed he actually cared about his patients. He puts you at ease and I trust him 150%. I couldn't recommend him enough. Such an amazing surgeon!! Victoria x