I am excited to have had a chance to go see a very good friend and colleague, Dr. Tim Tollestrup, at his office out in Las Vegas, as well as Dr. David Brown (not in picture) a plastic surgeon on staff at University of Michigan, as well as my previous partner, Dr. A. Lee Dellon who has just retired after a long and incredible career.
After traveling from Baltimore, which was 40 degrees, I realized why people love Las Vegas in the Spring! We could not have asked for better weather. Wow!
I got to hang out most of the time with Dr. Tim Tollestrup and Dr. Dave Brown, as we caught up, eat some great food, discussed challenging patients, and “pick brains,” and swap some tips and techniques with hopes to on improving our care for patients with severe chronic nerve problems.
We focused our energy on piriformis syndrome (compression of the sciatic nerve in the buttock) and posterior pelvic and buttock and thigh pain. This is an underserved area for sure. This included the sciatic nerve, posterior femoral cutaneous nerve, perineal branch of the posterior femoral cutaneous nerve, and the superior and inferior cluneal nerves. Ever heard of those? Google them… There really are very few people who work in these areas. I would say that Dr. Tollestrup most likely has one of the largest experiences anywhere.
I also had the chance to catch up with Dr. David Brown. He is another great colleague, a fantastic plastic surgeon with a heart for helping patients with difficult peripheral nerve problems and a true leader, and innovator in this field. He has been doing more work in this area every year. He has done some great work with new methods of trying to prevent nerves that we remove and excise for pain from re-developing new stump neuromas that can then cause pain all over again. This is a challenging problem that everyone in this field is trying to avoid.
We also got the chance to spend an afternoon with Dr. Dellon. Great time of relaxation and MORE food!
It was overall just a wonderful time of fellowship, camaraderie, and “brain picking”, and food (did I already say that once or twice?)
A great trip!