Help Janice Have Surgery to Fix Her Rib Condition

on 20 Apr 2022

Yasmin asks

Hi Jayne,

I am wondering how you contacted the surgeon? Did you email / call him directly?

My partner has been dealing with slipping rib for the last 3 1/2 years and it is negatively impacting his life more and more. He has been battling with ACC to get cover as it was triggered by a work injury but they keep on denying his claim even with intercostal nerve blocking trials having diagnosed the 12th slipping rib. He is starting to lose hope that he will ever get this fixed so I am trying to find some way to get him seen by some one. We are in Auckland so hamilton is not too far and hoping this could be a possible route. Any help / suggestions?

Jayne

Hi Yasmin,

I emailed the surgeon then spoke to him on the phone. His name is Paul Conaglen and here is the hospital website with his contact details https://www.braemarhospital.co.nz/specialists/cardiothoracic-surgery/

There is a Slipping Rib Syndrome facebook group, another fellow kiwi battled with ACC and eventually got it covered. She posted about her experience in the group.

I think the best place to start is to see Dr Paul Conaglen and go from there.

Let me know if you have any other questions or if I can help in any other way.

on 4 Jun 2021

Hope asks

Hi there!

I was just wondering if you have any details on the surgeon Janice went to? I have been living with Slipping Rib Syndrome for 7 years now and have gotten to the stage where it is stopping me from living my daily life. Unfortunately, due to having Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, the more invasive surgery is too risky, and my GP has run out of ideas on how to help. Seeing that there may be a less invasive and potentially more effective surgery has been really encouraging and I would love to get in touch with this surgeon, or have my GP do so. Furthermore, what has the recovering of this been like? I'm only 21 but it has begun to impact my career so I'd love to find a way around this.

Kind Regards,

Hope

Jayne

Hi Hope,

The surgeon is Dr Paul Conaglen at Braemar Hospital in Hamilton. The recovery is different for everyone but for me it has improved my quality of life even though the pain is still there a bit. Janice is still recovering, it takes a long time and it's a slow recovery but it would definitely pay to get a referral to see Dr Conaglen and discuss your options.

I wrote a blog about my surgery journey https://jaynesribs.blogspot.com/

Ngā mihi

Jayne