John Shrader 17: Boring Poems and I know it was you, Fredo

[Gobsmacked]

Well well well. I've been off googling the Novo Clinic. Very nice. Very expensive? It's certainly looks expensive. So who is paying for Johnboy's trip + surgery etc? ????????+ 7 days recovery in a beach resort.?????? 

Poor Esther could do with a lovely beach resort break. 

How on earth can Daddy Shrader's church afford all that??????

 

[Palimpsest]

There is no official public news but on the John Esther Shrader FB page a leg-humper says this:

Quote

 I prayed this morning and I am so happy to hear the surgery went well.

I'm glad to hear the surgery went well too.  I may be a Lost atheist but I want a good outcome for John.  And that probably makes me better than Johnny-boy who would condemn me and my Unsaved self to the Fiery Pits of Hell!

Now, Johnny.  You are still the World's Worst Missionary.  Zambia (and Beyond) don't need you.  Africa doesn't need you.,  Stay in the USA. and inflict your twisted  version of Christianity on people here.  

Pamper your bad back, get a proper job, and bring Esther and your children home.

 

[Palimpsest]

And we finally have an official public update.  In excruciating detail.  I'm feeling free to share it because I shared Johnny's prayer request.  Being cyber-challenged I will have to ask someone else to share all the piccies and a video of Johnny walking for those who are blocked.

And he's now a "metallic missionary with a bionic back."   

Quote

After Surgery Report from Baptist Missionary John Shrader (feel free to share if you were one of the many that shared our prayer request!)

I first of all want to praise the Living God of Heaven. I am looking forward to sharing more in the coming days of what God has done, and how clearly and evident it has been seen that "...the good hand of our God was upon us," as the Bible said about Ezra and others.

I secondly want to thank the many many dear people that prayed, and are continuing in prayer for me at this critical juncture. I still need your prayers for the days ahead.

God has chosen to orchestrate, in an incontrovertible manner, an amazing sequence of events to bring a medical miracle to me.

As I slowly share the stories in the days to come, I pray that you will have your faith strengthened that implicitly trusting, by complete faith, in God's direction through the leading of His Holy Spirit (always in accordance with, and NEVER in the slightest way against, His Holy Word). These testimonies can only be explained through the power of God and the Divine leadership of God the Holy Spirit!

I went into surgery around 7:30 Wed. am, the 21st of August. They brought me back, after about 5 hours of surgery and then some recovery, to the hospital room where dad was waiting around 2:30 pm. The main Surgeon is Dr. Scott Hodges, whose practice is based in Tennessee. He along with another eminent Spine Surgeon, Dr. Humphries, as well as a biomedical engineer invented the most amazing replacement disk.

Dr. Hodges has performed over 16,000 surgeries, but was dissatisfied with the loss of motion with fusion operations, and the fact that a fusion patient is 2-5x more likely to need additional surgeries, and wanted "motion preservation." You will see from the X-Ray scans the disk replacement prosthesis are at different angles, truly an amazing device. It's made of one of the hardest metals in the world, and has been tested in the lab to 40+ years of simulated use and showed virtually no wear. It's edges are titanium, which bone adheres very well too. My bones will eventually grow around the device, but there are two pedical screws anchoring the device. The clinical data is quite amazing, and this device and procedure has an astounding 94% patient satisfaction, virtually unheard of in the world of back surgeries!

I am posting two new pics of a cross section of my spinal canal. The first one shows a fairly normal view of my spine. The white, almost heart-shaped section in the middle is the spinal canal, and the little black dots at the bottom of that is my nerves.

The second pic shows how the herniated disk was compressing the nerves. When a surgeon who has done 16,000+ surgeries calls your injuries "impressive," that's saying something. Dr. Hodges was very surprised I've been able to do as much as I have been!

I am astounded how God has so clearly and providentially orchestrated all this, and I am deeply humbled and grateful for the precious prayers of all of you. Literally all over the world, from Siberia, Nepal, Singapore, Canada, China, South Korea, Israel, Australia, all over America, and possibly other places I don't know about, God's people poured out petitions on my behalf. Our dear folks in our first church plant in Kafue were fasting and praying the entire day of the surgery. Because they are 7 hours ahead, that means they were meeting at the church property until 9 pm, so precious.

I humbly ask those who God touches your heart to continue lifting me to the "...throne of grace..." in this time of need. I'm including a small clip dad took of me walking just a few hours after surgery with Dr. Hodges.

This team is amazing, God fearing people that truly care, have amazing skill and knowledge, and are part of my medical miracle. I'm now a metallic missionary with a bionic back. I'm also only the second patient ever to have 3 of these implants put in! The first man was 79 years old!

Thank you for caring and praying dear friends, please don't stop!

Bro. John Shrader
Historic Biblical Baptist Missionary based in Zambia

I genuinely hope these implants work for John.  For Esther and the children's sake as well as his own.

He is promising to share more of his stories soon.  Perhaps he will share that his recovery and rehab will take a lot longer than he thought.  

But I want him to share who the flying fuck paid for this obviously incredibly expensive surgery!  Don't just tell us the Lord provided it!

And can you also share the incriminating pictures you have hidden away of this mystery person, Johnny.  Other far more deserving people may need urgent back surgery too!

[Gobsmacked]

I wonder if this miraculous happening can happen to me John? So I can walk around Edinburgh festival next year without having to spend the following day in bed??????

Please John??? Huh??? 

Who the fuck paid John??? Eh??? Who???!?

 

[ViolaSebastian]

I’m a little surprised he could write such an long-winded update a day after back surgery. I was so drugged up after mine I could barely make it through watching a half-hour sitcom...

[DarkAnts]

I wonder if he had to have the surgery out of the country because the implant is not FDA approved.

[Gobsmacked]

Prayers = money obviously. John has such an obsequious way of speaking. He is such a creep. Not one single Thankyou to everyone who sent Dollars. 

[Palimpsest]

7 hours ago, ViolaSebastian said:

I’m a little surprised he could write such an long-winded update a day after back surgery. I was so drugged up after mine I could barely make it through watching a half-hour sitcom...

My guess is that he wrote most of this report before the surgery.  Then Daddy Rick helped him finish it up, added the photos and video, and posted it to Facebook.  I'm sure Daddy Rick did not write it.  Rick Shrader can't spell for toffee.

6 hours ago, DarkAnts said:

I wonder if he had to have the surgery out of the country because the implant is not FDA approved.

Bingo!  Here's the dirt on Johnny's God Given Dream Team.  BalancedBack (TM)  https://www.balancedback.com/-overview-of-balancedback

Quote

Why do I have to travel for surgery?

Every country has its own regulatory paradigm. Due to the pace of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s approval process, anti-innovation efforts to control skyrocketing healthcare costs, and a politicized insurance system, the U.S. is often slow to adopt new medical technology.  

In contrast, the British territory of the Cayman Islands provides a first-class healthcare, financial, and tourism economy efficiently regulated by the Health Practice Commission (HPC). Each of our U.S.-based, fellowship-trained providers is licensed by HPC to practice in Cayman, as well as the U.S. The team travels with you to Cayman for surgery, where HPC regulates the safe clinical use of BalancedBack®. This arrangement gives you the opportunity to take advantage of the advanced technology ahead of a possible approval by the FDA.  

Destination healthcare is an emerging trend. More and more people are taking control of their own healthcare, seeking safe, effective, and affordable solutions to their medical conditions outside of the United States system.

And it is not covered by insurance.  Private pay only.

22 minutes ago, Gobsmacked said:

Prayers = money obviously. John has such an obsequious way of speaking. He is such a creep. Not one single Thankyou to everyone who sent Dollars. 

A lot of dollars.

Quote

Typical total cost is approximately $55,000 USD. That includes travel and accommodations, surgical care, and local ground concierge service.

https://www.balancedback.com/frequently-asked-questions

And their data presentation is ... confusing.

Surgical stats:

Quote

 

79 patients

102 levels treated

Reflects the number of surgeries performed per month and the number of vertebral levels operated on.

 

https://www.balancedback.com/results

Does this mean they perform the surgery on 79 patients per month or that they have performed the surgery on 79 patients in total?  I suspect the latter.

Edited August 24, 2019 by Palimpsest

[squiddysquid]

79 patients is not much... What year did they start doing that? I'd be worried about long-term outcomes...

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of the concept. Though I'm not a surgeon, so I'm not sure how safe the whole contraption is. Spinal fusion surely isn't the perfect solution but I'd like my spinal cord quite stable in there John... This is not a non-FDA-approved procedure I'd choose to be a Guinea pig in...

55.000,- for the surgery and everything else seems quite cheap. Either John is lying or there's a good reason for the discount price

Edited August 24, 2019 by squiddysquid
Wat what

[Palimpsest]

23 minutes ago, squiddysquid said:

55.000,- for the surgery and everything else seems quite cheap. Either John is lying or there's a good reason for the discount price

That was the "typical" estimate from the BalancedBack site, not John.  John will never admit to how much this cost.

They do other spine surgery there too, not just the experimental implants.  I expect John's surgery was much more expensive because he had 3 implants.   And someone paid for Rick Shrader's travel expenses and accommodation too.

It isn't clear yet to me how many people have had this surgery.  It may be more than 79.  I'm still researching Drs Hodges and Humphreys.

 

Edited August 24, 2019 by Palimpsest
spelling

[Howl]

This is getting more fascinating by the moment!  

16 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

This team is amazing, God fearing people that truly care, have amazing skill and knowledge, and are part of my medical miracle.

Is it possible that Grifter John wrangled free surgery through his World's Worst Missionary™ status?

I do find this interesting. The main doctor who did Bro Shrader's surgery is interested in minimally invasive surgical procedures, which I truly hope is the wave of the future. 

A few years ago, I met a guy in his sixties (triathlete) who had a minimally invasive total knee replacement and his recovery was amazingly quick.  The surgery was outpatient and he was back to running in less than two months.  Here's a bio on his surgeon, who pioneered this technique. 

Hubs is in the midst of recovery from a partial knee replacement, regular style, and I wish we'd had the option for a minimally invasive procedure.  

Again, I truly hope that John has a positive outcome from this procedure.  I also hope that it renders him sterile, but that's another story. 

Edited August 24, 2019 by Howl

[Palimpsest]

OK.  This is as much research as I have time for right now.

• Drs Hodges and Humphreys are indeed well qualified surgeons.  They are not quacks.
• They've been developing this implant for "many years."
• They have been performing this surgery for about 10 years, beginning in South Africa.  It is still not clear how many total patients have had this surgery.
• They are now in the Caymen Islands to "offer this surgery at affordable rates" to Americans with money.  
• This discounted price is so they can build up clinical data. 
• They have not yet even developed or filed a clinical study in the US to apply for FDA approval.  No wonder I couldn't find an application or any clinical trials.
• I checked a few medical journals without success in finding professional articles authored by them to bolster up their claims.  But I didn't spend much time on that.

Now I can understand why when you have a spiffy new "medical breakthrough" the FDA process is incredibly onerous.  I can understand the frustration of patients wanting the new technology when it doesn't yet have FDA approval.

But FDA approval has a purpose.  This surgery's success and the longevity of the implants are not guaranteed at all.  There is an aspect of "you get what you pay for."  Or, in John Shrader's case, you get what someone else has paid for.

So, as @squiddysquid says, Johnny is a guinea pig.  And if something goes wrong with his implants he may decide these doctors are possessed by Satan.

Also the lack of professional articles troubles me, but I did not do a long search at all.  This does not count as a "professional" article.  It is a puff piece by Dr Humphreys justifying why they are performing this surgery without FDA approval.  On their glossy site. 

https://www.balancedback.com/blog/total-disc-replacement-surgery

And I do have serious ethical concerns about this overseas "collection of data" at cheap rates.  Mileage may vary on that.  

 

[squiddysquid]

On 8/15/2019 at 9:21 PM, ViolaSebastian said:

Yeah, God forbid he tell people that he just needs a common, run-of-the-mill back surgery with a brief recovery time and let his record of his actual conversions speak for itself. 

 

On 8/14/2019 at 6:43 PM, Palimpsest said:

But Bro. Nate Holmes has found a Godly team and an even more Godly surgeon who are willing to do complex back surgery on an emergency basis.  Apparently somewhere in British Oceanic Territory.  For John Shrader.  It all sounds fishy.

And color me even more skeptical. 

 

1

 

On 8/15/2019 at 9:21 PM, ViolaSebastian said:

Yeah, God forbid he tell people that he just needs a common, run-of-the-mill back surgery with a brief recovery time and let his record of his actual conversions speak for itself. 

So assuming daddy Shrader's congregation had to pay for all of this, were they given any details, or was it just cheap surgery in the "British Oceanic Territory" bullshit.

I doubt they would have been willing to foot the bill for "special experimental procedure in the Cayman Island plus traveling costs for daddy to tag along".

[DarkAnts]

This quote from their justification article stood out. "The process is highly uncertain, because requirements such as “valid scientific evidence” are not well defined." They are basically saying they themselves don't understand the scientific method. 

 

I understand that they may not have money for proper clinical trials. But, they could patent their product and Find a way to fund them such as selling the patent to a company that can afford to do clinical trials.

They are outright lying about the Cayman Islands having a similar process in place as the FDA. Europe and Great Britain do have an equally strict process and an organization like the FDA. It's called the European Medical Agency. They align with with the FDA about 90% of the time and the procedures are basically the same for getting a medical device on the market. The Cayman Islands are not under that umbrella.  

Edited August 24, 2019 by DarkAnts

[Howl]

From NPR a few weeks ago: 

How the Cayman Islands could become a new health care destination

Aug 7, 2019 6:20 PM EDT  

[Aine]

The Cayman Islands can provide cheaper healthcare of the same quality as the US because healthcare doesn't really cost what people pay here, even the price after the insurance companies do their thing to bargain it down is outlandish compared to just about everywhere else in the world.

I just ran a search across scientific/medical journals, and Scott Hodges is widely published in the orthopedic surgery literature and in many peer-reviewed high impact or respected journals. I don't doubt he understands the scientific method. He has also published at least one article (multiple other well-published in academia co-authors) about the redundancy of a significant portion of the orthopedic surgery literature. I know this is the case in other areas of scientific literature, including my own, and it's a brave study to conduct and then submit for publication. It is hard to conduct large scale RCTs when certain institutions are more likely to win the large federal grants (due to name recognition or the people allocating grants having previously worked at some of those 'big name' places) and it does stifle science sometimes. Additionally, many peer reviewers are going to be academics working on similar studies to the one they are reviewing and academia is backstabbing as all hell.

I'll continue my comments a bit later- need to go and find an affordable car to buy seeing as mine has died on me. ?

[gustava]

8 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

Private pay only.

He doesn't deserve this support.

[Palimpsest]

3 hours ago, Aine said:

The Cayman Islands can provide cheaper healthcare of the same quality as the US because healthcare doesn't really cost what people pay here, even the price after the insurance companies do their thing to bargain it down is outlandish compared to just about everywhere else in the world.

I just ran a search across scientific/medical journals, and Scott Hodges is widely published in the orthopedic surgery literature and in many peer-reviewed high impact or respected journals. I don't doubt he understands the scientific method. He has also published at least one article (multiple other well-published in academia co-authors) about the redundancy of a significant portion of the orthopedic surgery literature. I know this is the case in other areas of scientific literature, including my own, and it's a brave study to conduct and then submit for publication. It is hard to conduct large scale RCTs when certain institutions are more likely to win the large federal grants (due to name recognition or the people allocating grants having previously worked at some of those 'big name' places) and it does stifle science sometimes. Additionally, many peer reviewers are going to be academics working on similar studies to the one they are reviewing and academia is backstabbing as all hell.

I'll continue my comments a bit later- need to go and find an affordable car to buy seeing as mine has died on me. ?

Oh, good!  I'm glad you found some peer reviewed articles by Hodges.  I did a very short search.  Can you share the links, please? 

As to the rest, I said mileage might vary.  I'll hold off on the ethical discussion until you come back with further comments.

Good luck with finding an affordable car.   

[Curious]

On 8/24/2019 at 7:39 AM, Palimpsest said:

Does this mean they perform the surgery on 79 patients per month or that they have performed the surgery on 79 patients in total?  I suspect the latter.

They have conflicting information on that page.  It says it will be updated and you can check previous months at a link "below" but there is no link.   Based on the wording I would say it's 79 patients total, but that doesn't seem like many in 12 years.   Of course, not that many people are going to be able to fly to the Camen Islands and pay $55,000 out of pocket for an experimental surgery most likely.

The text under the 79/102 graphic makes it sound like they preform 79 operations a month, which I'm sure is more than possible.

Him saying that fusions lead to more surgeries is mostly true, but that is true of virtually *every* kind of back surgery.   Years before I had my first surgery (in 1997) I was told that once you have any type of back surgery you can expect to have another surgery around 10 years later from that point on.

For me, that has held mostlyish true.  I have had surgeries in 1997, 2005 and 2014/15 (2 part fusion).  Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to make it that long before the next one.  At this point, I just want to make it though to where I'm not forced into one somewhere between 70 and 80.  I don't think I have the same endurance that RBG does! 

[Curious]

On 8/24/2019 at 9:03 AM, Howl said:

A few years ago, I met a guy in his sixties (triathlete) who had a minimally invasive total knee replacement and his recovery was amazingly quick.  The surgery was outpatient and he was back to running in less than two months.

My son's father had this done maybe 10 months ago.  When he told me it was outpatient I was super leery.  It did not sound at all safe to me.   I worry about complications being a zebra*   He said the first few days were pretty rough, but he was back to work (asst manager at McDonalds so on his feet the majority of the time) in around 3 weeks.   He has had no problems and says he feels great.

He's a bit of a wuss when it comes to pain so it can't have been terribly painful after the first few days as he said he wasn't even taking ibuprofen.

I would still be leery about doing something that serious outpatient for *me* but I'm all for it for people that don't run into complications at every turn.  It's quite an amazing advancement.

 

*For those that don't know what I mean by a zebra.  There is a saying that goes "if you hear hoofbeats you look for horses, not zebras"     Wow there is actually a wiki about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_(medicine)

[Howl]

1 hour ago, Curious said:

I would still be leery about doing something that serious outpatient

Less time in a hospital means less exposure to hospital-acquired infections. 

Edited August 25, 2019 by Howl

[Curious]

6 hours ago, Howl said:

Less time in a hospital means less exposure to hospital-acquired infections. 

This is true.  I am already MRSA colonized so I'm not sure if I can get it again or not.  They are not even sure if I still have it or not (hence colonized).   For me, if I'm going to have complications it generally hits me the day or so after surgery and is more likely to be from anesthesia than the surgery itself.

I have so far been blessedly lucky (touch wood) and never had any kind of problems in a surgical site.

I've had several outpatient procedures successfully and if anesthesia is short (say under 2 hours) then I seem to have no problems.  If they are longer, as spinal surgery tends to be then my lungs go all special snowflake.  At this point, I am just left on a ventilator as a precaution if surgery lasts for an extended period.   I'm fine with this because I've been on a vent enough now that even when just waking up I know what's going on and it's less stressful than suddenly not being able to breathe if things go pear-shaped.

[Howl]

The Cayman Islands are tiny, with the largest 22 mi long x 4 mi across, and way out in the ocean, far away even from the next largest island.  I can't imagine what would happen if they got a direct hit from a Cat 5 hurricane.  I wonder if they give a discount if your schedule your surgery during hurricane season. 

[Palimpsest]

John thanks his prayer warriors.

Quote

Thank you again everyone for the outpouring of love, encouragement, care and most importantly prayer! You truly have no idea just how precious it has been...and a true blessing to Esther and myself. One of the Therapists said to me yesterday, "It's obvious you have a lot of people praying for you!" AMEN!!! To God be the glory alone! - js

"To God be the glory alone."  None for the surgeons, nurses, and physical therapists.  None for whoever is paying for all John's treatment.  That is so precious and a real blessing for everyone who has helped with all of this.

If I prayed, I'd pray for John to show love and appreciation for all the medical staff who went to real universities and studied very hard for years in order to give him his medical miracle.

But to God be the glory alone.

 

Edited August 26, 2019 by Palimpsest

[EyesOpen]

I mean so does he actually just use the word ‘prayer’ for cold hard cash?