"The large glomus tumor was removed and for the first time in years I was free of its horrible pain. It has been seven weeks since the surgery and my thumb is returning to normal."

"Eight other doctors, affiliated with four other teaching hospitals in New York City, diagnosed my problem as stemming from a herniated disk compressing the nerve at the L5/S1 level. Why is it significant that Dr. Waldman made his diagnosis on Tuesday, April 9th? Because two surgeons, one specializing in neurosurgery and the second in minimally invasive spine surgery, were originally scheduled to operate on my back that day."

"It was August 13, 2005 and what a perfect day it was to play soccer. I remember everything about that day. During my first game of the tournament; my teammate passed me a through ball, I ran onto it, and for some reason I still don’t understand I slid to get the ball, and as I did the other teams keeper came out to get the ball, and we collided. Here I was 65 pounds soaking wet, going up against someone who was twice my size, so you can bet the outcome wasn’t very good."







"I was an ardent yoga practitioner for many years and avid hiker until black ice brought me down. Not in an ashram or on a mountain but right on Fifth Avenue and 13th St. I realized what had happened -- a broken kneecap -- and that I couldn’t get up. I once thought I would never cross the street without crutches again, but now I’m back on the mountain!"

"My game is not a sport. It's the game of life. I have an autoimmune disease called myositis. My treatment includes oral prednisone and monthly infusions of IVIG. When I first got sick almost 20 years ago I was 44. I was an elementary school teacher but had to leave due to extreme weakness in my arms and legs. I could barely walk or bathe myself. I refused to just give in to the disease and view my life as over. "











