We moved up Rick’s microdiscectomy surgery to yesterday, since he just could not take the pain any longer.
He tried an epidural injection, but it did not give him any relief.
He works as an attorney, and the pain is making work and family life very unbearable.
As shown in attached photographs, he had a HUGE disc herniation, with a picture of the actual disc material showing it was over an inch long!
His Left S1 nerve root sure looked a lot happier after getting that huge pebble removed from underneath it.
When I saw Rick an hour after surgery, he said his agonizing leg pain was gone.
His wife Lisa is excited to get her old husband back, who has been not doing well for a couple months with this severe pain.
Lisa and Rick went home this morning, but emailed me earlier this morning as shown below:
Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
Raleigh, NC USA
http://www.HeyClinic.com
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Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:41:29 -0400
To: "Dr. Lloyd Hey"
Subject: Relief
Dr. Hey:
I feel much better! Thanks so much.
Rick
Sent via BlackBerry from SunCom Wireless
Breanna did very well with her scoliosis surgery today.
Her estimated blood loss (EBL) was 325 cc.
Surgical time was 3 hours 45 minutes.
Levels fused: T5-L3.
Correction: More than 90%.
Evoked Potential Motor and Sensory: Actually improved with scoliosis correction.
Technique: thoracic and lumbar pedicle screws.
Breanna was resting comfortably this evening with her mom in the room overnight.
Tomorrow she will start to get up and around!
Her mom and dad were both very excited to see the pre vs. post X-Ray, which we actually taped to Breanna’s window in her private room so she could see the big change when she got to the room this afternoon.
Lloyd A. Hey, MD MS
http://www.heyclinic.com
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
Raleigh, NC USA
Valerie, a young lady who just turned 13 years old a few days ago, is now a little more than 48 hours after the adolescent scoliosis surgical correction we performed for her Monday.
She has been up walking the halls, wearing her pajamas and T-shirts, and visiting with family and friends. She has been able to advance up on her diet, and has not had significant nausea.
Her posture looks just great, and all of her tubes have been removed by this morning. She has required no blood transfusions, and has slept well, and has not been dizzy. Her pain level, in general, has been quite reasonable with some pain and spasm medications.
She went to the Home Bound Room today, and got her height measured: She was totally psyched to find out that she had a growth spurt Monday with her surgery: she is now an inch and 3/4 taller than she was just before she came to the hospital! By straightening out her scoliosis, she gained this additional height. Her before vs. after posture shows a dramatic improvement as well.
Valerie is going home tomorrow morning, after one more session of physical and occupational therapy.
Valerie asked to get a picture with me, after I took a picture with her and her whole family.
Looking good Valerie!
Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
Raleigh, NC USA
http://www.heyclinic.com
After helping Valerie who just turned 13 this morning, this afternoon we helped Duane (age 72!) , who has extreme difficulty walking, due to multilevel lumbar scoliosis, flat back syndrome, and severe spinal stenosis. The combination of his Parkinson’s disease with these spinal problems has really made it tough for him to get around, with leg weakness, clumsiness, and back and leg pain.
Surgery today went just great.
Fusion goes from T12 to Iliac wing bilaterally.
Laminectomy is from L2 through L5. The stenosis was quite severe at multiple levels.
Two posterior osteotomies were performed to help improve his lumbar lordosis and standing posture.
Intra-operative X-Rays show excellent correction of his spinal deformity in both AP and Lateral planes.
Surgical time was 3 hours and 45 minutes.
No blood transfusions were needed.
No TLIF was needed, since L5S1 junction was already quite stiff and stable.
His wife was quite amazed by the deformity correction when I showed her the X-Rays in the conference room immediately after surgery.
I saw Duane in the recovery room (PACU) around 7:30 pm, and he was awake, comfortable, and doing very well.
Duane and Betty wanted to send word to their son in Washington DC that everything is fine, and wanted me to put these X-Rays up there so he could see.
Lloyd A. Hey, MD MS
http://www.heyclinic.com
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
Raleigh, NC USA
Valerie, who just turned 13 a few days ago, and has been followed at Hey Clinic by Brittany, one of my wonderful PA’s, for her scoliosis over this past year. Unfortunately, her curve has progressed significantly, beyond the realm of bracing, and today she had it fixed!
Valerie was a real trooper this morning in Preop. We purposely did not do any needle sticks, or intravenous lines until she was “asleep” in the operating room. She does NOT like needles! Her mom and dad were able to stay with her in a private room in the preop area, until she went back for surgery. Ruth, one of our evoked potential monitoring techs put on a few of the “leads” on her head with some removable glue (and no needles!)
Her surgery went great, with an excellent correction using 2 titanium rods and thoracic pedicle screws.
Her surgery took 2 hours and 45 minutes, with an estimated blood loss (EBL) of approximately 600 cc, with approximately half of that “recycled” back to her as “cell saver” blood. No blood transfusions were needed. Her evoked potential (sensory and motor) were both normal during surgery.
Her mom and dad, Bob and Vickie gave a very big “WOW!” when I showed them the new X-Rays that I had just taken during surgery of her new shape.
Later on this afternoon, Valerie came up to her private room on the Duke Raleigh Orthopaedic floor, where her mom and dad were waiting for her. When I came up to round on her this evening around 7 pm, her nurse told me that Valerie was crying “tears of joy” when she was wheeled up to the room, just thankful that her scoliosis was now straight, and the waiting was over. Valerie was very psyched to see her new X-Ray, that her mom and dad showed her as soon as she got to the room. Mom will actually stay with her in this room in a real bed next to Valerie.
Edna, our Coordinator for the Orthopaedic Unit then took our team picture together, which is shown as well. Mom and Dad and Valerie all look very happy and relieved this evening! This is a good example of how a teenager feels a few hours after scoliosis surgery.
Lookin’ good Valerie!
Lloyd A. Hey, MD MS
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
http://www.heyclinic.com
Raleigh, NC USA
It has been a few weeks since I have had a chance to catch up with the Spine Blog, although there has a lot of things going on, which I will try to catch up on in the next couple of weeks.
I also got a chance to take off for a few days and watch my son play lacrosse in Charlotte, and then go and see some colleges, and have some “guy time” on the road --- a great break last week.
The 3 weeks before I went away for a few days were quite busy, which usually means that instead of writing the Blog, I am coming home to help out at home, and then going to bed!
In any case, I wanted to wish a very happy 1 year Anniversary to Bonnie, who had her scoliosis fixed a year ago, and now looks and feels great. It was great to see you with your daughter, Bonnie!
Take Care,
Dr. Hey
http://www.heyclinic.com
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
Raleigh, NC USA
