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andy's story ::: degenerative disc
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“One of best things about my outcome is that I don’t require any narcotics,” Andy says. “I don’t take any pain meds, and I don’t go to pain management. I take an occasional ibuprofen, but that’s all I need. My back surgery definitely hasn’t stopped me.” |
Andy never saw it coming. The accident, like so many others, happened in the blink of an eye. The convertible crashed violently into the right front of Andy’s car, snapping his body sideways while his hips remained secure in the seatbelt. Andy’s back was sore afterward, but not unbearably so. “It didn’t hurt bad at first,” he recalls. “Then I couldn’t get out of bed. It would take me a good five minutes to get out of bed. It got progressively worse.” Twelve weeks later, in February 2004, Andy sought medical help. Andy’s doctor, a neurologist, prescribed the first wave of treatments, which were intentionally conservative: physical therapy, three sets of epidural steroid injections in the spine, and traction. When Andy did not improve, the neurologist knew that a more aggressive treatment probably would be necessary. He referred Andy to Dr. Charles Kuntz IV, a neurosurgeon with the Mayfield Clinic and the Director of Spine and Peripheral Nerve Surgery at the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute. Dr. Kuntz discovered through diagnostic tests that the source of Andy’s back pain was more complicated than initially realized. Although Andy was only 33, he suffered from degenerative disc disease, a condition in which age and wear and tear cause intervertebral discs to dry out, shrink, and generally break down. The automobile collision, in addition to causing new injuries, also aggravated an existing condition. Andy prepared himself mentally for spinal fusion, the traditional treatment for degenerative disc disease. The timing of Andy’s treatment, however, coincided with the Mayfield Clinic’s participation in the FlexiCore Intervertebral Disc Clinical Trial. The multi-site trial, which is no longer open to enrollment, seeks to determine whether symptom relief provided by the FlexiCore artificial disc is better, worse, or the same as fusion surgery and whether patients receiving the FlexiCore disc will maintain motion of their vertebrae. Patients who have undergone fusion have little or no motion at the fusion site. Both treatments -- disc replacement and fusion – are expected to relieve pain and the symptoms of nerve irritation, while halting the progression of any present symptoms related to the spine. Andy hoped that the artificial disc technology would allow him to play golf again and help him maintain his range of motion. He wasn’t disappointed. Four and a half years later, he enjoys playing nine holes of golf and hiking and fly-fishing in the Smoky Mountains. “One of best things about my outcome is that I don’t require any narcotics,” Andy says. “I don’t take any pain meds, and I don’t go to pain management. I take an occasional ibuprofen, but that’s all I need. My back surgery definitely hasn’t stopped me.”
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