My Comeback Story: Richard S.

My story began Saturday morning before Thanksgiving, 2024. Actually my issue was years in the making but I had been living with back pain accepting it as a natural part of aging. That Saturday morning I woke up and stretched in bed and felt an instant bolt of pain. I got out of bed and couldn’t stand up straight. The pain was intense and constant. I took some ibuprofen and later in the morning the pain lessened a bit. I still couldn’t stand up straight. I was able to get in to see my GP early the next week and was advised to ice my back and rest. No change. Then a steroid course. That provided temporary relief which ended during the taper off. MRI was then ordered which revealed a dramatically blown up disc between L2-L3. My GP immediately contacted Dr. Cason for a consult. I was in Dr. Cason’s office the next day. His staff watched me come in to see if I was walking. I was on my feet with the help of a walker, but I wouldn’t call it walking. I guess word was that my situation was especially dire. Dr. Cason showed me the pictures of the MRI and pointed out the problem. The disc had disintegrated and the vertebrae had shifted putting pressure on my spinal cord. That explained the loss of function I was beginning to experience in my lower legs. Dr. Cason said it was the worse disc failure he had seen. I was scheduled for surgery at the earliest opportunity. I was nervous about surgery but here was no other option. I was losing function in both legs, muscle was melting off, and numbness was spreading. The pre op visit at the hospital was as good but I was down to riding a wheelchair by then. Walking was out of the question. Surgery day came and my wife rolled me to the appointment and things happened pretty quickly. A nurse prepped me, my wife hugged me, and anesthesia came in and gave me a shot and the next thing I knew I was in recovery. My hospital stay was short and blurry. My nurse wife got me home ASAP and took the best care of me I could imagine. I could tolerate my body being straight which was a good change. Dr Cason told me in the hospital the surgery went well but there was a lot of damage and time would tell what full recovery would look like. Back at home, I slept a lot the first 2 weeks. My legs were so weak just standing was a chore. I had a pain that occurred in response to certain movements that was also like a lightening bolt but was brief but it would take my breath away. That pain gradually disappeared and I was going farther and farther with my walker. I remember looking at my mailbox at the end of my drive way, telling my wife “one day I’m going all the way to the mail box and back”. After the first 2 or 3 weeks post op improvement came daily. At more than one point I wondered if I’d ever walk again. I may have cried on several occasions wondering how able I would be in the long run. We have a farm I love and I feared not being able to do the work there that I love. Well, one day I walked across the living room without the walker. You would have thought I had just completed a marathon. I was so proud. At this point I could stand up straight and my legs were getting stronger. I had started to have foot drop in my left foot before surgery and that was going away. I was now able to raise the toes on that foot again. I continued to improve and was walking farther each week. I soon ditched my walker and started using my old ski poles for support. I have always been athletic so as I improved physically I saw getting back to “normal” an event to train for. Which I did. When I was strong enough, I got to go to PT. That helped a ton. By the time that was finished I could accompany my wife to the store without support to walk with. Here I am 12 months from the disc blowing up and around 11 post op. I am in better condition than before the disc event. I walked around an 80 acre block of our property that is very swampy two days ago. I can do all the farm work I used to do. I can throw a cast net like before, I just got the Christmas lights up on the house. Things are good. Improvement is still occurring, most of the numb places I had have feeling now. Stiffness is better. I can put my socks on and tie shoes without complaint. My dogs like that I am able to get on the floor and play with them again. I don’t have a choice about surgery but it made me better than before. Dr. Cason is on my hero and Christmas card list. He is a fine surgeon. I was lucky to get him. His P.A. Danny is awesome as well. Also, my surgery took place just before Christmas last year. Some of Dr. Cason’s surgical team had to delay holiday plans for my surgery. Thank you all for your care. I turned 70 this summer and feel better than the last several years. Every day matters and Dr. Cason and his team have made my days much better.