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This is a good one right here to start with. It shows an extreme view of how much I was
leaning.
Mr. Stark had a degenerative scoliosis, which means that he had an abnormal curvature of
his spine when you look at his spine from the front view. And, he was stuck in this
position and he couldn't stand up straight at all.
I was in serious back pain.
Each year it would get progressively worse. He got tired to the point to where he was
on so much pain medication he didn't have a quality of life.
A lot of changes occur in the spine that are very common as we get a little bit older.
The discs start degenerating, some of this degeneration and collapse can occur asymmetrically,
so the cushioning between the bones is no longer there. Plus, all the arthritis there
to begin with, and all these things were combining, to cause him a lot of problems.
It got so bad that I felt I had to do something about it. I have a pain doctor that recommended
Dr. Ivan Chang at Stanford. We went to see him and, he was right on from the beginning.
This is a type of complex deformity that probably, the majority of surgeons, either are not willing,
or are not trained, to treat. It certainly is in the higher end of challenge in terms
of spine surgery.
Dr. Chang came in. He pulled everything up on the computer. He explained everything,
He didn't hold back.
Dr. Chang made you feel like, "Let's go take care of it. Everything will be all right."
We booked the operation and I thought it was going to be actually, a one-year recovery.
I mean, look at him. Seven months. I mean after a month he was up. He was so well taken
care of.
There are multiple advances in spine surgery that make major undertakings like this much
more tolerable for patients. We have better implants these days that can really achieve
greater correction of these spinal deformities with less work. Plus these minimally invasive
techniques, while we can achieve the same amount of correction, we minimize the amount
of blood loss, minimize the amount of anesthesia, and I think, it really, enhances their recovery
rate. We were able to get Mr. Stark up in, in, the day after surgery.
When Dr. Chang was finished, here's the new Jerry Stark.
And now you can see, not only the extent of the surgery, including all the instrumentation
and all the metal, but you can see overall, how better aligned he is now.
You know, we can look at all the x-rays we want, but looking at him clinically, he's
walking independently, and he is one of the happiest patients I can imagine.
It feels so good. It's like a new life. And, I feel good when I look in the mirror now.