Fit Former Gymnast Saved From Terrible Back Pain Recovers from Surgery Without Narcotics
The Story of MELANIE LEE
As fit and healthy as she was, Melanie Lee never thought she’d have debilitating back pain. But when she woke up one morning with pain inexplicably shooting through her lower back and down her legs, she realized just how awful severe back pain could be.
As a former competitive gymnast, someone who lifts weights regularly, runs, wakeboards, snowboards, jumps off rocks and cliffs, and rides snowmobiles, Melanie admits she never really understood people with back pain.
“I didn’t understand the concept of not being able to function. I just couldn’t wrap my brain around it until it happened to me.”
Her initial reaction to the pain was to take some ibuprofen and expect it to go away in a few hours. But this was a different kind of pain. She tried stretching out the pain. She went to the physical therapist. She got stretched out by her chiropractor. But nothing helped. By this time, the pain was throbbing so badly she couldn’t do much of anything. She couldn’t even bend to put her on her own socks.
After 2 weeks of trying to manage the pain, she went to the doctor to see what could be done. An MRI showed that Melanie had ruptured a disc in her back.
Melanie came to Summit to meet Dr. John Edwards, who recommended a discectomy to solve her disc herniation. Immediately after surgery, Melanie stood up and felt phenomenal.
She was thrilled to have her mobility back. Until one morning just 5 months later…
She woke up with a tingling sensation in her back. It began zapping her with pain all the way down from her backside to her calf. And it wouldn’t go away. Now she was worried she’d ruptured the disc above the one she’d just had fixed.
It turned out that she’d ruptured the same disc again. But how could that be? She hadn’t done any lifting since her surgery. She wasn’t running or doing any of her old activities. How could this be happening again? And even after some relief from a mixed steroid and cortisone injection, the pain returned full blast.
When she went to see Dr. Edwards again, she was afraid he would recommend a disc fusion. She did not want to lose her mobility. Dr. Edwards told her she could either get a fusion or have a complete disc replacement. He said, “if you were my own mother, I’d recommend you have the disc replacement.” So that’s what she decided to do.
“Surgery was absolutely FANTASTIC! I have more energy, and I didn’t even have to take narcotics at all!”
Melanie was really worried that they’d have to cut through her abdominal muscles. She was also concerned about narcotics. But the procedure was minimally invasive and didn’t require cutting her abdominals. And she was able to recover with only Tylenol.
“It’s unbelievable how good I feel. I have zero pain. I’m walking, moving, going up and down stairs, and within a week of surgery, I went from walking 4 blocks to walking a mile every day!”
To Melanie, this is nothing short of a miracle. She’s returned to her active life. She can bend down, do squats, and do knee-highs. She has great balance again and can put all her weight on the foot that used to give her such tremendous pain.
“Having two surgeries within seven months was devastating. But I cannot even tell you how much better this makes me feel, for reals!”
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