Pam
PAM’s active life changed unexpectedly from something as simple as lifting her dog to help it outside. The elderly dog had become incontinent and Pam was helping it outside before it had another accident in the house. The dog however squirmed in her arms. “I felt an immediate twinge in my neck and shoulder area,” Pam remembers. “It felt like I tweaked something. I wasn’t too concerned at the time, but the pain in the neck and shoulder got significantly worse over the next few months. I had a cortisone shot, but it progressively got worse until the pain started to shoot down my arm. The pain became so intense it was sometimes bringing me to tears. It felt like I had liquid lava going down my arm.”
As an active outdoors person who rode horses, did kayaking and loved swimming, Pam was now unable to do any of her favorite activities.
She went to an orthopedic surgeon who first thought the pain was coming from the shoulder area, but all his recommended solutions provided no relief. Pam then tried a pain management physician, who suspected the pain was originating from a herniated disc in her neck.
“I was supposed to go to Italy with my husband to celebrate his retirement,” Pam remembers. “We had to cancel our trip because the pain was so bad. I couldn’t hold a coffee cup or write. My pain management doctor tried some steroid shots and nerve conduction tests. Ultimately he said I probably needed neck surgery. I asked him which back doctor in the Denver area he recommended. He said ‘hands down, the best spine surgeon in Denver was Dr. Jatana.’ That gave me an immediate comfort level.”
Pam traveled into Denver for an appointment with Dr. Jatana. “Dr. Jatana did various diagnostic studies and concluded that I had a herniated disc in my neck. Since the non-surgical options I had tried were not working, he felt like neck surgery was the appropriate next step. Dr. Jatana recommended an artificial disc to replace the herniated disc in my neck. I agreed completely as I had a friend who had a neck fusion and she was unable to return to things like swimming where the neck needs to rotate. I wanted to go back to swimming and things like that, and the artificial disc would preserve my natural motion.”
“I also loved that he was very confident that surgery would completely relieve all the pain symptoms,” Pam remembers. “He said, ‘When you wake up after surgery your will have absolutely zero pain.’ And he did not lie. I woke up after surgery and my pain was gone. Dr. Jatana was a godsend for me, as I finally got my life back. We were able to go on the trip to Italy, which turned out to be the best trip of our lives. Dr. Jatana was the best thing that ever happened to me. I have no more pain. I went through 18 months of hell because no doctor could figure out what was wrong with me. I was a pretty active person, I like horses, kayaking and hiking. And I like to swim. Now I’m back to all those things I love. I’m back to swimming and my neck feels great again.
