Tony
TONY’s active life took an urgent bad turn from something as simple as rolling over in bed and trying to pull up some covers. “I felt a painful twinge in my upper back,” Tony remembers. “I had been struggling with some annoying upper back pain symptoms for several weeks, but now I knew something major had happened from just rolling over on my shoulder in bed.”
Tony quickly set up a trip to the doctor and had an MRI diagnostic test. “At first they thought I might have a broken shoulder. I had a loss of strength on one side, which then worsened causing excruciating pain in the upper left arm, extending down to numbness in my fingers. I noticed it was worsening as I’d drop things out of my grip. Ultimately, the doctors determined that the symptoms were coming from my neck.”
Tony was referred to two spine surgeons by his personal doctor. “The first doctor immediately wanted to set up neck surgery immediately,” Tony recalls. “But his urgency scared me. I had never had a major surgery before in my life. The second appointment was with Dr. Jatana who wasn’t so quick to jump to surgery. He suggested a spinal injection as a non-surgical option, but that didn’t relieve the pain. He also recommended a nerve diagnostic text to make sure that it wasn’t some other issue in my hand like carpal tunnel. Ultimately, he confirmed that the herniated discs were the source of the problem and that artificial disc surgery would relieve the symptoms while retaining the natural motion in my neck which was needed for biking. I liked how Dr. Jatana was direct and explained everything.”
Tony had surgery to address the two herniated discs in his neck at C5-6 and C6-7. “Dr. Jatana recommended the ProDisc-C-SK,” Tony notes.
“This was the first major surgery of my life so I was nervous. But from the moment I woke up after the surgery, I had instant relief of neck pain.”
After surgery, Tony is back to doing all his normal recreational activities including weight lifting and biking. “With the neck symptoms, I really missed my long bike rides in the mountains,” he says. “Now I’m back to riding. Next week I’m doing my first 80-mile bike race through several mountain passes.”
