Patient Spotlights
Patient Spotlight: Angie Mays
Angie loves kids, which is a good thing since she spends her days as a middle school teacher, and the rest of her time with her three teenage sons. Her family takes adventure to heart - bungee jumping in New Zealand, zip lining in Costa Rica, and hiking volcanoes in Iceland are all par for the course for the Mays. Two years ago, while in Puerto Rica hiking a waterfall, her boys encouraged her to slide down the natural rockslide they had just completed, so she did – and then hit the water too fast and knew she had hurt her neck. Her husband swam out to make sure she was ok, and she had to spend the rest of the vacation in the hotel room.
But as this tough mom and teacher does, she soldiered through when she got home. She tried massage, yoga, a chiropractor, but her neck hurt – all the time. She kept hoping it would get better, but the pain never went away, and then it traveled to her shoulder. She had to quit her beloved tennis team because she was having trouble swinging a racket, she couldn’t throw a ball with her boys, she started dropping things, and worst of all she was forced to become an observer of her family’s adventures instead of a participant. After two years like this, her tennis team gave her an ultimatum: they wanted her back, and she had to go see a doctor.
Angie’s husband is a psychiatrist, he and the other medical professionals in her family set her up with an orthopedic doctor specializing in shoulders. Tests proved the problem was not in her shoulder, but in her neck. Her husband asked around the medical community, “which spine doctor would you send your wife to?” and Dr. Jatana’s name came up repeatedly. Angie and her husband immediately liked Dr. Jatana, “he puts you at ease,” Angie says. Dr. Jatana gave Angie three options and explained them all to her at length. Angie had help making her decision by asking her follow-up questions to Heather Weber, Dr. Jatana’s Physician’s Assistant. Angie thinks, “Heather is the yang to Dr. Jatana’s yin; Heather is a ball of energy and Dr. Jatana is calm - they are a perfect team.”
Angie decided on a C5-6 artificial disc replacement surgery, which was performed on August 1. The surgery went seamlessly, Angie spent one night in the hospital, and didn’t have to take any narcotics, which she hates. Dr. Jatana prescribed motion, which was easy for this boy mom. She was walking half a mile after a week, a mile after two weeks, doing yoga after three weeks, and attended a four-day Phish concert, including all the dancing and standing, after a month. She says she didn’t realize how much the pain was affecting her life until after the surgery, “I felt like I was aging four months for every one month with pain, I felt decrepit and thought I had to accept that body, but I have a new lease on life after meeting Dr. Jatana.”
Yoga helped Angie get through the rough spots, she grew to relish the spiritual side of it. And now that she is free from neck pain, she wants to explore yoga more deeply. She cut sugar out of her diet as part of her recovery and has kept that up. She is happy to have her body back, and has a new respect for it.
Angie is grateful her tennis team made her seek medical help, and grateful she found Dr. Jatana. “Dr. Jatana is a skilled surgeon, but he is also a great person, I am honored to spread the word about him. I actually think my husband is tired of hearing about him!” Angie says. The Mays family will be traveling to Costa Rica this Thanksgiving, and Angie will be thankful to be back in the thick of it as a participant once more.
Patient Spotlight: Rachel Goldstein
Rachel recently returned from a trip to the Western Caribbean, where she enjoyed every minute of walking on the beach, exploring jungles, and climbing ancient ruins. She noticed the stark contrast from a cruise she took about a year ago. That trip was much different; she was in so much pain she didn’t enjoy anything.
Her unenjoyable 2023 cruise spurred 62-year-old Rachel into action. She had been dealing with leg pain and numbness for a long time and keeping it at bay with dry needling and physical therapy. But after Rachel couldn’t even walk through Costco, she knew she had to do more. She tried some injections that did not alleviate her pain, but her pain management doctor recommended Dr. Wong.
Rachel was surprised that Dr. Wong was so caring and personable, she says, “you don’t always find that kind, reassuring manner in surgeons.” Dr. Wong spent a lot of time with Rachel, “he helped me understand what was going on, and thoroughly explained what he could do to help me with my pain,” Rachel says. Rachel underwent a multi-level microdecompression and minimally invasive fusion surgery on October 9, 2023.
Rachel was thrilled her leg pain was gone after her surgery. She realized how miserable she had been when she took her first post-surgery shower and stood under the water with no pain or fear of falling that the pain used to cause.
Rachel says she started physical therapy, wore her brace, and “played by Dr. Wong’s rules of recovery.” It took a bit for Rachel to build up her stamina, but without the pain, she felt many more options were within her reach. “My happiest day was when I didn’t have to take my husband to the grocery store with me to help push the cart!” Rachel laughs.
These days Rachel walks her two Labradoodles, works full-time, and most importantly, is planning more trips. “I’m still young, I have a lot more to see and do,” Rachel says, “with Dr. Wong’s help, now I can.”
Patient Spotlight: Jan Kraus
Jan is a very self-sufficient 78-year-old from Ogallala, Nebraska, and she was NOT ready to “roll over and accept” her worsening health. After breaking her arm in August of 2023 and then suffering a stroke that affected her arm and leg, Jan made a full recovery. But then she was dismayed when she started having back and leg pain and an MRI showed severe spinal stenosis.
The pain in her back and leg progressively became worse. Jan tried injections, physical therapy, and even ketamine, with no relief. The pain meds she was forced to take “made me puffy and aged me,” she says. Over the next year the pain worsened; getting dressed and getting in and out of her car was a challenge and she had to use a cane or a walker. She had a lift installed on her stairs so she could remain in her home, and her son even installed a lift on the stairs in his home, so that his mom could continue to work for him in his home office.
But Jan refused to accept her worsening pain and the possibility of a wheelchair in her future, so she started looking for doctors in Denver, a larger market than Ogallala. Fusion surgery was recommended, but Jan was worried about the recovery from such a big surgery. She went to see Dr. Chris Johnson for another opinion and immediately knew he was different. “Dr. Johnson spent a long time with me,” Jan says, “he told me we should only do what was necessary.” Dr. Johnson said a microdecompression surgery would be less invasive and provide a shorter recovery period than a fusion surgery - and it would still get rid of Jan’s pain. Jan liked Dr. Johnson’s fresh, conservative approach and underwent an L5-S1 microdecompression surgery in November of 2023.
Jan woke up from surgery and was amazed when she could dress herself with no pain. “I didn’t need to spend even one night in the hospital,” so her son drove her back to her home that same day. “Dr. Johnson gave me detailed post-surgical instructions and I have followed them to a T,” Jan says, “including exercises to strengthen my core and improve my balance so I will remain independent in the future.”
Jan was thrilled when she could put away her cane and her walker. She “hops” into her car, and her stair lift only carries groceries now. She is back on her elliptical machine, works with a trainer, and best of all, she has more energy to devote to her job working part-time with her son.
Jan has no more back pain to this day. She has already recommended Dr. Johnson to others and thanks him for her “new lease on life.” She credits her “amazing recovery” to being proactive; “ask questions, find the right people, don’t settle when it comes to your body,” she says, “Dr. Johnson thinks differently and so do I.”
Patient Spotlight: Chad Burns
Chad is not your typical school Principal. He heads up Rocky Mountain School for Expeditionary Learning, which brings the value of Outward Bound to a school through expeditions including biking, canoeing, rafting, hiking, and camping for weeks at a time. Chad personifies this philosophy himself, a track and field athlete in high school and college, and an avid mountain and road biker, Chad leads students on many of the school’s outdoor adventures.
Chad met Dr. Ghiselli through a road biking group they were both a part of and Chad decided to see Dr. Ghiselli for an existing herniated disc at L4-L5. Dr. Ghiselli treated Chad’s spine conservatively, starting with non-surgical treatments like PT, steroids on occasion, and exercise – and they both monitored Chad’s spine for changes over the years. Chad’s back held up enough to earn him a State Championship in Cyclocross in 2009, and a State Championship in Short Track Mountain Biking in the same year. Chad completed the Leadville 100 mountain biking race three times, taking on the grueling 100-mile course with 12,000 feet of elevation gain, and winning the Big Belt Buckle award each time for finishing this endurance race in less than 9 hours.
Chad's herniated disc finally gave way and ruptured in July of 2021 while he was loading rafts on a gear truck after whitewater river rafting with his kids. The next day he knew something was wrong, he had lost feeling in his legs and control of his bowels. Dr. Ghiselli was out of town but told him to head to the emergency room, where Chad spent 24 hours. Dr. Ghiselli returned the next day and performed a microdiscectomy surgery to restore the function to his legs.
Surgery was successful and Chad felt immediately better but was told he had to wait 3-6 months before getting back on a bike. And then Chad knew it would take months to get back into his pre-surgery condition. So, Chad looked ahead and decided the Leadville 100 in August of 2023 was a goal he could work toward.
Chad worked with his PT and a specialty sports trainer for 6 months before getting back on his bike. He had check-ins with Dr. Ghiselli and slowly worked his way back to his pre-surgery shape. On July 9, 2023, with his wife, son, and daughter cheering him on, he completed the run-up race, the Silver Rush 50. And on August 12 Chad completed the Leadville 100, just shy of the 9-hour mark by 15 minutes.
Chad credits Dr. Ghiselli’s careful and conservative treatment for giving him the maximum time with his spine, and his skilled hands for fixing it when the time came. “Dr. Ghiselli’s team is top-notch, and his post-op follow-up treatment supported me through my entire recovery,” Chad says. Chad also says the $250,000 he and his First Descents teammates raised for the Leadville 100 toward beating childhood cancer was better than winning the Big Belt Buckle award anyway.
Patient Spotlight: Randy Kleiner
Randy Kleiner had a minor trip in his garage that turned into a major ordeal. After his fall, the right side of his body shut down - his right arm and leg were not responding at all - this earned him a trip in an ambulance. At the hospital, he was told he needed emergency surgery on his spine; he could do the surgery immediately or wait for the swelling to lessen. After a lot of consideration, he decided to wait.
Years of playing hockey, mountain biking, and snowboarding had taken a toll on Randy’s spine, causing severe stenosis, or narrowing of the spinal column, in his neck. His fall had caused swelling of the spinal cord, effectively paralyzing his right side temporarily.
Distraught by the thought of further injury or paralysis to his spine, he wore the neck collar constantly as he and his family researched doctors. His trusted family physician recommended Dr. Gary Ghiselli, and after visiting four doctors’ offices, Randy agreed. “Dr. Ghiselli considered me and what I wanted to do after surgery, he did not talk in the abstract about surgery, he talked about what surgery would do for me.” All of the doctors Randy saw diagnosed him with spinal stenosis exacerbated by his garage fall; but only Dr. Ghiselli recommended a hybrid surgery to fix the problem. Dr. Ghiselli recommended a fusion to stabilize Randy’s current spinal problem, and disc replacement to help prevent future injury.
Unfortunately, Randy’s health insurance didn’t initially approve Randy’s surgery, even though they agreed with Dr. Ghiselli’s hybrid approach. So, Chris Tomasi, Medical Assistant, went to work on Randy’s insurance – finally getting his treatment approved, but in two surgeries instead of one.
So, five weeks apart, Randy underwent a cervical fusion surgery in February, and then a cervical disc replacement surgery in March. The pain lessened significantly after the first one, Randy never needed even one narcotic pill. Randy’s wife made him take it easy because “I don’t have a patient bone in my body,” Randy says, and he regularly saw his physical therapist. Slowly, Randy regained his mobility, allowing for a return to his old life. Randy was just cleared for athletic activity; he hopes to play hockey and mountain bike again this fall and has plans for lots of paddleboarding and camping this summer.
“Dr. Ghiselli is a unicorn, it’s rare to find a doctor with the expertise you need, and the kindness you want,” Randy says. “I chose him because of his expertise, but his undivided attention and the patience and dedication of his team were an added benefit.”
Patient Spotlight: Mich Wagner
When Mich Wagner tells you he’s had 23 surgeries it seems incredible, then he tells you stories from his 20+ years as a police officer and SWAT team “Breacher” (the team member that breaks down the doors), and it starts to make sense. In 2003, Mich breached a door that was reinforced, which ruptured several vertebrae and caused him to undergo his first surgery. Mich’s surgeries haven’t been limited to his back - he’s also had two double knee replacements - but his back has given him the most trouble. He had seven back surgeries by age 30 and was getting used to always being the youngest guy in the doctor’s waiting room with the worst situation.
Mich’s life was busy outside the police force too, he and his wife have 18-year-old triplets and 8-year-old twins. All five conceived at once through in vitro, Mich says they have “quintuplets…born 10 years apart.” The twins were only two years old, and his wife, Rebecca, was a full-time attorney, when Mich’s pain and mobility slid from bad to worse. Mich had to quit the SWAT team but was still working full-time as a police officer. Slowly over the years, and six more back surgeries, he had to quit coaching his kids’ little league football - or even throwing a ball with them, they had to install a step-in shower so that he could shower by himself, and Rebecca had to miss a jury trial one day to take Mich to the hospital when he couldn’t get off the floor.
Mich’s in-laws knew he was struggling and suggested he try a new doctor; they recommended Dr. Sanjay Jatana. “Dr. Jatana is a different kind of doctor,” Mich says, “he changed my life.” Dr. Jatana realized how important Mich’s wife was to him and would be to his recovery. Dr. Jatana carefully recorded diagnoses and drew diagrams for Rebecca when she could not attend appointments. Mich was well past non-surgical options like injections, but they tried a few just to be sure. Then in September of 2022, Mich underwent an L1-L2 lumbar decompression, T11 – L2 fusion, and L2 – L4 hardware removal surgery with Dr. Jatana. Heather Weber, Dr. Jatana’s PA, explained the surgery took longer than expected because of extensive metallosis (metal debris embedded into his muscle and tissues from breakdown of his old spinal instrumentation).
Heather and Dr. Jatana “held on to me after surgery,” Mich says. Because of his condition prior to surgery, they knew his recovery would be harder than usual, so they saw him every two weeks and exchanged emails weekly discussing what pain was appropriate and what pain was cause for concern. And then, right when Dr. Jatana said he would, Mich began to feel better.
Rebecca, a partner in her law firm by now, finally convinced Mich to take a medical retirement from the police force, which was the best thing for his body and for his family. Now Mich gets to coach little league again, and volunteer at the twins’ school, and his flexibility and mobility are better than they have been in many years. Even with all his past medical challenges, and even though he says he “has more hardware than Robocop,” Mich feels blessed, “I don’t know what I did to deserve my wife, Rebecca,” he says, “and I don’t know where I would be without Dr. Jatana.”
Patient Spotlight: Had Beatty
Had Beatty is not your average 82-year-old. This retired lawyer stays active: he is a volunteer coordinator at a homeless shelter, a proud father and grandfather, and a pickleball enthusiast.
It was his pickleball group (they play three times per week) he missed the most when he started having back pain. He first noticed it in his glute, leg, and foot; the pain gave him trouble walking. Then he started having pain while sitting and lying down. Pretty soon he could barely walk at all and the only place he could sleep was in a reclining chair. He tried injections for several months, but they didn’t help.
His 60th wedding anniversary was coming up, and he and his wife had planned a 10-day trip to England, they were going to rent a car and drive to several spots in the country. But the prospect of sitting on a plane and in a car for that long seemed impossible to Had.
Had's primary care doctor recommended Dr. David Wong so Had scheduled an appointment. He was reassured by Dr. Wong’s professionalism and experience. Dr. Wong quickly diagnosed Had with spinal stenosis, which was compressing his nerves and causing the pain. Dr. Wong recommended a micro decompression surgery at L3-5 to fix it. Dr. Wong felt confident the surgery would eliminate the pain and Had could go on his anniversary trip.
When Had awoke from surgery he noticed the pain was gone. Dr. Wong reported that the nerves in Had’s back, which are supposed to look like flat shoelaces, were so inflamed that they instead looked like pinky fingers. Had felt he had been given “a new lease on life,” pickleball and his anniversary trip were suddenly back on his schedule. Had is very thankful for Dr. Wong and his team, “they are so responsive, they complement Dr. Wong’s excellence perfectly.”
Had and his wife had a wonderful time in England in July. He has completed his physical therapy, and now you can find Had on the pickleball court once again.
Patient Spotlight: Ken Gonzalez
“The most painful part of my surgery was removing the bandages from my skin,” is not what you’d expect to hear from a spine surgery patient eight weeks after surgery, but Ken Gonzalez says it’s true.
The 63-year-old electronics engineer had been enjoying his active lifestyle, and had even come out of retirement to work part-time due to a shortage of engineers. But his low-grade back pain that had been around for years, brought on by years of abuse from tackle football, skiing and dirt and street motorcycle riding, was becoming more present. Then Ken noticed he couldn’t shift his motorcycle with his left foot, and he was constantly tripping over it if he didn’t concentrate on picking it up. And it was becoming increasingly difficult to play his guitar because he had pins and needles in his fingers.
Ken stuck it out for a while, but when he couldn’t stand or walk for more than 15 minutes without stretching for relief, he started researching spine doctors. Ken’s cousin, an executive for a medical device company, recommended Dr. Sanjay Jatana.
Ken immediately liked Dr. Jatana, and Dr. Jatana recognized Ken needed a spinal decompression surgery. Ken was comforted by Dr. Jatana’s experience and liked the “Cadillac team” around him. Ken was actually excited to have spine surgery and underwent an L3-5 lumbar decompression surgery on January 18 of this year. Ken was surprised that the pain, the dropped left foot, and his tingling fingers all disappeared immediately after surgery. If it weren’t for the stubborn bandage on his back, he would have called the experience pain-free.
Ken’s recovery is ahead of schedule. He’s back at work. He is back on his motorcycle, properly shifting with his left foot now. He’s skiing again – cross country for now, and back to downhill hopefully next year. Reflecting on the process, Ken stresses the care he felt from every person on Dr. Jatana’s team, Ken says he owes his 5-star result to his 5-star doctor.
Patient Spotlight: Barbara Bess
One of the most active 74-year-olds you’ll ever meet, Barbara was adamant that pain wouldn’t cramp her lifestyle. And when we say active, we mean it. A past gymnast and competitive weightlifter (including a Ms. Universe Master’s title and an Arizona Dust Devil Master’s title), Barbara rides hard - road bikes, mountain bikes, motorized dirt bikes, even flexys (Google it, they’re wooden sleds with wheels).
So, when Barbara started making accommodations to her lifestyle for her pain, she thought she should seek help. She was misdiagnosed with bilateral hip problems and tried steroid injections; she tried physical therapy; she tried dry needling; she tried spinal injections. Nothing helped. Stairs were becoming a problem, getting into and out of bed was painful, she could barely mount her bikes, and the pain progressively got worse for 3 years; all the while Barbara refused to give up the beloved sports that both she and her husband enjoyed. It was and is their lifestyle. Barbara’s pain made her clumsy and forgetful; it was always at the forefront of her mind. Her husband was constantly worried about her when they were biking, but Barbara thought “I can’t just lie around, my clock is ticking, and I need to enjoy life while I can.”
Her son, a local orthopedic spine surgeon specializing in spinal deformities, recommended she see Dr. Ghiselli. Barbara immediately realized that Dr. Ghiselli was listening to her, he understood her passion for activity. When other practitioners told her “what did you expect with your lifestyle?” Dr. Ghiselli told her “I think surgery can help you do what you love without the pain.” And Chris Tomasi, Dr. Ghiselli’s Medical Assistant, helped, "she was wonder woman, she constantly kept me informed,” Barbara says.
So, Barbara listened to Dr. Ghiselli’s recommendation and had a 3-level decompression and instrumented fusion surgery in December of 2020. The pain was not gone right away; she needed a cane initially, but she weaned herself off pain meds and forced herself to start walking – around the house, then around the neighborhood – and after three weeks she was back on her mountain bike. Now her day-to-day pain is gone, she accepts her limits though: she “puts her feet up” after a black mountain bike run, she doesn’t lift anything heavy, and she has stopped running. Barbara says, “if just one other person can realize the relief I have as a direct result of Dr. Ghiselli’s surgery, I will be happy I told my story.”
The above photo was taken on her first black-rated dirt bike ride after her surgery. The joy and gratitude on her face are clear – happy she can do the things she loves, and thankful Dr. Ghiselli helped her get back to them without pain.
Patient Spotlight: Desiree Vassios Roosa
We recently received this update from our patient, Des, who had surgery with Dr. Jatana in June of last year. We are so happy she is free of pain and back to enjoying her corporate training job, her dogs - and more importantly, her life.
"Due to osteoporosis and degenerative disc disease; I have lived with chronic, severe neck pain for seven years and mild neck pain for 15 years prior to that. I am forever grateful for Dr. Jatana and the Mobi-C artificial discs, which gave me my life back. I searched for seven years to find him! Other doctors I tried only treated my symptoms with pain pills, they didn't correct the problem.
Chronic neck pain drains you physically, emotionally, and mentally so don’t wait to have a vertebra replaced. It’s an easy surgery and after recovery; I feel 20 years younger. No more pain pills. Why have your spine or neck soldered together when we have this kind of technology!
I also highly recommend Colorado Spine Partners because Toreen Orvid and Heather Weber run an efficient office and are highly competent. They listened and got me whatever I needed before, during, and after surgery. They were quick to respond and have a high level of customer service skills.
I swim for fun and have for the past 42 years. I am more of a water person than a mountain person, so I cannot wait for summer so I can swim again! Thank you!"
Patient Spotlight: Kelley Dean
Tenacious is a word everyone uses to describe Kelley. She credits a lifetime of sports – mostly softball – for making her tough, and her mom for making her a fighter. Tenacity has served her well, especially since her spinal cord injury 15 years ago. A fluke diving accident as she was entering the ocean at a New York beach snapped Kelley’s neck. She knew she was paralyzed as she floated face down in the water – luckily her friends noticed, and a chiropractor and a neurological nurse were nearby on the beach that day. They got her to an ambulance, and surgery to insert a titanium plate and stabilize her neck followed.
Kelley’s was an incomplete injury, so her spinal cord was not totally severed. She went to the Kessler Institute, where Christopher Reeve rehabilitated, and this is where her tenacity paid off. She noticed that other patients’ success was based on attitude and hard work – so she knew she had to be positive and work very hard – which she did for four months. She regained strength, built muscle and essentially became a walking quadriplegic. Now Kelley could walk with one arm cane, she could go up the 14 stairs in her home, and she could drive a car.
Kelley was enjoying her independent life with her wife and two dogs and her job at Home Depot, until she had a fall into some stairs in her garage while she was in a hurry. The fall increased the damage to her already compromised L5-S1 disc. Now she was in a lot of pain, she couldn’t sit, she couldn’t walk and lying in bed was her only comfortable position. It was a long 18 months of pain for a woman used to being independent. After only focusing on treatment for her pain, her friend recommended she see Dr. Gary Ghiselli. Dr. Ghiselli immediately understood that a spinal fusion surgery could increase Kelley’s stability and decrease her pain.
Kelley had the surgery three years ago. She said the decision was easy based on Dr. Ghiselli’s reputation and warmth, his “no bureaucracy” team (including her go-to Chris Tomasi), and the comfort she felt in their care. She says she “would recommend the ‘Ghiselli Package’ to anyone.” Once Kelley got her strength back, her athlete’s tenacity took over again – this time at Craig in Colorado. Without the pain, Kelley could focus on getting back to her previous activity level.
Kelley continues to persevere today, she returned to her job at Home Depot earlier this year and is working – very hard – toward getting back to her one arm cane and recovering her previous fearlessness. We have no doubt she’ll get there.
Patient Spotlight: Mark Stiebeler
Mark has his passions – his family, his work (he has been in the hotel business for 43 years), and his fitness. Mark has always been active, but not for weight loss reasons - he loves the outdoors, the mental and physical release of exercise, and says “it puts me in a place I want to be.” Colorado is the perfect place for Mark's favorites: skiing and trail running.
In 2017 Mark started experiencing debilitating pain in his glute about 20 minutes after completing a trail run. He was surprised when he kept experiencing the same pain after his runs. About 20 minutes after he stopped skiing one day, he had the pain again, but this time it dropped him to the floor. Thinking it was his hip, he went to an orthopedist who took an MRI. The orthopedist told him he had “a LOT going on in your spine,” and referred him to Dr. Ghiselli.
Dr. Ghiselli told the 60-year-old he “looked better on the outside than on the inside.” His MRI showed degeneration at L5-S1. After learning about Mark’s passion for exercise, Dr. Ghiselli started on a minimally invasive path to get him back on his beloved trails.
First Mark had an injection in his disc, this helped for about two months and got Mark through a trip to New Zealand, but eventually wore off and the pain was back. Next, Dr. Ghiselli tried a microdiscectomy surgery to decompress the nerves – but a new MRI after surgery showed the disc had bulged back, the odds of which were only 5%. A second microdiscectomy surgery didn’t work either. By now the pain was so bad Mark couldn’t work, he couldn’t walk 100 yards, and he certainly couldn’t exercise.
So Dr. Ghiselli discussed an L5-S1 fusion surgery, the same surgery Tiger Woods had, with Mark. A fusion surgery is always the last resort and has a longer recovery time than other spinal surgeries, but in Mark’s case, his only option. Mark awoke after his fusion surgery on June 25, 2018 without pain. He felt “very cared for” by Dr. Ghiselli and his entire team. He was so determined to get back to his active lifestyle, he started walking around the hospital immediately and went home the next morning. After waiting 90 days while his vertebrae were fusing, Mark was able to return to trail running and skiing – pain free.
In July of 2018 Mark and his son were supposed to run the Vail Hill Climb together – 7.5 miles uphill in the beautiful Vail mountains – but Mark was unable to do it because of his back. In July of 2019, less than a year after his spinal fusion, Mark and his son completed the Vail Hill Climb together.
Mark says, “Never once did I think: I’m 63, maybe I shouldn’t ski or trail run anymore. I explained this to Dr. Ghiselli, he understood, and helped me get there.”
Patient Spotlight: Gary Shirman
Gary’s story starts more than 6 years ago when he had numbness and pain in his neck which radiated down his arms and into his hands. It came on for no reason he knew of and slowly got worse and worse. He tried acupuncture, physical therapy, a chiropractor, and bodywork, when those didn’t work, he went to a spine specialist. He didn’t like the recommendation – a 2-level fusion. So he went to another doctor, again the recommendation was a 2-level spinal fusion.
Gary is an avid mountain biker – biking is hard on the neck and he knew it would make his beloved biking difficult. Gary then went to Dr. Ghiselli, who understood Gary’s lifestyle and presented a different option for him.
Here is an email we received from Gary recently:
"It's been over 6 years since you saved me from doing a neck fusion and instead did a foraminotomy. Two prominent Denver surgeons recommended fusing 2 levels, and you suggested making room where my nerve was being pinched as an alternative to try before fusion. You said that I could always have the fusion surgery down the road if the foraminotomy didn't work.
I want to let you know how ecstatic and grateful I have been and still am with your recommendation and surgery. I am now 61 years old and still an avid mountain biker. I ride 2-3 hours at a time, 2-3 times per week, averaging 1500 vertical feet a ride, and averaging 75 rides per year since surgery with no pain in my neck!!! Who knows where I would be right now had I had fusion surgery!? Mountain biking is such an important outlet for me in my life in so many ways, and I am deeply indebted to you for suggesting the foraminotomy. It has allowed me to pursue my passion of mountain biking, exercise at a high level of intensity, have an outlet for stress, and enjoy nature. Actually, when my neck is feeling a bit tight (holding stress there), mountain biking helps reduce the pain and tightness. Motion is lotion.
It was refreshing to find a doctor who suggested an alternative to fusion surgery, and I want to make you aware of how successful your foraminotomy has worked for me.
Just wanted to let you know how grateful I am to you for your help when I was in extreme pain. You have made a HUGE difference in my life!"
Patient Spotlight: Bryon Berg
“My spine surgery was the highlight of my 2018,” is not something you hear every day, but Byron Berg says it’s true. His low back pain started slowly, he tried physical therapy and later injections, but the pain was getting worse. Along with the back pain, he had tingling and pinching in his legs and feet that “felt like bee stings.” After a few years, he wondered how he had reached the point where his pain was only relieved by sleep.
The retired 73-year-old with “the motorcycle gene” says he remembers moving one of his bikes around the garage by leaning all his body weight into it – he thinks “that was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” so to speak. But years of working in the food business, and lifting 100-pound bags of potatoes, probably didn’t help.
So when Byron’s primary care physician referred him to Dr. Ghiselli, he was ready for some relief. He and his daughter researched Dr. Ghiselli online and liked what they read, but Byron felt much better after meeting Dr. Ghiselli and his team in person. He says, “there’s a reason Brooke, Chris and Renee have been with Dr. Ghiselli so long, they’re great together.”
Byron had spondylolisthesis, that was causing instability in his lumbar spine. After his 2-level lumbar fusion surgery, Byron’s pain was much better, and it has continued to lessen even more over time. Byron sent over the above photo because it was taken 9 days after surgery and he says it captures how he felt perfectly. A lover of all things outdoors, Byron was delighted to find he could bike, hunt and hike like he did in his twenties.
But best of all, Byron is back to being an active grandfather to his four grandkids. Getting down on the carpet and standing for longer periods of time is much easier for Byron now. His grandkids only live a block apart from each other, so after Byron “rolls around on the floor” with 3 of them, when they go down for a nap, he just walks over to the house of the other one for more fun. He also works at Costco once a week, rides his motorcycle regularly and bought an electric bicycle he’s excited to try. But Byron’s “perfect day” is shooting 100 clay pigeons at Cherry Creek Reservoir. In fact, he invited Dr. Ghiselli along recently because “I couldn’t be happier with the crew at Dr. G’s office.”
Patient Spotlight: Scott Richardson
So when he woke up in February with neck pain that radiated down his arm, his first thought was that he wouldn’t be able to run that day. When Ibuprofen didn’t make the pain any better, Scott got a steroid prescription from his doctor, tried a chiropractor and a massage – but nothing helped the pain. His arm was on fire, he couldn’t get out of bed for more than 5 minutes and when he went in to see his primary care doctor he could barely crawl onto the exam table. An MRI showed a herniated disk in Scott’s neck. His doctor referred him to Dr. Ghiselli.
Trying to exhaust all non-surgical options first, Dr. Ghiselli prescribed an injection, which did not move the needle on Scott’s pain. So Dr. Ghiselli recommended disc replacement surgery and Scott replied, “I’m free this week.”
After his surgery in March, Scott’s pain faded away. Two weeks later he was back to activity and Dr. Ghiselli said Scott’s MRI showed the “spine of a 35 year old” with some new hardware. Scott even gained three-quarters of an inch in height from the artificial disc!
“Dr. Ghiselli has high standards for his team, they are all on the same page,” Scott says, “Brigitte even smoothed out some insurance wrinkles I couldn’t solve myself.” Scott adds “Dr. Ghiselli is a true professional, he took the time to understand me and how important exercise is to me, and tailored my recovery accordingly.
Now Scott is at “103%” of where he was before his neck pain started. He recently played in the Denver City Tennis Tournament, ran to the top of Carpenter Peak and rides his road bike regularly. “I got the right doctor and I got the right results” says Scott.
Patient Spotlight: Jordan Jhabvala
Jordan can trace his spine problems back to a strange sensation he experienced while attending a work event last fall. Battling a cold, Jordan coughed and suddenly felt his finger begin shaking. The feeling took him by surprise, but subsided and was followed by a tightness in between his shoulders, which Jordan chalked up to being slightly out of shape. To address the issue, Jordan began working out regularly and doing yoga to help stretch out his back.
After one particularly intense workout - which involved tossing a heavy medicine ball with a friend - Jordan woke up in the middle of the night with his entire left side throbbing and numb. The pain became more consistent after that. He’d wake up every day with his left arm killing him. He even kept his left hand on the door handle when he drove because the throbbing in his arm was too distracting. He became so concerned about the impact of any workout, that all of his physical activity came to a grinding halt.
Jordan spent months frustrated, trying to figure out what the problem was. “I didn’t know what it was, but I knew it wasn’t supposed to be happening,” said Jordan.
A Google search led him to believe that it was a spine issue. An MRI confirmed the problem and Jordan received injections to treat the pain. Eventually, the doctor treating him referred him to Dr. Jatana, who quickly diagnosed a herniated disk in his neck and recommended an artificial disc replacement to correct the problem. “He was very matter of fact about the whole thing and he laid out my options,” said Jordan. “I saw other doctors and they were indecisive about what the treatment options were. Dr. Jatana was so direct. He explained what could happen at the very end with all of the options and it was as clear as it could be that surgery was the best route.”
Although Jordan has had four knee surgeries and an ankle surgery, he was apprehensive about having surgery on his spine. But Dr. Jatana’s calm demeanor put him at ease. “When he explained how simple and routine it was, those nerves went away,” recalled Jordan.
Jordan had surgery at the Mile High Surgery Center, which allowed him to spend the night in his own bed. While the first night was uncomfortable, he noticed immediately that the pain in his left arm was gone. The day after surgery he was well enough to make a quick trip to Costco and soon after he felt well enough to begin walking regularly.
More than three months after surgery, Jordan is back to running, working out at the gym and coaching an elite youth basketball team. He has already referred friends to Dr. Jatana and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him in the future. “He had a very educated way guiding me to right solution. I don’t think a lot of doctors will do that. I got very frustrated with the process and all of that ceased when I met Dr. Jatana.”
Patient Spotlight: Steve Katich
A yoga practitioner for almost 10 years and a yoga teacher for four, Steve is well in tune with his body. So when he noticed pain in his hips radiating outward, he suspected the spinal bone spurs and moderately herniated disc he had been diagnosed with years ago were to blame. The pain became worse until he couldn’t even tie his own shoes. He took a lot of Ibuprofen, tried icing and then cortisone shots – nothing stopped the pain for very long.
Steve knew he needed to see a doctor. And the same name was mentioned over and over, from holiday party conversations to a recommendation from a neurosurgeon friend, everyone told him to go see Dr. David Wong. Steve went to see two doctors and decided to have surgery with Dr. Wong.
An avid basketball fan (he played until the age of 60), Steve was hoping to have his surgery on Tuesday, March 14, 2017, ensuring he would be home in time for the start of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament on Thursday. He wanted to spend his recovery watching the tournament. Lucky for Steve that day was available.
On that day, Steve was in the operating room where the team was introducing themselves. They realized one of the nurses was a yoga student of his and another was interested in starting yoga. Steve predicted he would be back to teaching yoga in July and invited the entire OR staff to his yoga class on July 4. Just then Dr. Wong walked in with a big smile on his face and said, “enough of this kumbaya stuff, let’s get started!”
After surgery, the pain was gone, the microdecompression worked. As planned, Steve spent his recovery watching the NCAA playoffs and even named his basketball pool team “Dr. Wong’s Got My Back.” Fortunately, his surgery was more successful than his tournament team.
Steve feels yoga prolonged his need for surgery and knew it could be a powerful recovery tool, so he wanted to get back to it as soon as possible. True to his goal, Steve was back to teaching yoga in July. Still pain free today, Steve credits Dr. Wong and his wonderful team for giving him this gift, he now knows why Dr. Wong was on everyone’s short list.
Patient Spotlight: Bette Henson
At 80 years old, Bette Henson is on the older side of patients Dr. Ghiselli operates on – but that doesn’t bother Bette, or Dr. Ghiselli. In fact, her surgery in August of 2017 was Bette’s fifth back surgery – three surgeries with Dr. Jatana and two with Dr. Ghiselli. Bette is pretty hard to keep down. She describes herself as “always doing something.” The avid traveler, golfer and grandmother keeps a very busy schedule, but it’s her attitude that keeps her happy and healthy.
The Colorado native worked in finance for Lockheed- Martin for over 40 years. She retired when someone was needed to care for her brother with Down’s syndrome, she cared for him for 10 years until his death at age 64. Bette can’t attribute her back issues to any one injury or event, she says they are a culmination of years sitting at a desk and all the lifting and carrying involved with caregiving. But spinal stenosis started in Bette’s spine, surgeries over the years helped, but eventually she had a foot drop and pain – so she had a cervical fusion in February, 2017 followed by a lumbar fusion in August of 2017.
Bette says she diligently wears her brace after surgeries (even though she hates it) and follows recovery directions so she can get back to her active life as soon as possible. She says Dr. Jatana and Dr. Ghiselli have the best bedside manners of any doctor she has seen, which is fine with her because she loves to be with and talk to people. “What a wonderful group they are at Colorado Spine Partners! No wonder they’re busy all the time!” Bette exclaims.
Always in contact with 4 of her besties from Lockheed, they lunch together every week, play golf, attend plays and musicals and travel together. And they travel a lot – particularly cruises: large ocean cruises, windjammer cruises and Bette’s favorite, European river cruises (she’s been on 9). Bette is feeling great after her last surgery, which means she is already back to her active lifestyle – walking, golfing, traveling to Portland and Tucson, and most importantly, no sitting!
Patient Spotlight: Ron Foote
Ron grew up in farm country in Iowa, he could always do things other people couldn’t – like throwing bales of hay, and lifting up the front end of cars. His extraordinary strength led to football, construction work, and his own moving company where his motto was: “if it’s too hard for you, it’s just right for me!” Eventually the years of hard labor caught up with him.
In 2002 Ron made an appointment with Dr. Jatana after being told “he is the surgeon other doctors go to for their back surgery.” Ron immediately liked Dr. Jatana’s easy manner and willingness to spend time answering all his questions. He had his first surgery with Dr. Jatana that year – five more followed over the next 12 years. After each surgery Ron saw an improvement that allowed him to continue in his garden, around his house (light construction projects only!), and at school where he teaches.
Ron begins his 50th year teaching middle school this August. He says his “heart is in middle school.” At 71 some teachers would be retiring, but Ron thinks, “13 year-olds energize me!” He already misses his students from last year and can’t wait to meet his new crop in the fall.
Dr. Ghiselli is performing Ron’s next back surgery. Ron thought, “if Dr. Jatana recommended him, he must be good.” Ron was impressed with Dr. Ghiselli’s thoroughness, the time he spent with him, and his team’s ability to go to bat with the insurance companies to get Ron the surgery he needed.
Ron hopes to teach middle school until he is 100. We wish there were more teachers out there like Ron, and we can’t wait to perform his surgery, so he can get back to some very lucky 13 year olds next year.
Patient Spotlight: Russell Lundstrom
Russell was living a full life with his wife and two small boys, his motor and BMX bike racing past not that far away from his new, grown-up, dad persona. So when his 8 year-old challenged him to a race around a lake, he of course accepted. Unfortunately it did not end well, Russell tore a frontal hernia which essentially shut down his abdominals and forced his back to take on the brunt of his activity. Coupled with some over-extending while doing adult gymnastics and Crossfit, this over 40 year-old started to feel his age for the first time.
He had the hernia fixed, but pain had already started in his sciatica and down his leg. Then he broke his foot and had to walk in a boot for 6 weeks. This exacerbated his back pain, to the point where it became a constant presence. Russell tried physical therapy, chiropractors, even cupping and Chinese back plaster – but nothing helped.
Married to a physician and with many friends in the medical field, Russell was told he did NOT want back surgery. So he hobbled along, continuing with Tylenol, gabapentin and physical therapy. His back and leg pain increased until he was a 7-9 on the pain scale 24 hours a day, and could only walk 10 feet at a time. At a Christmas party, a malpractice attorney friend noticed him struggling with pain, she recommended he see Dr. Wong – a name that was familiar to Russell, “it seemed everywhere I turned, someone recommended the same doctor.” So Russell finally gave in to the possibility of back surgery and saw Dr. Wong, who told him surgery could alleviate, if not eliminate his pain.
A cancellation put Russell at the front of the line for surgery and before Christmas last year, Dr. Wong performed an L4-L5 micro discectomy. When Russell woke from surgery, he noticed he was able to straighten his leg for the first time in a long time, then he noticed the complete absence of pain, “it was as though a switch had been flipped,” he says.
Russell followed post-surgical instructions carefully and took Dr. Wong’s advice to ease up on the running, and his wife’s advice to quit Crossfit. “Dr. Wong is my number one dude, I sing his praises daily,” Russell says. Now Russell is “at 100% again,” happily chasing his sons around and looking forward to riding a dirt bike again this summer. In fact, when we spoke to him last week, he and his boys were on their way to the bike store…
Patient Spotlight: Mark Commander
Mark’s son took this photo recently while skiing in Bozeman, Montana for Mark’s 60th birthday. Mark has a lifelong love of skiing, and is thrilled to be back on the slopes after both a lumbar spine and a cervical (neck) spine surgery in the past year.
Mark was a ski racer growing up in Idaho, and took several spills, one of which he was lucky to walk away from, that’s why he says, “skiing is great, it’s the crashing that’s the problem.” That, combined with high school football, took a toll on Mark’s spine. His neck, he was told at 16, could only be fixed with surgery, so he suffered through neck pain and “crunchy noises” ever since.
A few years ago Mark’s back began to give him trouble: sciatic nerve pain, loss of strength in his leg, and pain, especially while sitting (which is difficult when you ride a train to work and sit at a desk all day). Mark tried chiropractors, physical therapy, his doctor even recommended new shoes – none of it lessened his pain and weakness. When his leg started giving out on him and he had to pass up a ski trip with his son last February, he decided to get an MRI.
Mark went to Dr. Ghiselli for a second opinion, and was impressed Dr. Ghiselli wanted to tackle his long-term neck pain issues as well as his back issues. Dr. Ghiselli performed a lumbar joint cyst removal surgery on Mark – it was “like removing a thorn” Mark says, the pain was gone and spine surgery “was not nearly as bad as it sounds.” Now they had to tackle his neck, Mark wanted to do all of his recovery work at the same time, so pushed to have his cervical surgery soon after. One month later Dr. Ghiselli performed a 3-level posterior fusion surgery on Mark’s neck. That recovery was longer, Mark took three weeks off work, but he was dedicated to physical therapy and took many walks and hikes with his wife to ease back to activity. Now, after 44 years with a crooked neck and low mobility, Mark says his neck is “crunch-free and I am one happy camper!”
When his son moved to Bozeman this winter and invited him up to ski, Mark’s wife told him it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up, even if it was earlier that he anticipated in his recovery. Mark skied three consecutive days (Mark quit alpine skiing at age 50, he’s a telemark skier these days) and felt “fixed” for the first time in a long time. Now, thanks to Dr. Ghiselli, he plans on skiing at least 23 more years so he can beat his dad’s record of skiing until age 83!
Patient Spotlight: Jenny Johnson
Jenny was a dancer and competitive gymnast growing up here in Colorado, and all that intense training helped her develop spondylolisthesis in her spine while in college. After her father vowed to find his daughter "the best spine surgeon in town" she ended up in Dr. Wong's office.
At only age 22, Dr. Wong had to perform an L5-S1 fusion surgery on Jenny to stop her pain and correct her spondylolisthesis. That surgery eliminated Jenny's pain, and she enjoyed 28 symptom-free years - during which she completed her Physical Therapy degree, continued dancing, hiked, biked, had kids, and lived her life.
About a year ago, Jenny started having back pain and symptoms again. Luckily she had recently moved back to Denver, so she sought out Dr. Wong again. After meeting with him, she didn't even consult with anyone else.
Dr. Wong prescribed conservative treatment like injections for Jenny, but her condition was worsening. And Jenny was about to begin her doctorate degree in Physical Therapy, so Dr. Wong said "let's operate on your back now, so you can focus on school" - and 3 days later she had an L4-L5 fusion.
Again, Jenny awoke from surgery pain-free. She started her doctorate degree and her own physical therapy regimen, which "as a patient is a sobering and valuable experience for a Physical Therapist!" she says. She is hoping to resume dancing soon.
"Dr. Wong is so caring and professional, he goes above and beyond" says Jenny, "his focus was always on getting me back to my life." In her profession, Jenny works with a lot of doctors, and she works with a lot of Dr. Wong's patients, she says when she sees Dr. Wong's name on a patient referral, "I know they will have a great outcome and no complications."
When Dr. Wong did Jenny's second surgery, he removed the hardware from her first surgery. "It's sitting on my kitchen counter now," Jenny told us, "every time I look at it, I thank Dr. Wong and Diane!"
Patient Spotlight: Lori Lewis
Lori was involved in a car accident that left her with a severe neck injury. Within days of the accident, pain began to take hold in her neck, shoulder, and left arm. The neck pain led to headaches and her left arm eventually became so weak she had trouble grasping or lifting anything without pain. Household and work-related tasks such as washing dishes or lifting a ream of copy paper, became impossible.
Lori’s primary care physician recommended an interventional pain management practice, which tried a series of pain control injections. When five injections failed to provide long-term relief, Lori’s physician suggested seeing a spine surgeon.
Dr. Jatana was the first surgeon Lori visited, she found Dr. Jatana confident and clear in the explanations he provided for the treatment he was recommending. Lori visited other surgeons to obtain second opinions on her condition – a process that re-confirmed her confidence in Dr. Jatana’s abilities.
With the accident causing damage to several of Lori’s vertebrae, Dr. Jatana recommended artificial disc replacement surgery at the C6-C7 level in the lower cervical (neck) spine.
Though the idea of having spine surgery came as a shock, Lori says her post-surgery experience was excellent. She credits Dr. Jatana and his staff for taking the time to explain the procedure thoroughly and for welcoming questions and concerns.
“I have full confidence in him, his staff and their abilities,” said Lori. “I would recommend their office and services to anyone without hesitation."
Lori took six weeks off work post-surgery to heal, but is now back on the job and has resumed all of her regular activities.
“I’m confident that this was the right choice,” said Lori.
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Patient Spotlight: Doug Tumminello
Doug takes the word 'adventurer' to the extreme. His long list of expeditions include climbing Mt. Everest, Denali, marathons and ultra-marathons, and rowing a 36’ ocean boat 3,700 miles across the Indian Ocean from Australia to Mauritius.
So when Doug was running a 24 mile training run (easy peasy) and felt his back seize up after jumping down a ledge in the first mile, he was worried (but completed the 24 miles anyway). He felt radiating pain and weakness down his leg from then on.
Doug tried massage, physical therapy and acupuncture, but an MRI showed bigger problems.
Doug visited Dr. Ghiselli after several personal friends recommended him. Doug liked Dr. Ghiselli's engaging, direct and up front manner - surgery was really the only option for an adventurer like Doug - especially when he had a new expedition planned. Doug was going to attempt to ski from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole—a distance of approximately 750 miles, by himself.
Doug had an L5-S1 micro discectomy and felt relief from his symptoms right away. He was back to running in just three weeks and was able to leave for his Antarctic adventure (did we mention he had to pull a 230 pound sled behind him?).
Doug's South Pole Solo expedition was cut short by bad weather and a foot injury, as Doug says "it wasn't my back that kept me from completing!" But he is attempting it again in December of 2017. We will be rooting him on from Denver!
Patient Spotlight: Candis Krisher
69 year-old Candis Krisher’s first love is caring for her family, including 8 grandchildren and 95 year-old mother, but Candis’ next love is road biking. She took it up in her 50s after retiring from a career as a CPA, and has been obsessed ever since. For ten years she was part of a road biking club, competed in races (time trials, long and short circuit courses) and got on her bike every chance she got.
So when she had a fall off her bike in 2011, she thought it was just part of the sport. But added to the spinal stenosis and arthritis she already had, the fall was slowly taking more and more time away from her bike. The pain worsened, so she tried steroid shots and yoga. Candis and her husband then moved from Ohio to Evergreen, Colorado, so Candis took up yoga here. During one of her classes she felt very severe pain, afterward she couldn’t go up stairs or feel her legs. Her primary care doctor recommended Dr. David Wong, and Candis knew she had better see him soon.
Dr. Wong found Candis’ severe spinal stenosis had progressed to the point where she needed surgery. He performed a Microdecompression of L3-4 and L4-5 in March of 2015. Candis felt immediate relief after “Dr. Wong did his magic” during surgery, she could walk without pain and felt much less pain in general she says.
“He cares,” Candis said, “he’s smart and he runs an extremely efficient” practice that respects his patients. “He makes you feel like he doesn’t have a care in the world except for you,” Candis reflects.
Now Candis is doing pilates and walking regularly. She is preparing to move her 95 year-old mother into her home with her and her “amazing and supportive” husband. Dr. Wong has given her the all clear to resume road biking, which she plans to do soon. “Dr. Wong deserves all the credit” for making my life what it is today she says, that and “being married to a wonderful, wonderful man certainly helps!”
Patient Spotlight: Mike Graber
Mike was pretty serious about his workouts. He worked with a personal trainer several times a week and was doing some heavy lifting. The first sign that something was wrong was tingling in his fingers. The tingling soon became pain, which worked it's way up his neck until standing for more than an hour was causing "massive pain."
Mike did lots of research and decided to go see Dr. Sanjay Jatana. He got all his questions answered and immediately felt confident in Dr. Jatana. Turns out Mike had a bulging disc in his neck causing all his pain, after trying several non-surgical treatments, he was a candidate for artificial disc replacement.
Dr. Jatana performs many artificial disc replacement surgeries every year, so Mike decided to go ahead with his cervical 5-6 disc replacement surgery.
After surgery, Mike’s pain was gone. He was back at work within two weeks and running again afters six weeks. He even got back to his weight training regimen after two months. “This has been such a pleasant experience. I am so happy,” says Mike. “I just can’t say enough good things about Dr. Jatana. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to anybody.”
Patient Spotlight: Jonathan Griffis
An avid skier – helicopter, snowcat, and backcountry – Jonathan figured he needed to give up his favorite sport after he learned he needed back surgery.
Years of heavy construction labor in his late teens and early twenties to help with college costs, coupled with years of jarring sports like running and mogul skiing were starting to take their toll on Jonathan’s spine. After he returned from an Alaskan heli-skiing trip in April, the pain was so bad he could barely walk. Jonathan tried injections and chiropractors, but the pain was no better.
A friend referred Jonathan to his spine surgeon, Dr. David Wong. Jonathan liked Dr. Wong’s candid nature, “he tells it like it is,” Jonathan says, and the fact that he only recommends surgery as a last resort. And Dr. Wong told Jonathan he was at that point. Jonathan thought “if you need surgery, you might as well do it with the best.” So in August Dr. Wong performed an L2 – L5 micro laminotomy and laminoplasty to relieve the spinal cord pressure caused by Jonathan’s vertebral bone spurs. Diane Guisti, Dr. Wong’s Physician’s Assistant, who Jonathan thought was “outstanding,” joked with Jonathan that they had to “drill to China” to get rid of his bone spurs.
After surgery, Jonathan’s pain was gone. He started a physical therapy regimen that put him on the path to his pre-surgery shape, a regimen he continues today with regular weight training and low-impact cardio exercise. When Dr. Wong told this 61 year-old he could ski again this season, Jonathan was thrilled – he plans to get back at it as soon as it starts snowing.
Patient Spotlight: Jeff Bowers
Jeff Bowers and his family are now happily ensconced in Pennsylvania. But their move from Evergreen to Pennsylvania can best be described along the lines of a well-known story: a series of terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. Jeff found he needed back surgery at an extremely inconvenient time in his life.
It all started in April when Jeff decided to give his 100-pound Bernese Mountain dog, a bath. As you can imagine, this requires a lot of lifting and bending, and Jeff felt the after-effects for a week. Then Colorado had all of that rain in April, and Jeff volunteered to move 65-pound sandbags all day to try and keep his neighbor’s flooding at bay.
Jeff’s back pain got much worse and he was losing sleep and “popping ibuprofen like tic tacs.” Unfortunately for Jeff, his job as a Safety Manager for a national heavy equipment company required a trip to Chicago a few days later. When he went to pull his suitcase out of the overhead compartment and the pain in his back was excruciating - he knew he had to get help immediately.
His primary care doctor in Evergreen told him he needed immediate back surgery – but Jeff was already scheduled to leave on a week-long family reunion cruise a few days later. So, they gave him an epidural to lessen the pain and he was off to the Caribbean.
Immediately upon his return from a very uncomfortable cruise, Jeff came in to see Dr. Ghiselli. Jeff had an extruded and herniated disc in his lower back from his previous weeks’ antics, so Dr. Ghiselli scheduled an L5-S1 microdiscectomy two days later. However, in keeping with the “inconvenient” theme, Jeff’s wife was also scheduled to have gum surgery the same day as Jeff’s back surgery, all of which was taking place two weeks before they were supposed to pack up their entire life in Colorado, and move to Pennsylvania. Dr. Ghiselli performed Jeff’s microdisectomy, and much to Jeff’s relief, the surgery was a "complete success" and he was no longer in pain.
Somehow, the Bowers family was able to muddle through Jeff and his wife’s surgeries, as well as their move to Pennsylvania, and they are now happy to be settled in Mercer. Jeff has since started physical therapy in his new town, and says that his back feels “tremendous.”
All he has now is a small scar (which comes in handy when he’s trading battle wounds with the burly crane operators he trains for a living) and a video of his surgery. Jeff’s 11 year-old son asked Dr. Ghiselli if he would video part of his dad’s surgery for him. Dr. Ghiselli remarked that he had never been asked that before, but he thought it was a pretty cool idea and was happy to oblige. Now, Jeff and his son like to watch the “cool and gross, all at the same time” video together and Jeff is glad that the surgery, and the series of events leading up to it, are now behind him.
Patient Spotlight: Kim
Kim and her husband joke they have a “punchcard” with Dr. Jatana – she has had five neck and back surgeries by Dr. Jatana in the past 16 years. A lumbar microdiscectomy in 1999, another one in 2001 after a re-injury, an L4-5 micro-discectomy in 2003, a C5-7 cervical discectomy in 2007 and a C4-5 fusion in 2014.
A systems engineer for spacecraft, Kim graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and has worked for Lockheed Martin since moving here in 1996. Kim is small and athletic – sports filled her youth. But as strong as she was, she lacked core strength, and had her son in 1995 – both of which contributed to her back and neck issues.
But it’s her home improvement activities that have caused Kim the most problems. A “home remodeling junkie,” Kim has suffered several injuries fixing up her home and garden. She fell off a stool causing a bulging disc, she painted a ceiling causing shoulder and neck pain and numbness, she slipped in her garage earning her a trip in an ambulance, and she carried a heavy bag of mulch in her garden causing a disc re-rupture. Whew! She is obviously one active lady.
Kim says she gets “first class service” with Dr. Jatana, and would “never go to anyone else.” She and her husband immediately liked Dr. Jatana’s easy and caring manner, his steady hands and his confidence. All of Kim’s surgeries have successfully eliminated her pain and symptoms. After her fall from a stool in 1999, the pain was so intense she couldn’t move, but immediately after her microdiscectomy she was pain free. Aside from the fact that she “never wants to see a neck collar brace ever again!” she feels very fondly toward Dr. Jatana and his team.
Kim is currently building her GOES-R (that stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite), and in her spare time Kim is still an active home improvement do-it-yourselfer - but now she takes precautions to protect the hardware inside her spine as well as out.
Patient Spotlight: Jeff
When 66 year-old Geophysicist and Geologist Jeff Arbogast woke up in severe pain while on vacation in Hawaii two years ago, he didn't realize it was pain that would become chronic. Jeff had served his entire four year term as a naval officer during the Vietnam War in Hawaii, earning him his "purple heart for golf blisters." But this stay in Hawaii was quite different.
This Princeton and Duke grad sought treatments for his pain back at home - physical therapy, injections, nerve blocks and chiropractors - but he relied heavily on pain meds to get through every day.
Jeff also has Parkinson's disease, and took up tennis years ago to combat the freezing up of Parkinson's patients. That, coupled with his passion for fly and ice fishing, kept him in top form. But none of these past times were possible with his severe back pain.
Jeff asked six different doctors, who didn't know one another, who they would go to if they had back pain like his - all six said Dr. David Wong. At his first appointment, Dr. Wong said he wanted Jeff to fully exhaust his non-surgical options before considering surgery. So Jeff persisted with visits to his pain management doctors - but Dr. Wong determined a lumbar spinal fusion surgery using the Aspen Plate (a minimally-invasive technique) was his best option months later when his pain was no better.
After the surgery last November, Jeff woke up the next morning and got out of bed for the first time in two years without pain. "That was a very emotional moment for me," Jeff remembers. He has remained pain-free, and pain med free, ever since.
Now Jeff is doing his prescribed physical therapy, and is back to playing tennis four times a week. After moving here in 1982, Jeff says "it would take a very large Caterpillar tractor to move me from Colorado," and without pain, he has resumed taking advantage of our state. He's happy to be ice and fly fishing again and he says earning more golf blisters is on his calendar for the spring.
Patient Spotlight: Scott
Scott has a rather impressive athletic resume. He is a 3-time world champion in the 60-Plus Masters Division of the CrossFit Games, he played college football at San Diego State University, he road and mountain bikes, skies and snowboards – and did we mention he was a competitive water skier?
His fitness background served him well, until 2011 when he started experiencing discomfort while standing and numbness in his foot. He tried physical therapy, massage, acupuncture, and dry needling – but nothing helped long-term. The standing discomfort progressed so much that if he saw a small line at the grocery store, he would abandon his cart instead of waiting in line to pay for it.
Scott met Dr. Ghiselli at the CrossFit gym. After building a friendship while working out, Scott decided to make an appointment. Dr. Ghiselli found pinched nerves in Scott’s spine and performed a microdecompression of L5 to relieve his symptoms. “I woke up from surgery feeling great, within a few days I had no pain at all,” said Scott, “and the pain is still gone today.”
After a brief recovery (and a scolding from Dr. Ghiselli for doing handstand pushups in the office at a follow-up appointment), Scott is back to daily CrossFit training, which includes 400-pound deadlifts and 300-pound back squats. He’s training to compete in the CrossFit Games again in July of 2015, and he’s optimistic he’ll win another gold medal. He’s hoping his daughter will be there with him. illustrating that the apple does not fall far from the tree, she has been to 5 CrossFit Games herself.
Scott says he has Dr. Ghiselli to thank for returning him to competition, “he played a huge part in my new life.”
We’ll be watching Scott defend his title at the Crossfit World Championships in July!
Patient Spotlight: Brian
Outdoorsman and active father and grandfather, Brian injured his back at his job as a field engineer. His workmen’s comp insurance sent him to several providers for various injections and other procedures, but nothing helped his 9 to 10 scale pain. Brian’s pain completely changed his life that he “lives at 9,000 feet on purpose.” An avid fisherman, alpine skier (50+ days each season), and cross-country skier, Brian also helps his wife and daughter at their horse-boarding business on their property – but his days of carrying a bale of hay in each hand were over.
Tired of the pain, and un-happy with the results from his workman’s comp doctors, Brian researched doctors on his own and found Dr. Sanjay Jatana. “That” he says, “is when I got my life without pain and narcotics back.”
Dr. Jatana performed a laminectomy/decompression of the L3, 4, and 5 vertebrae a month ago, and afterward Brian was pain-free. “Dr. Jatana and his team exp-lained the surgery so well, my wife and I were both totally confident and comfortable going into it” says Brian. Brian was amazed at what Dr. Jatana was able to do with his hands “as strong as a horseshoer, but as elegant as a fly-fisherman.”
Without the cloud of pain, Brian is back to his Colorado ways – he saw a mom and baby moose on a hike the other day, and helped his four year-old granddaughter catch fish in his pond this weekend. He says “these are the moments that Dr. Jatana’s surgery gave back to me.”
Patient Spotlight: Lia
When pain in her legs started to slow lifelong belly dancer Lia Ridley down, she interviewed several doctors to find the cause. Because of his surgical rate of success, she chose to see Dr. Wong at Colorado Spine Partners. Dr. Wong diagnosed Lia's condition as spinal stenosis and spondylolisthesis (a condition of the spine where one vertebra slips forward or backward compared to the next vertebrae) and performed a decompress-ion and fusion of L4 and L5 surgery to correct her condition.
Lia’s leg pain was completely gone after the surgery – she followed her physical therapy regimen and 3 months later she was back to her pre-surgery life. And for Lia, that is an active one! She teaches belly dancing at Metro State University and privately 4 times a week, performs belly dancing at events all over town, walks, and works out daily.
At her 3-month follow-up appointment with Dr. Wong, who she now thinks the world of, she belly danced in the office – to the delight of our whole staff.
We wish you continued health and happiness Lia – and we look forward to our next in-office belly dancing performance!