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Cathy's Story
Life-Changing Back Surgery
I am a wife, a mother of 3 busy teenagers and a registered nurse with over
18 years nursing experience. One experience I could have easily lived
without was severe back pain!
I had my first back surgery in 1995; an L5-S1 discectomy for a leaking
disc done by Dr. Marcus Schmitz, an excellent neurosurgeon in Pensacola,
FL. It helped to relieve the pain for several years.
In 2004, however, my back pain and leg pain had ascended to an
excruciating level! It interfered with every aspect of my life. X-rays and
an MRI confirmed that I had severe degenerative disc disease (DDD) between
L3-L4 and L5-S1. The bones of L5-S1 were rubbing on each other every time
I moved. The disc at that level was completely gone. Ouch!
My family doctor, Dr. Paul Pandolfi, gave me pain medicine, but that only
dulled the pain and fogged my mind. Dr. Schmitz set me up for three sets
of epidural injections, but they never relieved the pain at all. I began
requiring a cane to walk safely and needed help climbing only 3 stairs to
our church choir loft! I was barely able to function.
Dr. Schimitz told my husband, Don, and I, that he could operate but I
would most likely require more surgery due to my young age and further
degeneration. Instead, he recommended implanting a morphine pump into my
spine. This, he explained, would "buy us time" for technology to catch up
to my surgical need. The thought of a morphine pump in my spine was
terrifying! After all, I was only 40 years old!
As a last resort, he recommended that we check out the clinical trials
being performed with artificial discs. I called three medical centers from
Texas, Chicago and Florida, but found out that I didn't qualify because I
had several levels of damage. The trials only included patients with
single level disease.
In this process, we found Stenum Orthopaedic Hospital in Bremen, Germany.
Thank God!!
I studied Stenum's website, called their references and studied the
website of another european hospital offering ADR surgery to Americans. I
contacted Malte Petersen, the international medicine specialist at Stenum
and he urged me to share my MRI with them. I did...
On a Thursday evening (CST) I emailed my MRI file to Malte at Stenum. The
very next day I recieved an email stating that my MRI had been reviewed by
the surgeons and they agreed that I would benefit from ADR surgery. They
even gave me 3 surgical dates to choose from...
I was excited and nervous all at the same time. I took all my medical
information to Drs. Pandolfi and Schmitz, and they agreed that Stenum had
a great reputation and excellent surgical results. They gave our plan to
go to Germany "two thumbs up!" So we started planning.
Excellent care from start to finish in
Germany!!
Our journey to Germany began in Pensacola, FL. to Memphis, TN and on to
Minneapolis. After a three hour lay over in Minneapolis, we boarded the
plane and set our course for Amsterdam and Bremen, Germany.
We arrived at the airport in Bremen, Germany on January 19, 2004. There
was an employee from the hospital there waiting to take us to our
destination. After a short 20 minute ride, we arrived at the hospital
campus.
I say ‘campus’ because there is a restaurant and a bed and breakfast, for
the spouse or significant other to stay in while the patient is in the
hospital, a therapy building and the hospital itself. All are within an
easy walking distance...unless you're the one with the back trouble. Then
they bring you a wheelchair if you need one. The patient usually gets to
stay in the B&B only on that first night.
First of all, let me tell you that everyone at Stenum Orthopaedic Hospital
was fantastic! Friendly, competent and most speak fluent English. They
were ready for us.
The surgery process at Stenum is unique. Each American patient is roomed
with another American. So, I was assigned to a room with a woman from
Ohio. Carol, my roommate was introduced to me by Malte, via the internet,
before we even left the states. It was comforting to have someone there
who understood exactly what I had been through... just how much it hurt to
get that far! And Carol understood.
As it turned out Carol's husband Greg, is a pastor and we are active
Christians in our own local church. God had a great plan... he was
watching over us the whole time! We, as couples, had prayed about this
entire process, the fear of leaving our country for a difficult surgery,
the financial stress of traveling, not to mention the hospital bill,
leaving children behind, taking leave from work...lots of stress… but we
trusted God.
So, during this time, Carol and I saw the best in our husbands shine
through! I saw Don in his "finest hour.” He took such good care of me,
loved me, and encouraged me... always there, always watching... and
praying, helping me walk and do my exercises, even when they hurt. To the
Lord, Don is a good and faithful servant. To me, he is a gift!
And Pastor Greg, Carol's husband, was also incredible. I leaned on him as
a spiritual leader for those three weeks and he never let me down. He
prayed with us and for us, all the while he took excellent care of Carol!
The Lord has graciously blessed us with our husbands. We thank them for
their love, their compassion and their support and encouragement.
Patient's Perspective: ADR Surgery
I was
admitted to Stenum Hospital on Thursday, January 22, 2004. That first day,
we met Malte Petersen, the head of the international medicine department.
He was a great man who coordinated every aspect of our trip to Germany. He
was with us at the hospital every day and many times we saw him more than
once a day. He saw us in Bremen after my discharge from the hospital and
he even called us to check on my progress.
That
first day I also had xrays, doctor's evaluations and blood work done. My
husband and I met Dr. Zechel, the Head of Orthopaedic Surgery, who would
be performing my surgery along with Dr. Ritter-Lang. Dr. Zechel was a
compassionate and optomistic man, and a brilliant surgeon! He would come
to be one of the biggest cheerleaders for my recovery!
On the
day of my surgery, there were 2 other Americans having ADR surgery and a
young man from India. I had one artificial disc, a Charite III disc,
placed at L5-S1. According to my husband, my surgery took just under 2
hours.
I was
first taken to a procedure room where I had an intravenous (I.V.) cannula
placed in my arm and an epidural catheter placed in my back. Later that
day I was very happy to have the epidural catheter in place for pain
medicine delivery! Soon I was taken to the operating room and don't
remember anything until I woke up in I.C.U.
I
remember some of the night in the I.C.U. They move the post op patients
there for one night for close monitoring. The German nurse on duty was
superb! She medicated me, helped me to move and stay comfortable.
In the
morning, my roommate , Carol, and I were moved back to our room on the
ward. Soon the physical therapist came and helped each one of us stand for
a moment by our beds. We were one day after surgery and already out of
bed. I was shocked!..and happy. You see, when I woke from the surgery, the
excruciating pain I had been experiencing in my back and down my leg was
gone! And it has never returned to this day!
It was
a slow 2-3 days moving after surgery and there was a bit of pain. Most of
the pain was from the incision in my abdomen. For ADR surgery,
the
incision is through the abdomen and they avoid cutting the muscles of the
back. The pain medicines helped with moving/walking and the staff did
everything they could to make my recovery go smoothly. I stayed in the
hospital for 7 days after surgery. And I was thankful for every day. Not
at all like an American hospital, where I had surgery on one day and was
sent home the next! My discharge from Stenum Hospital was based on my
readiness to leave, not the insurance company's decision to pay...or not.
Exactly
one week after my surgery, my husband and I were moved to the Marriott
Hotel in Bremen, Germany, where we stayed for another 10 days
recuperating. While at the hotel, the physical therapist and the massage
therapist came to treat me. My husband and I walked all over the city of
Bremen and could take the train wherever we couldn't walk!
I
experienced some expected leg pain after the surgery, but Dr. Zechel
assured me that was normal due to regeneration of nerves in my back. It
passed in a couple of weeks.
I tell
folks that finding Stenum Hospital and Drs. Zechel & Ritter- Lang
was a
miracle! I was nearly incapacitated with pain before I went to Germany and
I have not had that pain since my ADR surgery! It seems "too good to be
true" but I tell you, it is true! I thank God for Stenum Hospital and
their staff!
Link to Cathy's blog |
