Summary
A local patient from Merritt Island, Florida had been trapped in a cycle of failed back surgeries since 2012-2013. Beginning with a microdiscectomy that caused instability, leading to an L5-S1 fusion a month later, which failed to resolve his pain, and was then followed by a recommendation to remove the metal hardware and perform yet another fusion on the disc above. Between surgeries he endured injections, nerve treatments, and pain management, and even developed a hernia from the pain medications required after his open surgery. His wife discovered Deuk Spine Institute, and after the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® on the foraminal herniation at L4-5 confirmed with intraoperative discography at 10 out of 10 pain. He was walking straight the very next morning for the first time in 19 years, with no pain medication whatsoever, and his son couldn’t get him back to bed.
Transcript
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Good morning. I’m Dr. Deukmedjian here at Deuk Spine Institute with a patient who’s traveled 10 minutes from Merritt Island. Is that correct?
Patient: Just down the street.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Okay, local. You just had the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® on your lower back yesterday for a herniated disc at L4-5. It was a foraminal herniation one that’s tough for doctors to find and discover, but we saw it at Deuk Spine. And you were having horrible back and right leg pain. That was yesterday before your surgery. Here you are less than 24 hours later. How do you feel?
Patient: Wonderful. Walking straight. I feel no leg pain, no back pain. Just a little sore, but that’s about it.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: How long have you had the back and leg pain?
Patient: Since 2012, 2013. Since my surgeries.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: You live with pain, right? You had I guess a microdiscectomy done. Correct?
Patient: Correct.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Did that fix you?
Patient: No.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: A month later he was back in surgery. What kind of surgery did you have done?
Patient: The fusion… L5-S1.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: You had an L5-S1 fusion. Did that fix your problem?
Patient: No. Not at all.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And their suggestion was to take the metal out and they already saw that he had a problem with the disc above that one, so let’s take the metal out first, then within a year go back and do another fusion on the disc above that.
Patient: Yes, sir.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: So they put metal in you for the fusion and they told you afterwards, “Well, we’ve got to get it out because that’s what’s causing your pain.” Kind of silly, isn’t it?
Patient: Yes, sir.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: All right. But I’m not the only one that thinks that’s a bit silly. And it’s not just the surgery the fusion. Didn’t you have pain management and stuff in between?
Patient: Yeah. So I had shots and my nerve specialist do some stretchings and hands-on stuff. But that’s about it.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: So you had shots, you had therapy, then you had surgery, and then more shots and therapy. And that’s the problem. It’s like a washing machine going around and around. They’re just washing the money out of your pockets and washing your life away. Because your quality of life has not been good, has it?
Patient: No. Not at all.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: How did you find Deuk Spine Institute?
Patient: My wife.
Wife: I couldn’t believe it. Amazing. Last time surgery
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: This must have cost your family a lot of money dealing with the pain.
Wife: Oh yeah. Well, and it cost him not just you know with the pain, he’s not able to do the stuff he likes. Fishing. Throwing the baseball with our son. Just doing things he’s not able to do that because of all the pain that he goes through. So now we’re just so grateful that we found you guys. Because I mean I have not seen him walk like this in 19 years. And that’s just one night.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Yeah. That’s just one night. And no pain meds?
Wife: No pain meds. No anything. No medicine. He took no medication whatsoever last night.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: So just to recap your husband, like millions of people, had back pain. He went and had a microdiscectomy. Which is a procedure where the surgeon basically ruins the back of the spine in order to get to the disc that caused instability, which then he needed a fusion done shortly afterwards.
Wife: Yes. A month later.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: A month later. And then you went back again because he was still in pain and worse after the fusion, right? And they told you he needed another surgery a third one to get the metal out. And then he was going to come back for another fusion after that?
Wife: Correct.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And then there would be more fusions and more fusions?
Wife: Never ending. Never ending.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And we see this all the time with people that have open back surgery. Invasive back surgery is a cycle over and over, more and more surgeries. Well, he’s done now.
Wife: Yes. Thank you. And we’re so grateful. One more muscle thing to fix and then we’re done.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Yeah. I’m you might have to do something to me so I keep up with them. You ended up having faith. You had the surgery done yesterday. You can see in the video we made a tiny little cut seven millimeters on your back, and we got the whole surgery done. We found the herniation, we cleaned out the tear. And while I was in there, I tested your disc at L4-5 above your fusion. The one that’s bad. You had 10 out of 10 pain and I asked you, “Is that your typical?” And you said yes. So you’re going to watch your surgery today?
Patient: I will.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Henry did a great job recording and broadcasting it. But you’re happy today?
Patient: I’m walking straight.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: You’re walking straight. Not leaning. And do we have you on pain medications at all today?
Patient: No. No. Nothing.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: You didn’t take any, did you?
Patient: Nothing. Didn’t need it. Nothing.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Yeah. With the cut on your back being that size it’s a Band-Aid. There’s no trauma inside your body. So there’s no need for pain pills. That’s one of the nice things about the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® compared to open back surgery like fusion. We don’t do trauma inside your body, there’s no need for pain medicines afterwards.
Patient: The fusion caused hernias and I had a hernia surgery.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Really?
Patient: Yeah. Because of the pain pills.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: So all the complications from fusion including I’ve not heard that one having to have a hernia surgery on your groin. Wow. So here’s another complication from fusions. Well, you’re not going to have that problem anymore, are you?
Patient: No, sir. Hope not.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Well, is there anything else you want to share with your fans out there who are listening to your story?
Patient: The best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m walking straight, no pain. I feel like I can go do what I usually do and especially fishing. I miss that.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: We’re going to get you there. Thank you.
Patient: Thank you. My pleasure. Get back to fishing. I just want everyone to know please make sure you educate yourself before you do this, because you only have one life and you want to make sure you live it to the fullest. And doing these back surgeries that these doctors recommend is not the way to do it. You need to come here and at least give it a shot. Let them look at your MRI. I think you said you can do the reviews online if you’re out of state. But please check here first and let Dr. Deuk go through all your records. Because I’m telling you this is the best thing that we’ve ever done.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: I’m happy for you guys.
Wife: Thank you so much. You just don’t even know how I couldn’t believe it. My son was like, “Dad, you’re supposed to be laying down,” and he’s in there walking around. Like he couldn’t get him in bed last night. So it’s amazing.
Deuk Laser Disc Repair® at Deuk Spine Institute
This patient underwent the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® at Deuk Spine Institute for a foraminal disc herniation at L4-5. A difficult-to-detect herniation above a prior L5-S1 fusion that had been part of a failed surgical cycle beginning with a microdiscectomy in 2012-2013, followed by fusion a month later, and then a recommendation for hardware removal and yet another fusion above. Complications from his prior open surgeries included reliance on narcotic pain medication that contributed to a hernia requiring additional surgery. The Deuk Laser Disc Repair® was performed through a seven-millimeter incision using a laser endoscope confirmed by intraoperative discography at 10 out of 10 pain. With no hospitalization, no narcotic pain medication, and no trauma to surrounding tissue. Unlike the cycle of open back surgery and spinal fusion that had consumed a decade of this patient’s life, the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® addresses the source of pain permanently in a single outpatient visit. Patients trapped in a cycle of failed back surgeries are strongly encouraged to submit their imaging for a complimentary MRI review and virtual consultation with Dr. Deukmedjian at Deuk Spine Institute before undergoing any further procedures.