Summary
An engineer from outside Tulsa, Oklahoma had been perfectly healthy until a sudden injury seven months prior left her bedridden and unable to sit, stand, or walk for more than five minutes at a time due to severe lower back pain and muscle tightness. Three months of physical therapy not only failed to help but aggravated her condition and she was told surgery was not an option for a bulging disc. After discovering Deuk Spine Institute, she underwent the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® on a severely pressurized L4-5 disc with significant inflammation. The following day she described the problem as solved, was on only Tylenol and a muscle relaxer, and was already looking forward to returning to work, caring for her animals, and being present for the grandchildren she expected soon with her dignity and independence restored.
Transcript
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: I’m here with a patient who has traveled with her husband from Oklahoma. Where in Oklahoma?
Patient: Outside of Tulsa, out in the country.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: We did your surgery yesterday for your lower back, and you’re here today after having the surgery. How do you feel?
Patient: Well, I feel phenomenal. I still have a little muscle. You know issues from the surgery, but that’s going to heal in just a few days. And I feel like my problem has been solved. A problem that seemed insolvable until I came to Dr. Deuk.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Well, that’s interesting. You’re right. I mean, you had disc pain, and you can see in your surgery we went in with a tiny little cut on your back. We used an endoscope with the laser to clean out those herniated discs. And one of your discs was under a lot of pressure the L4-5. You can see that it was actually pushing some of the instruments out. It was under so much pressure. And that pressure comes from inflammation. If you’ve ever seen anybody with an arthritic joint that’s aggravated and angry and painful. It’s swollen. So swelling is part of the inflammation. And we took care of that yesterday, and you did beautifully. Tell us about your life before your surgery here at Deuk Spine.
Patient: My problem happened about seven months ago. Prior to that I was perfectly healthy, normal. And then all of a sudden I had an injury and I was bedridden and incapacitated. I couldn’t sit for more than five minutes, couldn’t stand for more than five minutes, couldn’t walk for more than five.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Why was that?
Patient: Just the back pain. The back pain, yes. And the muscle tightness from the back pain. It just was very debilitating. And that is solved now. It’s much better.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And you’re an engineer by trade?
Patient: Yes.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And you must have had an opportunity to talk to other doctors about your back. What did they tell you?
Patient: Well, I had a bulging disc. So the normal conventional wisdom. The medical establishment says that bulging discs you can’t really have surgery for those. So physical therapy is supposed to solve this. I did physical therapy for three months and it just aggravated it. So in my case I was told that surgery was not an option. But Dr. Deuk has an innovative surgical procedure to repair the discs that other doctors do not know about and do not do. And this is actually to solve the problem. It solved my problem.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Is there anything else you want to add?
Patient: If you have a condition of back pain and you’ve been told that you just need physical therapy but you’ve tried physical therapy and it’s not helping and you’re still in pain or if you have back pain and you’ve been told you need a laminectomy, discectomy, or fusion. Before you do that, you check with Dr. Deuk. Because he has an innovative solution that will be much less invasive. You’ll be back on your feet the next day and you’ll be feeling much better the next day, as opposed to weeks or months with the other surgical options. Dr. Deuk has an innovative procedure that’s not done elsewhere but will be the future of spinal surgery. Absolutely.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And no narcotic painkillers.
Patient: No. No. Tylenol and a muscle relaxer.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Yeah. All those other surgeries that you talked about. The alternative treatments they do require post-operative narcotic opioid painkillers, which are dangerous. But you didn’t get any.
Patient: Yeah. Don’t need any. I don’t need any. So I need the Tylenol, but I feel great.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: So one last question. Tell us what you’re looking forward to now that your back has been fixed. What are the things you’re going to do in life?
Patient: Return to work get back to work, because I’ve been on medical leave. I’m going to enjoy my animals be able to take care of my animals again. And I’m looking forward to having grandchildren really soon, so now I’ll be able to enjoy my grandchildren that are going to be on the way soon.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Do they live close by?
Patient: We have some that are in town and some that are far away, but we expect we’re going to have grandchildren in the near future. So yeah.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And you mentioned family so I guess I do have one more comment. Your husband is here with you. He’s been so loyal and stood by your side through all of this. Is there anything you want to say about your husband?
Patient: He’s phenomenal. He’s been my strength. It’s meant so much to me that he’s helped me out so much. He’s been supportive. Yes, absolutely.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: A lot of people aren’t fortunate enough to have a spouse that understands. Unfortunately, we talk about this in my surgeries. There’s a lot of stigma associated with people with back pain. The rest of society sometimes labels them as slackers, or they’re just trying to get out of work, or they’re just faking it, or looking for secondary gain. But it’s not true, is it?
Patient: No. I mean. I was just miserable. Not being able to do anything, not being able to take care of myself. And now I have my life back. And I can be a productive person again. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: You have your dignity back.
Patient: Yeah.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. And I’m sure it’ll inspire other people to get something done to fix their back.
Patient: Yeah, get started and go from there.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Well, thank you. Thank you. Congratulations.
Deuk Laser Disc Repair® at Deuk Spine Institute
This patient underwent the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® at Deuk Spine Institute for a severely pressurized and inflamed lumbar disc herniation at L4-5. A condition that other physicians had deemed inoperable, recommending only physical therapy for what they classified as a bulging disc. Three months of physical therapy had actually worsened her condition, leaving her bedridden and unable to sit, stand, or walk for more than five minutes at a time. Using a laser and endoscope through a tiny incision, Dr. Deukmedjian cleaned the herniation and relieved the extreme internal disc pressure. Achieving complete resolution of her debilitating pain the following day with only Tylenol and a muscle relaxer for comfort. Unlike laminectomy, discectomy, or spinal fusion. Which require narcotic pain management and weeks to months of recovery. The Deuk Laser Disc Repair® restores patients to their feet the next day with dramatically reduced recovery time. As this patient astutely noted, it is the future of spinal surgery. Patients who have been told their bulging discs cannot be surgically treated are encouraged to submit their MRI for a complimentary MRI review and virtual consultation with Dr. Deukmedjian at Deuk Spine Institute.