Summary
A patient from Brazil had developed a rapidly calcifying thoracic disc herniation that was pressing on and threatening to sever his spinal cord. After being hospitalized in December on 250 milligrams of morphine per day, Brazil’s best thoracic spine surgeon gave him a 95% chance of paralysis and 35% chance of a vegetative state from open surgery; yet insisted the surgery was unavoidable. Facing these devastating odds, with a 15-year-old daughter at home and having lost his marriage and many friendships to the personality changes caused by chronic pain, he had a dream that prompted him to search the internet in another language at 3:00 a.m. He found Dr. Deukmedjian on YouTube. He submitted his MRI the following morning, had a Zoom consultation within 20 days, and traveled to Deuk Spine Institute for the thoracic Deuk Laser Disc Repair®. The day after surgery, his pain had dropped from a self-described 20 out of 10 to a 2 and Dr. Deukmedjian told him it would be zero within days.
Transcript
Patient: In my thoracic back, in July last year, I went to the hospital and this herniation started to get big. What we got to know was it was going to get calcified, and it was going to cut my spinal cord. And it was getting bigger and bigger and bigger. People around me didn’t understand what was happening. Because when we are in pain, our mood changes. I don’t believe people understand how people that feel pain change themselves. Maybe you have a husband that has pain and he’s different from what you know him to be. Because he’s in pain. It comes from your brain and it changes yourself. I also lost my marriage. I lost a lot of friends because I was angry. In December, I was hospitalized getting 250 milligrams of morphine per day in my veins. It wasn’t a good situation. My doctor said to me that I would have to be opened from the higher part of my back until the lower part… because it was a very dangerous situation. Thoracic back nobody wants to do it. I found the best doctor in my country. He was the best in Latin America. He was going to do an endoscopic surgery and he said, “Well, we have a 7% chance of something bad happening.” If I did one last MRI review before the surgery; he came and sat with me and said, “Things aren’t going to get better. Since your herniation is being calcified, things are going to get worse. Now we have a 35% chance of you getting into a vegetative state after the surgery.” Vegetative state for us, it’s when your mind stops working, because our spinal cord is part of our brain. So it was going to be hard for him to reach the herniation. After that he also said, “We have a 95% chance of you being paralyzed, and you will never be out of this pain.” So I said, “I’m not going to do it.” Then he said, “You have to do it, because it’s going to cut your spine.” In this situation, I was living with my daughter. She was 15 years old. I didn’t know how to do it. I had a dream. My partner said, “You speak so many languages. Why don’t you go and look for somebody on the internet using another language?” In my dream, I was like…”Check my arm, it’s like yours, Daddy.” He said, “Shut up and go look for someone better, in English or in another language.” And then I did it. It was three o’clock in the morning. I went and I looked on the internet, and I found on YouTube. Thoracic back surgery. I found Dr. Deuk. It was a gift for real. That was on a Sunday. On Monday I called them. They said, “Send your MRI reviews to us.” I sent it. He said, “We are able to do your surgery.” He arranged 20 days after the interview on Zoom. My doctor from Brazil was very rigid about it. He was declining this situation. He said, “You have to come and operate yourself.” And I said, “I’m not going to go.” He said, “It’s up to you. Your daughter someday is going to pick you up from the floor; because this is what’s happening. Your herniation is getting bigger and bigger and this is not a joke.” I did another MRI review and he was right. He was not a bad doctor. He was telling me the truth. He just didn’t know that laser surgery was available, and that Dr. Deuk was a pioneer on that. I’m not used to speaking on cameras, but I don’t believe people here in the hospital understand how important for us this is. It’s a life-changing surgery. For them it’s just a procedure; because it’s so easy that it appears so easy. And I did this surgery yesterday. From 1 to 10 my pain was 20. I stopped taking opioids. I got addicted to opioids and I got off them in 20 days before the surgery. I decided to clean myself and it was very hard. When I came here, they asked me, “How is your pain, 1 to 10?” I said, “20.” Today my pain is a 2. And I spoke to the doctor and he said it’s going to be zero in a few days. So I’m very glad. I don’t know why you are listening or watching this from where you are but if you have a friend or a partner who has been in pain, he’s going to change himself. His mood is going to change. Be human. Try to understand this situation. Bring him here. Don’t waste any time, and take this pain out of him. You are going to have your husband back. You are going to have your friend back. And he’s going to have a new life like I’m having. I’m very grateful and very thankful to everyone in here. They were so kind. My doctor and I were received here very well. So I’m very grateful to Dr. Deuk and all the people that work here. Thank you very much.
Deuk Laser Disc Repair® at Deuk Spine Institute
This patient underwent the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® for the thoracic spine at Deuk Spine Institute. The world’s only center offering minimally invasive laser treatment for thoracic disc herniations to address a rapidly calcifying thoracic disc herniation that was pressing on and threatening to permanently damage his spinal cord. The best thoracic spine surgeon in Latin America had offered open surgery with a 95% chance of paralysis and 35% chance of a vegetative state. With no minimally invasive alternative available in Brazil. After discovering Dr. Deukmedjian on YouTube at 3:00 a.m., submitting his MRI the following morning, and completing a virtual Zoom consultation within 20 days, he traveled to Florida for the thoracic Deuk Laser Disc Repair®. Which addressed the calcified herniation through a tiny incision with no open surgery, no paralysis risk, and no hospitalization. His pain dropped from an off-the-scale 20 out of 10 to a 2 within 24 hours of the outpatient procedure, with full resolution expected within days. Patients worldwide including international patients from Brazil and Latin America with thoracic disc herniations. Are strongly encouraged to submit their MRI for a complimentary MRI review and virtual consultation with Dr. Deukmedjian before accepting any open surgical recommendation.