I have been waiting to write this testimonial until the very end of the recovery process. My wife has always had minor back pain, sometimes it was worse the others, but she always managed to deal with it. Usually, she went to her chiropractor and, after a visit or two, the pain went away, or at least she didn’t mention the problem. Early in July of 2021, she began to complain about her back again and decided to try the chiropractor like she had always done in the past. Also, she tried doing stretch exercises at home as the pain became worse every day.
By July 17, the pain had become so bad, at times, she was having trouble just walking, sleeping, or sitting. The pain would not go away no matter what position she tried. The only position that seemed to ease the pain at all was the “fetal position”. I took her to the ER at Portsmouth Naval Hospital to see if they could do anything for her on that day. The doctor there was not a specialist in the area of back pain and was a young inexperienced Lt. who seemed scared to do anything about it other than give my wife some Tylenol.
After the long, painful ride home, I decided to go “on line” and see what I could find in the way of back specialists, since this was obviously not my wife usual back pain problem. This is when I found the Orthopedic & Spine Center web site, I also found some other centers that specialized in nothing but back and spine issues. I really wanted to get several doctors lined up for their opinions, my feeling was that I wanted to get this right the first time! After I called OSC, they were able to get my wife in for an evaluation of her problem on July 19th. which impressed me. This was when we first met Dr. Jeffrey Carlson. Every day the pain was getting worse and she was not eating or sleeping much. July 22 was the soonest that OSC could get her in for an MRI.
July 29th was the follow up appointment for the MRI results. Dr. Carlson reviewed the results and immediately found the problem – two vertebra had become misaligned and the nerve was being pinched. By this time, the pain was to the point where my wife was not eating or sleeping, no position made the pain any more tolerable.
The surgery date was set for August 17th, which seemed like an eternity for my wife to be in constant extreme pain. The following day, July 30, my wife was in such extreme pain, I took her back to the OSC center and asked if there was anything they could do to ease the pain until the surgery date. This is where Trish came into the picture, she is the scheduler for the surgery dates, she is also the main point of contact for questions that patients may have. After a short notice visit that Friday July 30th with Dr. Carlson he went to Trish and said the date needed to moved up if at all possible. Trish made it happen, the new date was August 3rd. By this time my wife had lost 20 lbs. and was in constant extreme pain, she was very appreciative of the new date for the surgery that Trish had been able to work out.
Tuesday morning, August 3rd my wife and I were at the hospital, the whole process went exactly as we had been told by Trish, no surprises at all. Dr. Carlson worked his magic and as soon as my wife came out of the anesthesia the nerve pain was gone. Apparently, my wife had a bit more trouble than most patients coming out of the anesthesia, so my waiting time was double of what I was told to expect, but she was in good hands. My wife ended up staying the night in the hospital due to this issue, but it was just to make sure that she was doing good before being released. By 3:30 pm the next day, I had my wife in the car headed home and the nerve pain was all gone.
The next two weeks, my wife spent at home just taking it easy and enjoying the fact that I was waiting on her hand and foot. August 16th was the first of several follow-up appointments with Dr. Carlson, X-rays were taken so he could see how her spine was doing and he was very pleased with her progress.
Now “fast forward” to September 21. We went to the initial evaluation for my wife’s physical therapy following the surgery. It has been a long seven weeks since the surgery, but my wife is doing fantastic, the only pain she is experiencing is the area around the incision is still a bit sore and sensitive. Dr. Carlson said that her recovery is going great and this is to be expected, everybody recovers at a different rate.
This has been a “life-changing event” for my wife, there is no way she would have lasted in the condition she was in. I cannot thank the crew at OSC enough for their skill and services that they perform, I don’t think that they truly realize what they do on a day-to-day basis for people that are in the situation that my wife and I were in!
Our many thanks,
Larry and Brenda Botsford
I’ve struggled for a couple of years with lower back pain. After seeking treatment with Dr. Jeffrey Carlson, I’ve finally reached a place where my pain is nearly gone. We tried a variety of non-invasive options first. Cortisone shots, x-ray guided epidural shots and of course, physical therapy. I had finally arrived at surgery as the best option.
I first had the opportunity to meet Dr. Jeffrey Carlson when he performed a neck fusion on my wife. I was impressed by how much he cared for his patients and his great expertise. I myself had been diagnosed with a fractured L5 by the US Army in 1984 and was informed then that I would require a lumbar fusion sometime in the future.
For years, I have heard horror stories about failed spinal fusions and how some patients were never able to walk again after the procedure, so I was very hesitant to agree to any type of spinal surgery. However, I had cervical fusion, performed by Dr. Jeffrey Carlson several years ago, which was a total success and with no complications or symptoms since that time.
It started with shoulder pain, that I could not put my finger on, in April. A cortisone shot in shoulder, no relief. An MRI of my shoulder showed nothing, then the pain disappeared but I could not lift my left arm. Four weeks of physical therapy, was no help. Then, an MRI of my neck showed bulging discs in my neck and I was told only surgery could fix the problem.
