Paul's story
Spondylolisthesis, ALIF surgery
Spine surgery allows Paul to make new family memories
For more than a year, Paul's goal was clear: hiking with his family in the Grand Canyon. The biggest barrier in his way was an injured lower back that made it painful to walk even a few steps.
Paul's children already had arranged the trip, but the pain down his left leg wasn't getting better. For a retired botanist whose life had been spent mostly exploring outdoors, it was excruciating in every way possible.
"My kids just said, 'You've got to find somebody to get your back fixed so you can come with us,'" Paul recalls.
Paul had consulted with several spine surgeons, plus chiropractors and physical therapists, but hadn't experienced any lasting relief. He eventually found his way to Dr. Juan Mejia, a neurosurgeon at Mayfield Brain & Spine's Anderson office.
A couple of months later, Dr. Mejia performed an anterior lumbar interbody fusion surgery, known as ALIF, at The Christ Hospital. He inserted a spacer between the L5 and S1 levels of Paul's spine, then fused the two vertebrae together.
"Paul was clear about his goals for surgery," Dr. Mejia said. "He was focused on doing whatever he had to do to make that hiking trip happen."
Seven months after the operation, Paul hiked on the Grand Canyon's Bright Angel Trail, down about 1.5 miles and back, with his wife and two sons. It's an experience he won't soon forget.
"As a botanist, I saw plants out west that I had not seen since my training," Paul says. "I was thrilled to the point of tears."
Lumbar deterioration started years ago
Paul had done some physical therapy after a fall years ago. But his back problems got more severe after he and his wife retired and moved to this area in 2020. He had worked as a botanist for the state of West Virginia and had always enjoyed walking outdoors. And, after a previous heart attack, his cardiologist had urged him to walk every day.
The back pain worsened so that even turning over in bed was difficult.
"I always swore that I would never do back surgery," he recalls, "but it got to the point where I couldn't walk 10 feet without the pain. I just had to sit down."
When Paul got to Mayfield, Dr. Mejia diagnosed isthmic spondylolisthesis, a neurologic condition where one vertebra slips out of place over the bone below it and kinks the adjacent nerves. The pressure can cause pain radiating down the leg, called radiculopathy. In Paul's case, the weakness in the legs was debilitating at times.
Dr. Mejia says these symptoms of spondylolisthesis are not unusual for men Paul's age who have long-term back issues. He says the "slipped disc" could have resulted from a congenital defect in the bone, or it could have been the result of years of stress on the lumbar spine.
"The most important thing is to decompress the nerve so that it can function normally," Dr. Mejia says. "Inserting a spacer brings the spine into proper alignment, and then fusing the two levels together stabilizes and strengthens the spine going forward."
Paul is focused now on taking care of his back. He completed several rounds of Physical Therapy at Mayfield's Anderson office with physical therapist Luke Iding and PT assistant Michael Kunz. When he's away from home, he often sleeps on the floor with an extra-thick pad. He's wary of pressure on the spine levels directly above and below the fused vertebrae.
He is grateful for the care he received at Mayfield, including not just Dr. Mejia, but also the physical therapy team, medical secretary Amanda Prickett and medical assistant Darlene Goff.
But most of all, he is grateful for that hiking trip.
"I knew there would be some challenges with breathing at the Grand Canyon," he says, "but I didn't have to worry anything about pain in my leg."
~ Cliff Peale
Hope Story Disclaimer -"Paul's Story" is about one patient's health-care experience. Please bear in mind that because every patient is unique, individual patients may respond to treatment in different ways. Results are influenced by many factors and may vary from patient to patient.
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