Jim Dujka, from Dallas, Texas, has been suffering from back pain for years. He came to The Minimally Invasive Spine Institute (MISI) recently. Dr. Michael Rimlawi was his primary care physician.
“I have degenerative disc disease and I have had two prior back surgeries where each time a portion of a disc was trimmed away” stated Jim in a recent discussion about his battle with back pain. “The muscle pain during the recovery period was horrible not to mention the recovery time and the time away from work was quite long. The relief however was only temporary.”
After several years of trying to deal with the sever pain, Jim decided to come to the MISI.
“I met with Dr. Rimlawi,” said Jim, “and we discussed the options after reviewing my MRI. It came as no surprise to me when Dr. Rimlawi looked at my MRI and said ‘you’re a mess.’ We agreed that surgery was the best option.”
Two weeks later, Jim underwent a large two level interbody fusion with redo laminectomies. This type of procedure would typically cause the patient a great deal of pain for many weeks however, Jim’s recovery was incredibly fast because Dr. Rimlawi used a special minimally invasive procedure that requires smaller incisions and does less damage to the patient.
Jim is excited to share that “now four weeks after the surgery I don’t have near the weakness or muscle pain that I had with my previous two surgeries and this is incredible considering the amount of work that Dr. Rimlawi had to perform on my back.”
“Another amazing thing,” states Jim, “is that the pain that I had in my back and down my legs was completely gone the moment I woke up after surgery. Dr. Rimlawi went into great detail before the surgery to make sure I understood everything that needed to be done and he made sure that he answered any questions that I might have had.”
“I feel completely comfortable and confident with Dr. Rimlawi and I would recommend his care to anyone seeking treatment” Jim says.
To learn more about Minimally Invasive procedures from The Minimally Invasive Spine Institute, visit ZeroSpinePain.com. You can also subscribe to our blog via RSS or email and follow us on Twitter or Facebook.
Tags: Back Pain, back surgery, Dr Michael Rimlawi, Leg Pain, lower back pain, Minimally Invasive Spine Institute, Recovery, Share Your Story, spine surgery
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August 13, 2009, Just an update… It’s been about 11 weeks since I have had surgery and Dr. Rimlawi has released me to return to work, with temporary restrictions. I am no longer taking pain medication or muscle relaxers and I can honestly say that I feel like I have never had surgery or back problems for that matter and I am feeling great! As previously stated, I have had 2 seperate prior back surgeries. I was out of work for 5 months because of the first surgery and 7 months because of the second surgery and they were no where near as extensive as the procedure that Dr. Rimlawi performed on my back. Feeling great and going back to work after only 11 weeks! I am amazed and very gratefull for the excellent care that I received and the great results!
November 20, 2009, Just another update… it’s been 5 months since I had my lower back surgery and I just had my follow up visit with Dr. Rimlawi, and after reviewing my latest set of x-rays, he has determined that I am about 90 – 95% fused! We also discovered that the degenerative disc disease that I suffer from has played a toll on a disc in my neck. The disc is basically gone and two of the vertebra are grinding directly on each other. We both knew that it meant another fusion surgery, but Dr. Rimlawi said that it would be a piece of cake compared to the work that he had to perform on my lower back 5 months ago. I had no hesitation in agreeing to the surgery after the amazing pain-relieving success I have had with my previous surgery!
March 2nd, 2010… Well I had another spine fusion surgery yesterday, this time in my neck plus I had a major bone spur that needed to be removed. Since coming home, I have only taken one pain pill and 1 muscle relaxer. I went to see the doc today and he removed the drain that I went home with yesterday. I am a little sore, but most of the aggrivation comes from having to wear the neck brace. I am one again amazed with the results! Dr. Rimlawi did a great job and I could probably go back to work this week, but I might as well relax for the rest of my vacation week. Thank you MISI and thank you Dr. Rimlawi!