Stories of Surgical Despair

Share your story of surgical despair

It is difficult to describe the extent of devastation that is possible from a failed spine surgery. The bigger the operation, the more frequent and severe the complications, and more the destructive impact on your life. No matter how hard your surgeon may try to explain this possibility to you, you cannot comprehend it. “Get it Right the First Time”

I quit my surgical spine practice in 2019 because I was seeing so much surgery performed on normally aging spines. Many of them were causing severe damage to people’s spines and destroying their lives. Frequently, the impact was catastrophic. At the same time, I was witnessing hundreds of patients having their pain resolve with no risk and minimal costs. They were simply using well-documented treatments that the medical world is continuing to largely ignore. (1)

“I should have never had this spine surgery”

Your stories are common. The majority of spine surgeries for neck and back pain are not indicated. It is bad enough to experience a complication or bad outcome from an indicated spine operation, but it is intolerable when it never should have been done. Not only are you trapped and angry about being in pain, but now you are legitimately angry at the surgeon who promised you relief and you are worse – much worse.

Please tell your story

I am asking you to tell the world your story of how your life has been devasted by a failed spine operation(s). People need to know. I am not opposed to appropriate spine surgery, but I am strongly against surgery that has little chance of helping you and can hurt you.

Even you have had a failed operation, you can still salvage most situations by using an organized science-based approach. I have one patient who underwent 28 surgeries in 22 years and is now not only free from the grip of chronic pain but has never felt better. He has been out of pain for over six years. The exception is when so much surgical damage has been inflicted that there are permanent structural limitations.The term I am using for extreme failures is “catastrophic complications.” If you are in this group, please help others avoid the same fate.

Please be concise and the blog should be no more than 1500 words. We will edit it for spelling, grammar, and clarity. However, we will not change the messaging and will contact you with any questions. We need to approve it prior to being posted.

References:

Cherkin DC, et al. Effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction vs. cognitive behavioral therapy or usual care on back pain pain and functional in adults with chronic low back pain. A randomized clinical trial. JAMA (2016); 315:1240-1249.