Bending under a sink to install a garbage disposal. Carrying a 250-pound cast-iron tub up a flight of stairs for a new bathroom. The life of a plumber takes a toll on the body—especially when you do it for 30 years.
Mike Halverson of Wood River Valley, Idaho, worked as a plumber until his retirement in 1999. Not surprisingly, throughout his career, Mike's back provided daily jolts of pain.
When pain did strike, Mike could only walk several hundred yards before his legs would go numb, causing him to fall over. And he had a difficult time standing for longer than two minutes.
Mike's back pain made his favorite activities—hunting and fly fishing—impossible to enjoy. Over the years, Mike had seen several physicians for his back. During one MRI session, he was asked, “When did you break your back?”&Բ;
“My back pain was debilitating"
On a referral from a friend, Mike began to see Mark Mahan, MD, FAANS, and Zachary L. McCormick, MD, at 鶹ѧƷ through the Endoscopic and Percutaneous Spine program.
Back pain is often caused by multiple problems. With a team of physicians, Mike’s various sources of pain were identified and treated using targeted, state-of-the-art minimally invasive approaches. Both physicians performed four minimally invasive endoscopic surgeries—one by Dr. Mahan and three by Dr. McCormick—on Mike’s back to address different sources of his pain.
During one of these procedures, endoscopic laminectomy, he had pinched nerves decompressed using an endoscope inserted through an incision less than the width of a pinky fingernail.
During another procedure, basivertebral nerve ablation, heat was applied through a probe to treat angry nerve clusters inside the vertebral bodies of the lumbar spine. The heat desensitizes the nerves, making them unable to transmit pain signals.
“I can't rave enough about the care I received at 鶹ѧƷ...The entire staff blows me away with how they treated me.”
Each surgery has made Mike's life progressively better. Today, he is back hunting. Six weeks after his most recent procedure, Mike logged 13,000 steps on uneven hunting ground.
Prior to the surgeries, Mike would be lucky to get an hour of good sleep each night. Now, he comfortably sleeps through the night.
“I've seen a lot of doctors over the years because of my back pain,” Mike said. “The difference at U of U Health is that my surgeons call me to see how I'm doing. The professionalism is unlike anything I've ever seen.”
“Mike is a great individual and a remarkable patient,” Dr. Mahan said. “When someone has the strong will to improve, anything is possible.” Dr. McCormick added, “By treating less invasively and more precisely, the outcomes for return to sports and activities is vastly superior than traditional recommendations.”
