GPN Artificial Disc Replacement ADR

Lorna first contacted me for help in February 2007. She was 2 years post op from the Maverick ADR and had been completely disabled since her accident, over 3 years ago. In the years since her failed ADR surgery, her doctors in Australia had been telling her that her unrelenting leg pain and other problems were due to nerve damage that was already permanent and she had no surgical options. She was considering going to the Alpha Klinik for a work up and potential revision surgery with Dr. Zeegers. I had seen too many cases of so called "permanent nerve damage" that was ultimately resolved by a decompression surgery that I told her “They don’t know. They’re just telling you that to make you go away.” (I was pleased to discover months later when her Aunt Esther told me how important it was for Lorna to see and hear about my other clients who recovered from so called “permanent nerve damage.” She told me that "her mood changed after she spoke to you!")

She was scheduled to be in Munich at the end of April. I could not be with her for the surgery, but kept in close contact. She told me about recognizing another patient from my website. She approached him in the waiting room and said, "I know you... your Sam Perroni from Mark's website!" She and Sam became fast friends. Most days that Lorna was in the hostpital, Sam brought her flowers.

In early May, after the spine meeting in Berlin, I was fortunate enough to get to see Lorna there. When I arrived in Germany, we had been communicating almost daily for a couple of weeks. She’d had the Maverick explanted and fusion with STALIF cage. The surgery relieved her leg pain for a few days, but when she became active again the leg pain returned. A week later, Dr. Zeegers performed a posterior decompression surgery and implanted a Coflex for additional stability. That surgery again removed the leg pain and Lorna was a different person. Before coming to Munich, she was unable to stand up straight or walk normally because the pain was so intense. She was deformed.

Although she could stand up straight, she still had balance problems, and difficulty walking. She could not have a cervical MRI because of the spinal cord stimulator that had been implanted in a failed attempt to deal with th

e leg pain. She had a lumbar puncture in order to rule out other causes for the balance and coordination issues. Unfortunately, the lumbar puncture generated a CSF (Cerebrospinal fluid) leak that had her hospitalized with severe headache and nausea for almost two weeks. After that was resolved, the decision was made to remove the spinal cord stimulator so that an MRI could be performed. Unfortunately, the MRI results were not clear. While there was some pathology demonstrated, it did not seem to rise to the level that might be causing her symptoms. After a great deal of discussions and arguing between the entire team, it was decided that a single level Mobi-C ADR at level C6-7 would be performed. By this time, I was back at the Alpha Klinik with another client and was fortunate enough to watch Lorna come through this process. The picture at the left with Dr. Baumbach was taken on the night of her surgery.

I have to say that I believe this could not have happened anywere else in the world. The efforts of Doctors Zeegers and Baumbach, and the entire Alpha Klinik staff was amazing. Read Lorna's words about this in her iSpine post, here.

The picture of Lorna balancing (on the video below) was taken two days after her surgery. She is standing on one foot, which was completely impossible before the cervical surgery. Just a few short hours after her surgery, the balance and coordination issues were resolved and there was again a spring in her step. We had just finished a neurological exam on my client, and Dr. Baumbach had to go check up on Lorna. I think this demonstrated the level of involvement and commitment the entire team at the Alpha Klinik had, and the support that Lorna received during her eight-week ordeal. Lorna's ordeal in Munich had started over eight weeks ago, but it really had been going on for over three years. With four kids ages 4-16, she had been unable to pick up and hold her four year old. I suggested that having been through so many ups and downs through the years, and many ups and downs just in the past few weeks, her family probably didn't even believe that she was doing so well. I asked her if she wanted to create a short video message and put it on the internet so they could see that their mom really was okay. We took just a few minutes to shoot the video below...one take... 30 seconds of video. A couple hours later, it was up on YouTube and off to her family with some pictures.

Later that day, Lorna, her Aunt Esther, and I walked to Arabella Park for dinner. It was an amazing walk, as Lorna could walk looking up at me instead of looking down at the ground. (Before her surgery, she needed to watch where she placed her foot for each step as the balance and coordination issues were so profound, she would stumble if she didn't.) On my last day in Munich, I got to see Lorna as she was in the Klinik for her final check up before she returned to Australia.

The picture at the right of Lorna with her father, Robert, still brings tears to my eyes. He stayed with her the entire eight weeks. His tireless support is what gave Lorna the strength to get through the ordeal.

What an amazing transformation to see. To Lorna and her family... all the best. Enjoy every minute of your new lives. To Doctors Zeegers, Baumbach, Blome and all the Alpha Klinik staff, THANK YOU for the work that you do. Your willingness to go the extra mile for your patients provides so many, like Lorna, Sam, AND ME a second chance at life!

Lorna's words (11/7/07): My family was an inspiration to me throughout my ordeal, especially my husband Allan and my Dad, Robert who accompanied me to Munich, absorbed alot of my anxieties and brightened my spirits when I was at my lowest. I was fortunate to have my Dad there for the whole 8 weeks. As chief wheelchair pusher, vomit bucket holder (thanks DAD!), clothes washer and all round cheerer up-erer. My wonderful husband, Allan, was able to be with me for the first major op but then had to return to OZ to care for our brood. Allan is the sort of man that you could only hope your daughter would marry. He endured 3 years of being my carer, masseur, housecleaner, chauffeur, babysitter, counselor and best friend, without ever complaining. EVER!! WHAT A MAN! LOVE YOU AL! Big thanks also have to go to my mum for holding the fort in OZ, looking after my four little ones and being of immense support to us all. More Big thanks have to go my sister Victoria and Aunt Esther who travelled from Bahrain and Scotland to lend their support to us in Munich with much needed laughs and hugs. To my ever suffering children I say a HUGE THANK YOU! Mummy was a bit cranky for 3 years and you were all so patient and you all loved me anyway! LOVE YOU GUYS!! As all Spineys out there know, the spinal surgery road can be a very long one and you can't get through it without support and (sometimes) tough love from your family. Mine are the reason for my Alpha Klinik success!!!

I won't lie and say that I am completely pain free, I still have leg pain that hangs around but it is pain that I can live with. It can be annoying but it does not interfer with my life the way it did pre-Alpha Klinik. I will always need to care for my spine, but now i can partake in life and not just view it from the sidelines (or couch as it were)!!!