Ron Jerozsko, a seasonal resident of the Gulf Coast, found relief from severe back pain through a new endoscopic spine surgery.
"When we first moved down here years ago, I would walk a four-mile circle every day," Jerozsko said.
Eventually, Jerozsko had to cut back on his walks.
"I cut it down to three and then down to two and one, and then, this pain started, you know," he said.
Jerozsko's back pain became so debilitating that it would bring him to his knees.
"It got to the point where I had, like, an electrical shock go across my back and down my legs, and that would tend to buckle the knees and want to put me on the ground," he said.
Jerozsko even started limiting his day-to-day outings.
"I just stayed up here unless we were going out to a dinner, dinner or something like we had tickets to the dinner theater up in Fort Myers," he said. "So, then I go down with other nets, and you would have to do everything, take the garbage out, get the mail, go grocery shopping alone and everything like that."
Jerozsko explored various treatment options, but either the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, or the treatment required a long recovery time. His wife, Sandy, was seeing Dr. Edwin Valle for a follow-up appointment after her neck surgery, and Jerozsko decided to tag along and ask Dr. Valle questions about his back pain. Finally, Jerozsko had a diagnosis and a possible viable option for treatment.
"So he had this condition called ankylosing spondylitis," Dr. Valle said.
"This is a condition where the whole spine becomes like a single block of bone, so it becomes rigid. And he was just having terrible pain. He would get up, have pain every time that he would move."
Years ago, there was only one type of surgery that would have been an option for Jerozsko. But for years, neurosurgeon Dr. Edwin Valle has teamed up with Arthrex in Naples to design and fine-tune endoscopic tools, making surgery that was once impossible a reality.
"If I had seen Ron ten years ago, I would have said, hey, the only thing I can do for you is a long segment fusion," Dr. Valle said.
"I can go there and put four screws on top of your degenerated joint, four screws below your degenerated joint, and then I hope that that relieves your pain."
Fast forward ten years, and now Dr. Valle even has a nickname for a new type of surgery he's pioneering.
"I call this a Band-Aid surgery because that's all what you need," Dr. Valle said.
"A little Band-Aid over your back and then back to normal life."
Endoscopic spine surgery is an ultra-minimally invasive surgical technique performed by either an orthopedic-trained spine surgeon or neurosurgeon. Specially designed instruments that are about the width of a pencil are used, allowing surgeons to view and reach small areas of the spine without the need for the large incision required in the past for traditional back surgery. The incision is so small that often these procedures can be performed in an outpatient setting, potentially allowing the patient to go home the same day.
"But after the surgery, when I got home, I could just get out the car and walk over to the stairs," Jerozsko said.
"I just took some Tylenol. But there was no strong medication."
Jerozsko says this surgery changed his life.
"Life is good again," he said.
"I can go grocery shopping. I can do my chores, the garbage, the mail, stuff like that."
"So essentially, it gave you your life back?" asked Lisa, the interviewer.
"Yeah, it did," Jerozsko said. "If he hadn't done that, I'd have been in a walker. Not a well, maybe by now. Living in a wheelchair."
Dr. Valle says when it comes to what's best for you, there are two thoughts you should keep in mind if you are considering a similar surgery.
The first question should be: Can this surgery be performed endoscopically? But he says the most important question you can ask your doctor is:
"Always, is this something that you will do for your family member?" Dr. Valle said. "That's the most important question that you can ask anybody because now you're bringing the doctor to think, hey, is this something that is efficient, is going to last for a long time and is the best that you could do in your abilities? That's the best question that you can ask not only a spine surgeon but everybody in general."