From excruciating pain to virtually pain free – one woman shares her voyage in getting the quality of her life back with the help of a local neurosurgeon
(St. Petersburg, Fla.) January 13, 2010 – You’re only 47 years-old. You’re fairly healthy, with no severe medical issues. You’ve never been in an accident or experienced serious injury. Yet, you lay in bed having your meals fed to you because it’s too excruciating to move your body beyond the distance of your bedroom to your restroom. This was Christine Barone’s life. An average 47-year-old, East Lake resident who would have done anything to have the quality of her life back.
It all started nearly six years ago when Barone, a front-office supervisor to a medical practice, experienced relentless back aches. “I would lay flat in bed, icing myself 24-7,” said Barone. No car accident, work injury or fall caused this pain. For Barone, it was purely and unfortunately – bad luck of the draw. “Christine was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the spine, which can be extremely painful,” said her treating physician, David McKalip, M.D. neurosurgeon of the brain and spine of Start to Finish Spine Care in St. Petersburg. DDD can be a normal part of aging and for most it does not cause a problem. However, for other individuals, the outcome can be chronic, immensely affecting one’s quality of life. In some cases DDD can be treated with physical therapy, osteopathic manipulation or anti-inflammatory medications.
“I was desperate,” she said. Barone even tried spinal injections, which helped for a little while. “Spinal injections are best described as pain-reducing medicines that go to the source of the pain,” said McKalip. From epidural steroid injections and cortisone shots to nerve root blocks – depending on the situation, any of these can help. Barone had two injections, which alleviated her pain for a while but she spent most of her time “ignoring the pain,” and ignoring her quality of life.
It wasn’t long until Barone was bedridden. The pain had spread to her ankle and she was not able to put any weight on her leg without experiencing unbearable pain. “Christine’s MRI scans truly revealed the extent of her pain,” said McKalip. Without hesitation the team at Start to Finish Spine Care ordered Barone back in immediately to undergo surgery. “I am a very conservative doctor,” McKalip said to Barone, “I look at all possible alternatives to treatment before surgery. But in this case surgery is a must.”
Like most people, Barone was nervous with the haste in which surgery was required. “Dr. McKalip said if it were his family, he would tell them to get surgery. I knew I was in good hands. He told me exactly what I was going to experience,” she said, “when surgery was over, like clockwork – everything I was told happened.” Knowing surgery was always her physician’s last approach, Barone went into the OR 24 hours later. Barone was hesitant to anesthesia, having bad reactions in the past, yet this time, she went to sleep easily and woke-up a new woman.
“The first thing I did after I woke-up from surgery was move my legs… just to make sure,” she says with a laugh. “I couldn’t believe it. The pain was completely gone.” Barone was asked countless times from the medical team if she had any pain and her answer was the same. None. “The team treated me like family. They wondered if I was just in euphoria but I am telling you, I was up and ready to go the next day. Two hours after surgery, I got-up and walked myself to the restroom,” Barone said proudly.
“It’s like a miracle,” she said, “I have a new lease on life. That kind of pain was brutal and it left me wondering what my life would be like. It was awful before. I don’t cry easy but when I saw Dr. McKalip, I just started to cry. I had to give him a hug. It was amazing what he did for me.”
Like she was told by the medical team, every day Barone was able to regain the quality of her life back more and more. Before her procedure, she wasn’t able to turn her neck; by week three, she was brushing her hair – just as the doctor told her – on schedule.
With her new lease on life, Barone has pledged to embrace the quality of her life by exercising more and building her core strength as she was advised by her medical team. “I couldn’t be happier for Christine and her amazing improvement. She was a trooper in and out of the procedure. Her positive attitude and spunk for life was also her saving grace,” said McKalip.
About Start to Finish Spine Care: Start to Finish Spine Care is a revolutionary concept in spine care – a comprehensive, multidisciplinary facility where recovery is sought quickly and all under one roof. With medical spine management, manipulation, physical therapy, spinal injections and a spine surgeon all in one location, whatever a patients’ spine care needs may be, Start to Finish Spine Care maps the road to recovery from start… to finish. Start to Finish Spine Care specialists consist of founder and neurosurgeon, Dr. David M. McKalip, physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist, Dr. Sara Rizk, Hartley Physical Therapy and Fitness and Dr. Michael Solomon for advanced medical spine management. Start to Finish Spine Care is located at 731 Southwest Blvd. N. in St. Petersburg, FL 33703. For more information, visit www.StartToFinish.com or call 727-822-3500.
