Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
Luke first noticed that he had pain and numbness radiating down into his leg as a freshman in high school. He played baseball his entire life growing up and now the pain was preventing him from trying out for the high school baseball team. “The pain made my normal activities difficult,” Luke remembers. “I was in the marching band which involved a lot of standing and marching which soon became agony.”
His mom Stephanie took Luke to an orthopedic surgeon who first thought the pain symptoms were related to a growth spurt, and recommended physical therapy. But after a month when the symptoms never improved, the therapist recommended they get a second opinion with some X-rays. The X-rays then revealed grade 4 spondylolisthesis, a serious spinal fracture where a crack in the spinal vertebrae can cause the bones to shift out of correct position. The family traveled to four different centers to find a spine surgeon who was proficient in corrective surgery for the spondylolisthesis.
“In addition to seeing doctors in Austin, we traveled to Dallas and Houston,” remembers Luke’s mom Stephanie. “The orthopedic surgeons all had different opinions on the surgery that was needed, which concerned us.
Ultimately a radiologist referred us to Dr. Geck in Austin. In our meeting, we felt that Dr. Geck was conservative. He was very comfortable to be around, and he connected with Luke.”
“We went ahead with Dr. Geck’s plan,” Stephanie adds. “The surgery took about six hours to about 3pm in the afternoon. Dr. Geck and the physician assistants and nursing staff were all amazing in their care of Luke and communicating with us after surgery. Dr. Geck and his PAs always knew what was going on and could communicate the next steps to us.”
Recovery from the major fusion surgery needed to repair the fracture took about three months. “I’m now able to do marching band with no problem, and made the high school baseball team where I play catcher and outfield all with zero pain.”
