Age: 67
Hometown: Temecula, CA
Surgical practice: Scripps Health, San Diego, CA
Procedure: eXtreme Lateral Interbody Fusion (XLIF®)
Surgery date: January 21, 2013
Life prior to surgery: Mike struggled with pain in his lower back, buttocks, and right leg for more than 10 years. The pain prevented him from standing or walking his dogs for longer than 10 minutes at a time. He tried to continue playing golf, but he had to take intense pain killers in order to do it.
Eventually, Mike met with a surgeon at Scripps Health who recommended XLIF surgery. Mike was relieved that the doctor could help him and expected a good outcome—a normal, active life without pain or painkillers.
Situation today: Mike underwent the XLIF procedure in January 2013. He was up and walking the day after his surgery. At first, Mike struggled with some postoperative incision pain and pelvic pain in the area of his bone graft. But he did a lot of walking to speed his recovery. Within a week or two, Mike was back to most of his daily activities. Less than three months after surgery, he was playing golf again—more than once a week! Today, Mike has no pain and is doing everything he was unable to do before surgery.
13-NUVA-587