Pat H. Story

I started having pain five years ago and for the last three years I would get up in the morning to go to work and I'd have to go lie down three times because of the burning in my legs and my hip. My husband had to do the dishes and everything because all I could do was lie down. I continued to work a full time job but only because I was close to my work and I could come home at lunch and get in the recliner and get my feet up. The only way I could ever get relief was to lie down and, thank goodness, when I would lie down the pain would go away from my legs and back.

So I went to a lot of doctors, had epidurals, all to no avail. It turns out I had scoliosis, degenerative disk disease, arthritis and bone spurs. My curve had gone from 20° to 30° in six months. They said my degenerative disk disease contributed to that. But everything they did just made it worse. It would work until the numbing of the procedure wore off and then it would be worse. I did that for three years and never got any help from any of it.

I'd even seen a neurosurgeon but my husband and I just weren't comfortable with what we heard. We were hearing about surgery and pain pumps and how my back would be a patch-up job, everything but what I wanted to hear. So I really didn't want to have surgery because all I'd heard was "I never should have had it done" and "If I had it to do over again I wouldn't do it" and "It's worse now than when it started." I'd very seldom heard anything good about a back surgery. I really didn't want have it done.

Then my daughter found Consulting Orthopedists on the Internet . My Daughter is a nurse and she looked through it and said, "Mom, they just have such great credentials" and she just said, "You know I just think the Dallas area has got to have more of the newer procedures available" and she said, "I think we need to check it out." We're about 350 miles from Dallas but we made an appointment, made our airline reservations and flew down and had our consult.

We talked to Dr. Hostin and he's just such a great guy. He explains everything. He doesn't miss anything . He dots every I and crosses every t. In fact, everyone in that office is so efficient. They just work with you in every way they can to help you.

I was in ICU two or three days and then, when I went to the regular room, I got up and walked down the hall and it wasn't in any pain. And the people in rehab are great. My daughter had told me that rehab was just as important as the surgery. I got on the treadmill a week after surgery and there was no pain. I thank God every day for Dr. Hostin. He's just terrific.

So I just can't think of enough good things to say about those doctors at Baylor and the rehab . I have three children and they all few into Dallas stayed in the hotel right across the street from the hospital and they could just walk across the street to visit me. It's so convenient.

The surgery has given me my life back . I was 62 and that was too young to be confined to a chair because we loved going to Vegas and shopping and walking around and we couldn't do any of that. And it's made a great difference in my husband's life. He doesn't have to wash dishes any more; he doesn't have to do the laundry any more!