My husband and I have been happily married for over 25 years and are the proud parents of three daughters.  Our youngest is 16 and our middle daughter is 20.  Our oldest would have been 23 this past Christmas Eve.  She passed away at the age of 13, losing a 7-year battle with leukemia.  Her battle was a family battle.  We spent so much time at the hospital it became a second home of sorts for our children.  The many years of ups and downs brought hope and heartache.  It was an emotional rollercoaster that has been endless, even after her death.

As a young family we enjoyed many activities.  Bike riding, waterskiing, and visiting amusement parks were some of our favorites.  In the beginning cancer tried to change our family, but it did not succeed.  We realized early that life was too short to spend it waiting for everything to be “just right”.  So we put a swim cap on our daughter’s little bald head and pulled her around the lake on water skis.  The joy it brought her was worth the risk, and gave her so much to live for.  Her life and death taught us to live life to the fullest, for you never know what tomorrow will bring.

The philosophy that she taught us to live by became a difficult challenge for me years later.  My “tomorrow” brought a back injury resulting from a stupid lift and twist mistake at work.  Physical therapy bought me some time and life went on. When I re-injured it 4 years later (again at work), things became a little more difficult.  But how could I complain after watching my child suffer and persevere?  Nothing I was going through could compare to what she endured.  I again seemed to heal.

There was a pain in the back of my legs that I thought was just a pulled muscle.  I thought “old age” was the reason it wouldn’t go away.  So, I waited and 9 months went by before I felt I couldn’t take it anymore.  Then, a chiropractor, family physician, x-rays, muscle relaxants, pain killers, MRI, local Orthopedic doctor, three steroid shots and a nerve test later…I was scheduled for surgery to remove a bulge in one of my lumbar disks. I recovered quickly, and believed my ordeal was over.  I was back riding my bike in six weeks and rode often that summer.  However, 7 months after surgery, I started having back pain again.  My surgeon said that things had progressed to a level of complexity beyond what he was comfortable handling.  He wanted me to see a specialist.  He made an appointment for me at the University of Iowa Spine Center.

When Dr. Mendoza took over at the UI Spine Center, I was a mess.  The back pain was very intense and I now had pain in the back of both legs as well.  I was not even able to bend over.  I felt like I was only existing, not living.  Emotionally I had bottomed out.  When I realized the condition of my back was serious I became depressed.  In addition to the ordeal with my back, I actually had an unrelated episode occur, which required me to be admitted to the hospital for a blood transfusion and ultimately have a hysterectomy.  There was a part of me that could not let go of the feeling that we had already paid our dues in life.  For seven years we battled our daughter’s leukemia, only to watch her suffer and lose that battle.  That was more than anyone should have to bear.  My girls had dealt with enough as well.  It was hard for me to come to the realization that we were faced with yet another battle…and I felt it was my fault.  The guilt set in.

Dr. Mendoza was very thorough, as he discovered that not only was my first disk almost completely gone (I was basically bone on bone), but the one above it was damaged as well.  I had no stability in my lower spine.  He began by fitting me with a rigid brace to gain stability temporarily.  Then he recommended a more permanent approach.  He wanted to remove the L4/L5 and L5/S1 disks and replace them with spacers and bone graph - a two level 360 degree spinal fusion.  The procedure seemed drastic as he explained the details and risks.  They would go in through my abdomen and work on my spine from the front, flip me over and work on it from the back during the same surgery.  There would be a lot of “hardware” involved.  The thought was overwhelming, but the other options were not something I thought I could live with.  I wanted a “cure”.  I wanted to live my life again.  Dr. Mendoza made sure I knew there were no guarantees.  He explained everything and I was not mislead in any way. It would be my choice to go for surgery.  It was ultimately, however, Dr. Mendoza’s expertise and confidence that were the deciding factors for me to choose surgery. He and the staff at the UI Spine Center saw me as more than just a case number.  They were caring and compassionate, ready and willing to address all my needs.  In fact, they insisted on the highest level of care for me.

I spent 7 hours on the operating table.  My recovery was long, but all the small steps of improvement encouraged me to go on and try harder every day.  I did EVERYTHING they told me to do!  I had physical therapy 3 days a week for about 2 months.  I slowly built up my walking endurance and actually lost 35 pounds in the process.  I was determined to make this work.  At my 6 month check-up, everyone at the UI Spine Center was in awe of what I had accomplished.  They made me feel so good.  Dr. Mendoza said he would not have even recognized me on the street.  My whole disposition had changed as well.  And the icing on the cake was to see my x-rays…the fusion was well underway, much further along than they had expected.

I have lost a bit of flexibility, but it hasn’t slowed me down.  I enjoy riding my bike as much as ever.  I am making plans to run in my first 5K and hope to participate in the Bix race this summer.  And, with Dr. Mendoza’s blessing, I now get my thrills on the back of our new Harley Davidson Ultra Classic motorcycle.  My husband and I have logged on over 5000 miles this summer (all prior to the one-year anniversary of my surgery)!

The UI Spine Center was the blessing I thought I could only hope for.  I would have my surgery with Dr. Mendoza again in a heartbeat.  I got my life back.  I got a better life in fact, because now I am committed to keeping myself fit.  My daughter would be proud!

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