Patient Stories
Michael Mayers, DDS
Michael Mayers’s Story
“A week after surgery, I was back in my office.”
Diagnosis: |
Herniated Disc, Cervical Spine |
Treatment: |
Microscopic Anterior Cervical
Discectomy and Fusion
|
Dentist Dr. Michael Mayers woke up one summer morning
with excruciating pain in his left arm. “It took me completely
by surprise. I had gone to bed the night before and everything was normal. I woke up feeling like there was acid
in my arm. My kids told my wife that I was saying all sorts of ‘ bad words ’.” After a few days, the intense pain subsided
and there was a tingling sensation in his arm along with weakness.
Dr. Mayers contacted his father, an MD specializing in internal medicine in New York, and his uncle who is an
orthopedic surgeon and they both recommended that he see Dr. Jack Stern. An MRI report showed that Dr.
Mayers had a herniated disc. “I have no idea how this herniated disc occurred, as I wasn’t in an accident or did
something strenuous,” he says. A decision was made by Dr. Stern to try non-surgical solutions such as medications
and physical therapy and after close to 2 months the pain diminished. Dr. Stern “kept tabs” on Dr. Mayers
throughout this period and when the weakness and tingling persisted and his upper arm began to atrophy, he
insisted that Dr. Mayers come in to speak to him and Dr. Neubardt about surgery.
“As a dentist, I understood the procedures Drs. Stern and Neubardt would utilize in my surgery which didn’t bother
me at all. It was the anesthesia that made me fearful, as I’d never had it administered to me before.” However,
the staff at White Plains Hospital were “wonderful, high-quality experts” who allayed his fears of the anesthesia
experience. His uncle, the orthopedic surgeon, actually watched the surgery and told Dr. Mayers afterwards that
he was impressed with the elegant, evolved techniques used by Drs. Stern and Neubardt. In the recovery room,
Dr. Mayers said he woke up fully alert and when the recovery room nurse offered him a hospital room to stay in
overnight, he declined because he felt ready to go home. Which he did. The next night, Dr. Mayers attended a
cocktail party. “I didn’t stay long, but I was happy to feel up to socializing so quickly after surgery!”
A week later, after just 1 physical therapy session, Dr. Mayers felt he was ready to return to work. He was back in
the office, attending to his patients, and says, “It’s remarkable what is possible today. It was unfortunate that I had
this situation, but in the end, it worked out really well.”
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