Michael Shaffer had had some back problems — the usual aches and pains — but that didn’t prepare him for the excruciating pain he felt after he slipped a disc. “I was at a 9, and bouncing a 10, and just on the floor, hardly could walk, leaning against the walls, holding myself up on the counters, and that kind of thing,” he remembers.
Michael had initially tried to tough it out, but in the end he made it not even two weeks — the pain was too much. The 58-year-old initially saw his primary physician, who referred him to a surgeon. The surgeon explained the procedure, which would involve a 6-inch incision and a considerable amount of after care. “I didn’t really want that,” Michael says.
He’d heard of Dr. Solomon Kamson, however, and headed to the Spine Institute Northwest to learn more. “When I talked to Dr. Kamson and he explains his procedure, I was all right,” Michael says. “He got me right into surgery within a few days and got things rolling.”
Michael’s recovery following laser spine surgery has gone well, and he’s continued to be impressed with the level of care that he’s received at the Spine Institute Northwest. “I mean, I came in on one appointment, and I was having a little trouble, and Dr. Kamson asked me, he said, ‘Do you have a little time this afternoon?'” Michael recalls. “He called in his crew, he changed his schedule, and gave me an injection that helped me out so much. I mean when they saw me that I was in pain, he just took care of me.”
His advice to those suffering from back pain is not to live with it — “Don’t wait, just get ‘er done as soon as you can. Talk to Dr. Kamson.”
Click here to hear more of Michael’s story, in his own words: