This patient was a 59-year-old when I initially met him.  He presented with a 6-month history of left arm pain extending into the shoulder and upper arm. The pain did occasionally go down to his forearm.  He had numbness around the left shoulder and mild weakness of the deltoid and biceps muscles. He had seen another spine surgeon who had recommended doing an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion between cervical 4 and 5 as well as between cervical 5 and 6 (ACDF of C4/5 and C5/6). He then saw me for a second opinion. 

This patient was a 32-year-old with a history of multiple prior back surgeries.  I met her in early 2017 when she presented with severe lower back pain and bilateral leg pain.  Her pain was basically preventing her from living a normal life.  Walking any distance caused a rapid increase in her pain. Her leg pain went down the back of both legs and resulted in numbness in the feet. 

This patient was the first case I ever did after completing my training. He was a 14-year-old high-school student on the local wrestling team.  He was horsing around with a friend and the friend picked him up and dropped him on his head.

He was instantly unable to move his arms or legs.

He was brought in by the paramedics to the emergency room as a complete C4 quadriplegic.  Complete means that he had no function (either motor or sensory) below the level of injury and being at the C4 level meant he had no muscle control in his arms or legs. He could only breathe spontaneously and move the muscles of his face and head.