We continue to monitor COVID-19, flu and other respiratory viruses in our communities. Read the most current information about prevention, testing and where to go if you're sick.

COVID-19 Information

Losing More Than Sleep

Everybody suffers occasionally from not getting enough sleep. But a lack of sleep can do more than just make you feel tired the next day. Chronic sleep problems can be a contributing factor to more serious health problems.

Read more

Are You Ready for Flu Season?

While seasonal influenza (flu) viruses are detected year-round in the United States, flu viruses are most common during the fall and winter. The exact timing and duration of flu seasons can vary, but influenza activity often begins to increase in October. Most of the time flu activity peaks between December and February, although activity can last as late as May.

With flu season approaching, make sure you understand what the flu is and how to avoid it.

Read more

Living a Healthy Life: One Woman’s Journey Back to Health

Like many people, Ginger had let her health slip in priority over the years. But high blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat gave her the motivation to start the journey back to good health. 

Read more

Mastering the Art of Proper Breathing

Proper breathing can help to reduce stress and relieve pain. Learn these simple tips that you can practice anywhere at any time.

Read more

Surgical Home

Learn how the surgical home model, comprehensive approach that looks at all the factors affecting a surgery patient’s recovery, including nutrition, exercise and other health concerns both before and after surgery, is improving outcomes for patients.

Read more
First7891012141516Last

Related Content

Michael Bruner
/ Categories: Orthopedics & Spine

Avid Golfer Back on Course After Spine Surgery at MoBap

Minimally invasive surgery produced major results for active retiree

Minimally invasive surgery produced major results for active retiree

Bill Bunch’s favorite activities include golfing, tending to his yard, and playing catch with his grandson.

Each one became more difficult and less enjoyable for the retiree during a six-year span in which a worsening back condition affected his hips, legs, and feet.

Bill BunchBill’s spacious yard got hard to navigate due to hip pain. His sometimes-shaky balance due to numbness made him question drives in the tee box. And when his grandson, a catcher, asked him to put a little more heat on his fastball, there was no sizzle to be summoned because Bill couldn’t bend, twist, and land like he once did.

“I hate to tell you this, buddy, but I can’t throw it harder,” the 74-year-old grandfather recalls saying that day.

That frustrating game of catch helped crystalize Bill’s decision to pursue lasting relief. He found it through a minimally invasive operation at Missouri Baptist Medical Center.

Too much anguish

As he neared his 70th birthday, Bill started feeling right hip discomfort. It then spread to his left hip. Walking, something Bill never had a problem with before, became an obstacle because he could only walk in 10-minute intervals before sitting to let his hip pain subside.

“Something as simple as going to the grocery store became a challenge,” Bill says. “It was aggravating. I was always causing everyone to stop and wait on me.”

Bill has arthritis in multiple joints, but doctors found none in his hips. That led to a pinpointing of his spine as the issue, but two different rounds of injections prescribed to decrease the discomfort did not work. Meanwhile, new symptoms arrived. Bill’s left leg started falling asleep after long periods of sitting. He began to feel numbness in both feet.

“It was getting worse and worse,” he says. “Finally, I decided I can’t live like this anymore. It was causing me too much anguish.”

A minimally invasive answer

Thanks to a recommendation from a physical therapist, Bill scheduled a consultation with Magalie Cadieux, MD, a WashU Medicine neurosurgeon at Missouri Baptist Medical Center.

Dr. Cadieux diagnosed nerve compression near Bill’s L4 and L5 vertebrae, the lowest vertebrae in the lumbar spine, a crucial area for supporting the entire spine, and where many nerves, arteries, and veins reside.

How Bill sustained the damage is unknown—he thinks it could date back to a hard fall on icy steps he experienced in his 30s. How to address it was clear to Dr. Cadieux.

Bill needed an operation called a minimally invasive posterior spinal decompression, which relieves pressure on the spinal cord and nerves by removing damaged material and creating more room in the spinal canal. After making a small incision and with the help of specialized medical instruments, Dr. Cadieux performed the tubular decompression in early November 2024.

“Lumbar stenosis at L4-5 is a very common condition that can be very debilitating for patients like Mr. Bunch,” Dr. Cadieux says. “Once a patient is a candidate for minimally invasive surgery through tubes, it’s a great option to consider.”

“To be a candidate for minimally invasive surgery, specific criteria need to be seen on MRI imaging. Absence of listhesis—slippage or displacement of one vertebra relative to another—and presence of ligamentum flavum hypertrophy—the thickening of a spinal ligament that can lead to nerve compression and pain—are usually what I look for.”

“The recovery from the surgery is usually easier on the body as the incision is small and there is less muscle disruption. I like to say it’s a minimal recovery for a maximal satisfaction.”

Bill was out of the hospital the same day of his surgery.

“I’ve got a spot on my back the size of a half-dollar coin,” he says, “That’s it. I didn’t have any problems with the surgery. It healed up like it was supposed to. I was amazed.”

Having fun again

Bill returned to his home in Bonne Terre and committed to eight weeks of physical therapy, a process he believes helped him overcome initial soreness and get back on the golf course quickly.

Dr. Cadieux eased Bill’s physical restrictions in January and, in February, she cleared him to pick up his clubs.

“It didn’t hurt at all,” Bill says of his return to the golf course. “I’m back to swinging like I did before my back was affecting everything.”

His hip pain has disappeared along with the numbness in his legs. His mobility is back. At 75, he can touch his toes. He’s working hard in his yard again, whether it’s trimming trees or stacking wood.

And he has big plans for catch with his grandson.

“Hopefully,” Bill says, “I’ll be able to throw it a little harder now.”

Make an appointment with a spine specialist by calling 314-996-5433. Learn more about spine care and surgical options.

Print
2202 Rate this article:
No rating

Find a Doctor or Make an Appointment

Our new search tool will help you choose a doctor or health care provider that is best for you or your family.

Search Now