I’m very thankful for this surgery
Sometimes Victoria Bidlack’s pain was so bad she stayed in bed when she wasn’t forcing herself to work her 12-hour shifts as a registered nurse in hospital obstetrics. She tried everything to ease the pain, from excruciating injections to hanging upside down.
Back injuries are all too common among nurses, and Victoria was a perfect example. She injured her lower back in 2002, while bending over to help a new mother position an infant for breastfeeding. She injured it again in 2008, and also in 2009.
Throughout it all, there were the pain medications.
“All of these things helped, but didn’t solve the problem,” she said.
It was in 2009 that she found Dr. Thomas Loftus, neurosurgeon and an affiliate member of St. David’s NeuroTexas Institute.
Dr. Loftus used a piece of Victoria’s own bone, taken from the site of the surgery, inserting it between the affected vertebrae and fixing it with several screws to allow the bone to fuse the spine. He did the work through small incisions, one of which allowed him to view his work microscopically. Although her vertebrae are fused at that spot, Dr. Loftus said Victoria should experience “minimal loss in her range of movement.”
“I wish I had gone to Dr. Loftus sooner,” Victoria said. “I’m very thankful for this surgery. It’s an incredible procedure for patients who have this debilitating condition. There are so many people living with pain. I hope my story empowers others not to give up; to keep searching to get help.”
