Peter Bradford couldn’t believe his eyes when Ron Riesenburger, MD, showed him an X-ray of his spine.
“I said, ‘holy cow, is that me?’”
The discs in Peter’s spine were collapsing and degenerating, which was the reason he was in tremendous pain, hunched over and leaning to the left, unable to walk 100 feet to his mailbox.
“It was bad; it looked like my spine was tipping over, and one of the vertebrae was coming out of place,” said Peter. His wife Trisha added that he was “bent over like an L” and spent his days in a recliner, unable to do anything but watch TV.
Before Peter met with Dr. Riesenburger, a neurosurgeon, Co-chief of Spinal Surgery and Director of the Spine Center at Tufts Medical Center, he tried physical therapy and cortisone shots. Nothing worked. He sought out a highly recommended Norwood doctor who saw his problem immediately.
He was diagnosed with kyphosis, where the spine curves outward and severe kyphoscoliosis, which causes spinal abnormalities. Peter would need major spine surgery that couldn’t be done in Norwood.
A diesel mechanic by trade, an avid long-distance rower and sailor, Peter, then 66, was only one year into retirement. He couldn’t sleep, roll over in bed and was in constant, excruciating pain.
He was referred to Dr. Riesenburger, who explained that the invasive surgery was 13.5 hours long and that he would remain sedated for a full day afterward to manage the pain. Dr. Riesenburger told Peter there were no guarantees, there was a 2% chance he could die and it would take him a full year to recover.
Without the surgery, he’d be in a wheelchair within a year.
Despite the risks, Peter decided to go ahead with the surgery. He was confident in Dr. Riesenburger, who listened to everything he said, gave straight answers, could see the problem and had a plan.
Peter underwent the surgery in May of 2020, during the height of COVID, and remained in the Intensive Care Unit for 6 days. To straighten and restore the normal curvature of the spine, Dr. Riesenburger fused vertebrae, securing the spine with rods and screws.
“The gist of it is, it’s tremendous (amount of) hardware; 3 quarters of my back is rods,” said Peter, now 71. “I can’t bend over; my posture is always correct.”
Peter can walk several miles, bike, row and sail with Trisha. He spends time with his 5 grandchildren and does it all without pain, which he calls “miraculous.”
“I am so happy we were able to meet Peter’s needs and help give him his life back, “Dr. Riesenburger said. “Tufts Medical Center’s Neurosurgery Department is second to none and it is a privilege to work with a team of experts who put patient care and patient needs first.”
Peter and Trisha, who live in Middleborough, described the surgery as “transformative,” crediting Dr. Riesenburger and the exceptional nurses at Tufts Medical Center for the care and support they provided.
“This surgery was transformative, it gave me my life back” he said. “My wife says Dr. Riesenburger is a ‘God.’”
