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October 30th, 2023 by Miami Back & Neck Specialists
From Wheelchair to Walking: A Woman’s Journey from Failed Back Surgeries to Recovery
After 10 failed back surgeries and constant pain, Debby Hutchens traveled to find Dr. Georgiy Brusovanik. Her 11th surgery with him led to a pain free life.
So many patients just like Debby are fixable but doctors just drop them after surgery and it’s an injustice. Debby’s fight was a worthwhile one that I was willing to take on.” — Georgiy Brusovanik, M.D.
Failed back surgeries are more common than many people realize, with only 30% of patients finding relief, while 30% experience no improvement, and 30% fare worse after surgery. In the midst of this troubling statistic, one woman’s story has emerged as a beacon of hope and resilience.
Debby Hutchens, a 55-year-old wife and mother of two college boys from North Carolina, has endured a series of devastating failed back surgeries that left her in excruciating pain and seeking answers. In 2019, Debby underwent surgery for spinal stenosis, a result of an earlier car accident. However, in April 2021, her situation took a turn for the worse as she began to grapple with scoliosis. Seeking help from a surgeon in North Carolina, a grievous error related to a wound vac procedure set off a chain reaction of surgeries and further complications.
From April 2022 onwards, Debby’s life became a “nightmare,” as she describes it, with excruciating pain so intense that even simple movements like reaching or getting out of bed would elicit screams of agony. Basic tasks, like bathing, became impossible. In her desperate search for relief, Debby was rejected by multiple surgeons who were no longer willing to treat her, offering only a pain pump as an alternative. She was taking 6 Percocets a day, yet still, the pain persisted, leaving her in a constant state of physical and emotional anguish.
“I couldn’t roll or sit up, reach for anything. I hurt all over,” recalls Debby through tears. “My choices were to go to hospice and wait to die or try one last time to find a doctor who would treat me.”
![Discussing the procedure on the Cauda Euina Cauda equina syndrome most commonly results from a massive disc herniation in the lumbar region.[4] A disc herniation occurs when one of the soft flexible discs that functions as an elastic shock absorber between the bones of the spinal column displaces from its normal position.](https://spinedoctormiami.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Cauda-Equina-spine-doctor-miami.jpg "Minimally Invasive Decompression for Cauda Equina Minimally Invasive Spine Surgeon Miami")
