On my second trip to Conway Hospital ER with severe pain in my lower back and leg, the ER doctor referred me to Dr. William Mills at Coastal Orthopedics. After getting an appointment, Dr. Mills had his office schedule a MRI. When I went back for the results, Dr. Mills said I had a herniated disc and lumbar spinal stenosis that could be fixed with an ILIF procedure, which consisted of a plastic spacer and clamp with screws. At 70 years old and never had any kind of surgery, that didn't sound all that appealing to me. I decided to try to deal with the pain with a little bit of medication. Within a week, I was calling back begging for the surgery.
I had the surgery on September 26, 2013. Immediately after the surgery, the pain was gone. I spent one night in the hospital and the nurses were really good. After being released, the first two weeks were a little uncomfortable but the medicine they give you takes care of the pain and you sleep a lot. After the third and fourth week, things got a little better each day. Week six, there was no more pain and no more medicine. I felt good and was looking forward to getting back to normal activities. I must say my first experience with surgery, I was very skeptic especially with the spine, but I couldn't be more pleased with the whole deal. Dr. William Mills and his staff wow, what can I say; they were excellent and they gave me life back. I'm very grateful. Thanks to you all.-- Wayne E.