Vim & Vigor - Summer 2019 - UVA - 52

LEAVING PAIN BEHIND

Ahead of the

CURVE
With extreme back pain behind her, Kimberly Durland
is able to explore the world BY KAREN DOSS BOWMAN

imberly Durland endured
back pain, leg pain and
increasingly limited mobility for years. It all started in
2007 with a ruptured disc in her spine
that required surgery. By late 2016,
years of chiropractic care were proving
ineffective at managing her symptoms.
"It got to the point where chiropractic
adjustments weren't making a difference, and the pain was increasing," says
Durland, 57, of Albemarle County.

Abnormal Spinal Curve

An MRI (imaging scan) in November
2016 revealed that Durland had degenerative scoliosis-an abnormal curvature of the spine caused by deterioration
and collapse of the discs. She went to
see neurosurgeon Chun-Po Yen, MD,
with the UVA Spine Center. Because she
was still able to walk up to 2 miles at a
time, Dr. Yen recommended a month of
physical therapy to see if the symptoms
would improve. Unfortunately, her pain
continued and she began experiencing
more difficulty with daily activities.
On New Year's Day 2017, Durland
knew something was terribly wrong the
moment she put her feet on the floor

SU M M ER 2 0 1 9

after waking up. "I had debilitating back
pain and difficulty walking," Durland
recalls. "By the end of that day, I was
crawling just to get around my house."

Stabilizing Surgery

Within a week, she returned to Dr. Yen's
office, and he recommended surgery.
"Kimberly was on the younger side to
be having this degenerative process,"
Dr. Yen says. "We, in general, would
like patients who have these problems
to first try nonsurgical treatments such
as medications, physical therapy and
epidural steroid injections. If they still
have pain after those interventions,
as in Kimberly's case, we may recommend surgery."
In February 2017, Durland underwent
corrective surgery to stabilize and fuse
her spine from the T10 (lung area) to
the iliac region (above the pelvis), using
rods and screws.
"Because her degeneration was quite
extensive, and she also had degenerative
scoliosis, she required extensive surgery,"
Dr. Yen says. "We needed to remove the
herniated discs and bony spurs, stabilize
the spine, and correct the deformity. The
rods and screws help with temporary

stability, but we rely on patients' bones to
fuse for long-term stability."

Surgery Not for Everyone
Dr. Yen notes that this type of surgery
is not ideal for patients with advanced
osteoporosis. For those patients, he
recommends treatment by a bone endocrinologist first. He also won't perform
the surgery on active smokers because
smoking can slow the bone healing process. Durland had been a smoker for
most of her adult life, but she quit the
day Dr. Yen recommended surgery.
Durland is pleased with the results
of her surgery and is no longer in pain.
She's returned to an active lifestyle, and
last October, she and husband Michael
spent 12 days touring Peru.
"This was a fabulous experience that
I would not have been able to enjoy had
I not had a successful complex spine
surgery," Durland says. "I am grateful
for Dr. Yen's surgical skill, extensive
knowledge and genuine concern for his
patients' quality of life. He visited me
several times each day of my hospital
stay and surprised me with a personal
phone call while I was recuperating at
home. His level of care is amazing!" ■

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2019 - UVA

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