Growing up, we are taught about the remarkable medical discoveries that have shaped the world. We learn the names of Linus Pauling and Marie Curie. In my world, Dr. M. Darryl Antonacci holds the same esteem.
Having defied surgery for over a decade, I had done severe damage to my spine that was fighting to keep me upright. I had lived with debilitating pain for so long, it became second nature. The day I decided to take the risk of surgery, was the day I saw my May 2010 chest x-ray. I did not go to my doctor for back pain, I went for my Aflac rebate. My doctor, like many before, looked at my x-ray and baulked. My spine was clearly ‘S’ shaped and twisted in the lumbar discs. He asked me, “How do you walk?” I felt like a freak of nature and a medical anomaly.
[call-out]
I honestly don’t know what I would have done without the Internet. I simply Googled “Top Scoliosis Surgeon.” My case was severe enough to merit the expertise of Dr. Antonacci and I will forever be grateful to a man, who for some god forsaken reason, used his genius to help Scoliosis sufferers like me. I had the great fortune of having a man who has been given awards for innovation in Scoliosis surgery, actually FIX me. Having suffered through arthritis, stenosis, kyphosis, degenerative disc disease, herniations, nerve damage, I had been fed painkillers for over a decade just to keep me quite.
Thank you, Dr. Antonacci, for not cringing, nor baulking. I felt defeated until you offered me solution and resolution. I am forty years old and just three weeks after my nine vertebrae spine fusion, I feel so thankful for my straight spine. Dr. Antonacci’s team, everyone in both offices, follow-up and treat you as a friend. For such a life changing event, I was really taken care of in regard to minimal paper work and hassle.
What Dr. Antonacci is to genius, Joel is to compassion and follow-up. I cannot believe that I equated spine surgery with “the end of my life” for twelve long years, and it truly was just the beginning!