When you pass Gerry and Judy Garvey as they’re walking their hilly neighborhood in Plum, Pennsylvania, or when you see them exercising at their local YMCA, “You would never know what he’s been through,” Judy says.
In the short span of 2018 to 2020, Gerry overcame a work-related injury, four intensive back surgeries, and many related complications. He and his wife credit spine surgeon Joon Y. Lee, MD, with restoring Gerry’s ability to live his life more fully, including exercising, lifting his grandchildren, and even tying his shoes.
Gerry, 68, began his career in 1980 at Typhon Machinery in Apollo, Pennsylvania, as a fitter’s helper before becoming a crane operator. Shortly after earning his pension, he was laid off and transitioned to a maintenance position at Mount St. Peter Church in New Kensington, Pennsylvania.
Twenty-one years into that job, he was tasked with moving a 300-pound marble statue from a large pedestal to a lower perch. He recruited two people to help and used a mechanical lift due to the statue’s size and weight. When the lift malfunctioned, the crew had to manually push the statue, coaxing it to teeter and roll to the floor. Gerry bore the brunt of the weight and immediately knew something was wrong with his back.
When ‘Everything Went Wrong’
Over the next few weeks, Gerry tried to power through work and even went on vacation to the Virgin Islands. But while traveling, he and Judy realized how serious the injury was — Gerry could not even stand to wait in line. As soon as they got home, their primary care physician referred Gerry to a spine surgeon, who acted quickly to perform a lumbar fusion for stenosis and herniated discs.
Stenosis involves narrowing of the spaces within the spinal canal, putting pressure on the nerves and spinal cord. A herniated disc is a problem with one of the cushions between the bones that stack up to create the spine. A spinal fusion is a surgical procedure that permanently connects two or more vertebrae to stabilize the spine and eliminate painful motion.
“His recovery was terrible. Everything went wrong,” says Judy. “He had complications in the hospital, including a brain bleed. At his postoperative visit, he needed a walker, and he was in a ton of pain. They put him back in the hospital to put him on steroids, then he had a blood clot and needed blood thinners.”
When the team discovered that Gerry was leaking spinal fluid, the original surgeon referred the Garveys to Dr. Lee, with whom he had studied. Dr. Lee is a renowned spinal surgeon who serves as the Orland Bethel Professor in Spine Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh and executive director of the Bethel Musculoskeletal Research Center.
Dr. Lee fixed the leak and removed the hardware from the original fusion, stabilizing Gerry’s spine and setting him on the road to recovery. But a few months later, Gerry dropped a piece of chicken off the grill and stooped to pick it up — springing another leak of spinal fluid. Dr. Lee stepped in again, the Garveys recall thankfully, rearranging his schedule to perform the surgery late at night and calling in a plastic surgeon to perform a muscle flap to help seal the leak.
In addition to Dr. Lee’s knowledge and expertise, the Garveys appreciated his care and attention. He checked on them every day in the hospital and took time to answer their questions, no matter how many they had.
It was a very stressful time, Gerry and Judy recall. Due to Gerry’s health issues and their daughter’s first pregnancy, Judy had to take leave from her job as an X-ray technician and lean on her sisters for help. But Gerry recovered well and started looking toward the future. They decided to move into a one-level home. During the move, Gerry reinjured his back, herniating a disc. They called once more on Dr. Lee, who fused Gerry’s entire spine.
Now ‘You Would Never Know’
Six years later, Gerry’s injury no longer holds him back. “It looks like a railroad track back there, but otherwise you would never know,” Judy says. Gerry is happy to report that he can exercise regularly and cut the grass. “Dr. Lee enabled me to do all of the things I can do now,” he adds.
Even though he no longer needs follow-up visits, he still talks about Dr. Lee all the time. When friends and neighbors have back problems and are “looking for the best,” the Garveys share their story and send people to Dr. Lee.
On the day they were interviewed, the Garveys were proud to report that they had just welcomed their third grandchild. While their daughter, Jackie, recovered in the hospital, they were babysitting their 7-year-old granddaughter and 5-year-old grandson — a task that seemed impossible not very long ago.