B-PSIF - SI Fusion

On February 20, 2012, my life forever changed when an underinsured young man illegally turned into my car lane and stopped.

Although we both survived the accident, I sustained significant injuries from the 55 m.p.h. impact. The pain from disc herniation, a damaged sacroiliac joint (SI joint), and assorted secondary issues was excruciating. I lost my income because I was unable to perform my job. I wasn’t able to socialize with friends or even take care of my home and myself. Depression set in. Life became existence. I operated in a haze of sleepless pain, barely improved by narcotics and sleeping pills. After the first back surgery to fix the disc herniation, insurance issues resulted in my orthopedist declining to do further surgery. My days were blurred into one long pain-filled day watching bad daytime television. I no longer cared about anything.

I remember when my attorney told me he found an orthopedist willing to help me. He actually had Dr. David Petersen call me and talk to me. He also made an appointment for me. My attorney kept pestering me and I showed up to [his office] in Winter Park just so he would leave me alone. Dr. Petersen seemed compassionate, knowledgeable, and described a procedure that would work organically with my body to heal itself. I left the office and immediately called my attorney. I was excited and cautiously optimistic. I was scheduled for surgery, a bilateral fusion of the SI joint, and told that I probably wouldn’t walk for a few days afterwards. Dr. Petersen performed the procedure in November, 2012, and I was walking three hours later. Every two hours, whether I felt like it or not, I walked, used an ice pack, and then rested. Walking made recovery easier and I would walk in stores looking at Christmas decorations. I actually walked too much. It is now a standing joke that I am “banned” from IKEA, which is where I overdid it.

In my first journal entry for December, 2012, I wrote “I finally had my back surgery … it was a complete success.” A week after surgery, in a follow-up appointment, Dr. Petersen told me that I was the worst case he had ever seen. My recovery has been wonderful. The intense pain is gone. I am working on a full recovery from the accident because I’ve been given my life back. I am full of gratitude and hope for the future due to Dr. Petersen’s God-given abilities to perform and perfect this surgery. Words are inadequate to express how grateful I am to Dr. Petersen.

Mary Myers, FL