How Neil Got His Unlimited Lifestyle Back 

When Neil Mendel began experiencing pain, he thought he had a broken foot. A trip to urgent care showed that wasn’t the case, and started several months’ worth of testing, speculation and process of elimination to find the problem.

Finally, electrodiagnostic medicine determined that Neil had a pinched sciatic nerve in his lower back.  “They put electrodes on my head and feet and watched the pathways between them!”

He had seen Dr. Coe for his back years before, with excellent results, so Neil returned to Dr. Coe armed with a diagnosis to discuss his next steps.  Dr. Coe explained that cortisone injections were only a temporary patch on the problem, so Neil decided to go ahead and schedule surgery.

At Dr. Coe’s recommendation, Neil participated in 12 weeks of “prehab” physical therapy to prepare himself for surgery and to help speed his recovery.  

“My surgery was perfect!” Neil says.  “I felt well prepared.  They used the electrodiagnostics during my surgery as well, but of course I have no memory of that.”  When he resumed PT after surgery, he did aquatherapy at first because water supports the back.  “I could move more freely.  I’ve had very successful results, and just received the green light to resume normal activities.  I’m basically not limited.  But if I drop something, I’m more likely to kneel than bend to pick it up!”

Neil says, “I would absolutely recommend GSOS to family and friends. Excellent staff there!  They’re busy, but I never felt like they didn’t care.”