HealthEast® Spine Care Quality Data
“I knew I needed to take care of this for my future.”
HealthEast® Spine Care at St. John's Hospital patient Brett Peterson
Brett Peterson had his college hockey career all planned out: A year playing junior hockey in Indiana, and then on to a hockey scholarship at Minnesota State University, Mankato. “I was playing for the Indiana Ice, going for the puck at a game just before Christmas, and got checked over the boards. My back bent backwards over the wall.“ Brett initially dismissed it as a minor injury, but the pain worsened — over the holidays, throughout the remainder of the season, and over the next year and a half.
“I started having pain in my legs as well as my back, and I just knew: It wasn’t right that it should keep getting worse.” Brett endured the pain and continued to play hockey through his freshman year of college. But in the fall of his sophomore year, he decided enough was enough. “It was getting harder to climb stairs or even sit in class. My parents and friends helped me realize, I needed to take care of this for the future. You want to be able to pick up your kids in 10 years. I was struggling with things you take for granted, like lifting a grocery bag.”
Brett visited orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Glenn Buttermann, who pinpointed Brett’s problem — a degenerative disc in his spine — and offered two options. “He told me I could do a fusion, but he wasn’t sure if I would be able to still play hockey because I’d lose some range of motion. But he also offered a surgery that would insert an artificial disc in my spine. If it worked, I would be able to continue to be active.”
Brett proceeded with the disc replacement in January. “It was nerve-wracking to be 20 and to have surgery that major, but everyone at St. John’s Hospital was so nice and caring. Someone was with me the whole time, telling me that everything was going to be ok, keeping me calm. I remember waking up after the surgery and the nurses were checking in on me and my family, joking around with us. I got really great care, my leg pain was gone, and in a couple of weeks, my back was better too.”
Brett credits his parents and girlfriend for getting him through the recovery period. “My mom was at my beck and call all day, my dad would take the night shift. And because of my girlfriend, I was able to go right back into full-time school — she’d come over and put my socks on in the morning and help me get to class, then get me home again.” In about four weeks, Brett was feeling normal again; he returned to the ice at the end of April. “I can’t even explain how happy I am. It’s a blessing.”
