Florida Hospital Celebration Health (see more articles like this)

Earlier this year, 66-year-old Sylvia Kixmiller found herself suffering from debilitating back pain and severe numbness.  Unable to walk, the St. Cloud resident relied on a wheelchair and scooter to get around.  “I felt like a prisoner in my own home.  The pain was so bad, I lived on pain medication.  I couldn’t clean my house or cook dinner.  My husband had to do everything for me,” Kixmiller said.

Kixmiller is not alone.  Approximately 65 million Americans suffer from low back pain each year, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.  To relieve her pain, Kixmiller went to several different doctors and tried many different therapies.  She even took more than $11,000 from her savings to pay for treatment on a stretching machine.  But, nothing seemed to work.  Then, this summer, Kixmiller found Dr. Ali Chahlavi at Florida Hospital Celebration Health.  She underwent spinal fusion surgery on June 12, 2007.  And now, Kixmiller is out of her wheelchair and walking without limitations.

To help remedy their lower back pain, 200,000 Americans undergo lumbar spinal fusion surgery each year. Spinal fusion surgery removes the damaged disc, and using bone grafts, metal screws, or cages immobilizes that area of the spine, typically resulting in pain relief.  “The goal of lumbar fusion surgery is to relieve pain, numbness, tingling and weakness, restore nerve function, and stop or prevent abnormal motion in the spine. This is done by adding bone graft to an area of the spine to set up a biological response that causes the bone graft to grow between the two vertebral elements and thereby stop the motion at that segment,” Ali Chahlavi, MD said.  “It is a treatment option for patients suffering from degenerative disc disease, a weak or unstable spine, fractures, deformity or scoliosis.”

While it is not the only option for patients, spinal fusion surgery has given Sylvia Kixmiller her life back.  “This is a happy story, and people need to know from someone who has been there,” said Kixmiller.

Florida Hospital Celebration Health is a destination hospital that specializes in minimally invasive surgical procedures.  This cutting-edge health and wellness center provides inpatient and outpatient services, 24-hour emergency care, maternity, cardiac services, diagnostic catheterization, wellness programs, women's and men's health programs, as well as primary care and specialty physicians on-site. As Florida Hospital Celebration Health continues to expand, it will depend on the generous philanthropic support of the community.

With seven hospitals and 16 Centra Care locations, Florida Hospital is one of the largest not-for-profit hospitals in the country, caring for more than a million patients per year – that’s more than any other hospital in the country, according to the American Hospital Association.  The more than 1,900-bed system, has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best hospitals in the country for the past nine years.