Testimonials

Marie P. Caulford - Spine Surgery

I had two previous neck surgeries, in the past two years, to fuse several disks. I came to Dr. Carlson about a disk in my back and asked if numbness in my arm and dropping things was related. He said no and took some additional x-rays of my neck. He found the problem immediately and said it was something that need to be taken care of sooner rather than later and that the back problem could wait. Needless, to say I was so thrilled that he took the time to have the x-rays done. One of his staff, Kaye, set up the surgery schedule and assisted with the fitting of the neck brace. She answered many of our questions and concerns regarding the surgery, since I had the surgery twice in the past (with unsuccessful results) and was very reluctant of going through a third one. She was most reassuring. Kaye was even available after the surgery, assisting me with follow-up appointments and medication inquiries.

The surgery was a success! I now have full use of my hands and arms again. I can actually feel a handshake, which I could not before. I even feel I stand straighter. It is all thanks to Dr. Carlson. He is definitely the Orthopedic surgeon that you would want for this type of surgery. He is very caring individual and dedicated to his profession. I would highly recommend him. I have already done so to my family and friends.

The entire staff at the Orthopaedic and Spine Center is most courteous and helpful. They are always willing to assist with a change of appointments, even working you in when the calendar is full. They show care and compassion for the patient, which is always reassuring.

Leonora del Rosario Reiley - Spine Surgery/Physical Therapy

After a subpar experience in every way with another local orthopedic group, I finally caved in to my mother-in-law’s advice and made an appointment with Jeffrey Carlson for chronic neck and shoulder pain that had plagued me for over a decade.

I was amazed at the facility. MRI’s and x-rays on site-no traveling to second locations for the aforementioned tests. Efficient billing practices and fast turnover of workmen’s comp and other potentially frustrating forms that come with the medical territory.

Dr. Carlson’s expertise and compassionate manner is evident at every phase of treatment. I feel confident in saying that The Orthopedic and Spine Center is comparable to anything big cities or famous medical facilities, such as Duke or Johns Hopkins, have to offer. After ruling out every other possible treatment, Dr. Carlson performed an anterior cervical diskectomy that went without a hitch, and I have been pain-free since.

I have also used the physical therapy services at OSC and have found them to be excellent. I underwent two rounds of grueling PT at another PT office, so was very pleased when Dave Durham came up with a completely different routine from those I had been prescribed before that banished my symptoms quickly. More important, I can do this routine easily at a gym should my symptoms reoccur.

While I can’t say I look forward to future dealings with OSC, I at least know that I will have the very best care, should I need their expertise down the road.

Sincerely,

Leonora del Rosario Reiley

James Pressick - Spine Surgery

For several years I had been putting up with pretty severe back, pain but was reluctant to have back surgery, considering all the horror stories that had been told. These included people who had back surgery who ended up worse off and some had trouble getting around. After my pain got to the unbearable point which affected my daily life, including stopping playing handball, I decided to see Dr. Carlson of the Orthopaedic and Spine Center. He discussed all the options, which included surgery, but more importantly, set my fears at rest by explaining the advances in technology and procedures which improves the odds considerably for a full recovery. My surgery was on January 20, 2010. During my five week check-up, I asked Dr. Carlson if there were any restrictions on me, specifically could I play handball. He said no restrictions, so that afternoon I was back on the court. I play handball up to five days a week. My surgery was one year ago, when I was 72 years old. Dr. Carlson gave me my life back so I can enjoy my freedom from pain. Thank you Dr. Carlson!

James Pressick, Poquoson

Cynthia M. Davis - Spine Surgery

I am a 60 year old woman, widowed in January of 2011. In May 2008, I had surgery to repair a ruptured disc at L4-L5. I was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis and needed to have a rod with screws and a cage inserted in my back to keep it stable while the bone fusion was taking place. It was a long recuperation and a painful one. It took about three weeks to be able to sit upright in the bed, without pain upon doing so. I had to wear my back brace whenever out of the bed, lasting for 3 months. I was told before the surgery that it would take approximately 6 to 8 weeks to recuperate. Later, I was told that it would take at least a full year to totally recover. After approximately 9 months, I began to have recurring pain in my back which was from scar tissue according to my surgeon.

This past summer, I found that I had to have back surgery again. I had developed a ruptured disc at L3-L4. I chose to go to another surgeon this time. I had heard a lot about Dr. Jeffrey Carlson and made an appointment to see him. He sent me for physical therapy and when I did not get better, he ordered an MRI and discovered the new rupture. I scheduled the surgery for July, but was not looking forward to another long recuperation. However; this time, it was different.

This time my recovery was nothing short of marvelous! My surgery was on July 26, 2011. I was out of pain after the surgery and out of the brace within 3 weeks. I went back to work part-time August 15th and returned to work full-time August 22nd. I have gone to physical therapy to strengthen my back muscles to prevent another recurrence and I feel great! I have no pain whatsoever from my back. I look forward to being able to do things I haven’t been able to do for years. The other day, I ran to the elevator, and it did not hurt! I am still amazed and so thankful that I found Dr. Carlson!

Sherry D. Neff - Pain Management

Prior to being treated by Dr. Raj Sureja at the Orthopaedic and Spine Center, I was a patient at another pain clinic in the area. Over a period of seven to eight years, I had numerous injections in my back and I was on a variety of pain medications. By the time I was seen by Dr. Sureja, I was on ever increasing doses of morphine and hydrocodone. The physician at the pain clinic had asked me what my expectations were. I told him that, eventually, I would like to be able to discontinue taking pain medications. He told me that I was being unrealistic and that this would not happen.

After treatment with Dr. Sureja involving radio frequency denervation, I was able to gradually decrease and then stop the pain medications. I am forever thankful to Dr. Sureja and the staff at Orthopaedic and Spine Center for the excellent care I have received.

Sherry D. Neff

Jan Holloman - Spine Surgery

Dear Dr. Carlson,

I want to thank you so much for the excellent care you and your staff has given my family. You have been such a blessing to us, and we want to share our appreciation in hopes that our experiences may be comforting and a confirmation to others who are making decisions regarding their health.

Thanks to Orthopaedic & Spine Center, my left shoulder now feels as good as new.

We first met you when you cared for our son after a traumatic fall at his summer job on July 31, 2003, resulting in multiple fractures, breaks and internal injuries. Your expertise, punctuated by your care and compassion, resulted in a complete recovery for Justin, and a return to college when the 2003 school year began at the end of August, just a month later- far above any expectations we could have had without full faith in God’s miracles and in the care Justin received from you and others on his “team” of doctors.

In 2004, I began experiencing sciatic pain. For the next 2 1/2 years, determined not to have surgery on my lower back, I did everything I could do to address it, including receiving more than 75 chiropractic adjustments from two different chiropractors, physical therapy, massage therapy, ultrasonic therapy, and as a last attempt, even steroid injection therapy with a physician in your group. None of these things offered any relief. With your understanding and gentle guidance, I finally came to the realization that surgery was going to be my only option in gaining the relief I desperately needed. In October, 2007, you performed a microdiskectomy on my L4/L5 disk that had ruptured, a 30 minute procedure in which you simply removed the rather large pieces of disk that had broken off and were lying on the sciatic nerve causing my constant pain. I was totally shocked and so very thankful when I awakened from the procedure to find that the sciatic pain was completely gone!

Then in September of 2010, I began experiencing a pain in my throat. I’m an educator by profession for my “day job”, and additionally, my husband and I are professional musicians providing entertainment for a variety of venues during evenings and on weekends. The pain I was experiencing made it very difficult to talk and sing - catastrophic to both of my passions! Long story made short, after 4 frustrating months and 6 doctors later, you ordered a MRI that revealed a degenerative C6/C7 disk and a bone spur and that was pressing into my esophagus. Your staff was able to schedule me extremely quickly for surgery on January 7, 2011. Following another discectomy and removal of the bone spur, I again awakened to find the pain I had been experiencing in my throat completely gone! I was able to go home that same day (though I had been cleared to stay overnight), and even while wearing the “cute” Miami-J collar, my husband was astounded to hear that I’d slept better that night than I had in weeks! I was able to return to the “desk work” portion of my job on Monday morning for a half day, but was back to full time by the end of the week, and even more remarkable, we travelled to FL and played a gig just two weeks after my surgery. I was able to sing without any difficulty whatsoever! Except for a 20 pound weight-lifting restriction, I have had zero limitations. Incredible!!

I can only attribute all three of these success stories to a Faithful Father whom there’s nothing too difficult for, and to the talent, wisdom and expertise of a phenomenal surgeon, Dr. Jeffry Carlson!

I am a healthy, active woman in my early 50’s, so I never would have expected to have already required two surgeries on my spine! I pray that I won’t need any more intervention for MANY years to come, but if I do, I pray that Dr. Carlson will also be there to provide me with the care, compassion, diagnosis, education, and solution I need to regain the quality of life I’m accustomed to having.

Blessings,

Jan Holloman

Dave Eilers - Spine Surgery

I was dealing with hip pain for 7 years and had an MRI of my hip and back more than once. I went to 3 different doctors and had no problems they could identify. One doctor suggested that removing the hip bursa might correct the hip pain. I had this done, but it did not help with the pain. I could only walk for a city block before the pain would set in. I could sit and rest for 2 minutes and walk another block. Standing for any length of time was also difficult, and the pain would set right in again. I had steroid shots in the hip every 4 months, sometimes epidural shots in my back also relieved the pain for a short period of time, then right back to the same old pain.

As time went on, numbness began in my right foot and pain in my leg at night. Dr. Carlson was recommended to me by two of my friends, so I made an appointment with him. Prior to going, I said to myself “no way am I having a back operation.” I had an MRI done and an appointment with Dr. Carlson in Feb. 2011. He informed me that I had a cyst pressing on my sciatic nerve and also spinal stenosis and that I needed surgery. I agreed, since it was only getting worse and I couldn’t bear the pain anymore.

Surgery was April 6, 2011, and Dr. Carlson fused L-3, L-4, L-5 and S-1. Recovery from the back surgery went well and I only needed a limited number of pain pills when I got home. I was quite surprised! I followed Dr. Carlson’s directions after I got home, with exercising, walking and physical therapy. I continue to do my exercises at home to keep my back strong.

Bottom line - my hip and leg pain was coming from my back. I have no restrictions on what I can do and at age 69, I continue to do yard work, cut trees, go fishing, walk and stand as long as I like.

Thank you Dr. Carlson.

Danny Kennedy - Spine Surgery

Hi, my name is Danny Kennedy. I am a Northrop Grumman employee. If there is anybody out there that is having the kind of terrible back and leg pain that I have been having, I want to let you know there are people that can help you. The people that helped me are Doctor Jeffrey Carlson and his staff from Orthopaedic & Spine Center.

On May 31, 2024 I woke up and was not able to stand or walk without having terrible pain down my left leg. This pain was terrible even if I had taken powerful pain killers. I would walk about 20 steps then I would have to stop and sit or lay down. Eventually I could only get around by using crutches so that no weight would be placed on my left leg.

If you are like me the idea of back surgery worries you. I started researching lumbar fusion on the internet. One person would say how bad her results were, other people would say how great they are doing now after having the fusion done. Doctor Carlson eased my mind to a certain degree when he confidently described the procedure that he wanted to do to me, but what really put me at ease was, one day I was talking to his nurse, Kaye Dame about the operation. She took the time to restate what had to be done to help me. When I told her about what I found on the internet, she said, ‘Doctor Carlson wouldn’t operate on you if he didn’t think that he could help you’.

On July 7, 2024 Doctor Carlson performed the surgery. When I woke up from that surgery, the terrible leg and back pain were gone. I only had some minor soreness from the incision. Every day since I have continued to feel stronger and have less soreness. I can walk and stand without pain.

Thank you, Doctor Carlson and staff for your care. And thank you for giving my life back.

Danny Kennedy

Beverly N. Williams - Reverse Shoulder Replacement/Physical Therapy

I can’t stop talking about the great job Dr. Martin Coleman did when he performed a Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement (Arthroplasty) on me in August, 2009. Not only was the recuperation of my left shoulder 100 times easier than when I had my right shoulder replaced in 2000, I am now back to using my shoulder the way I did before rheumatoid arthritis ate up the joint. I can reach for things now without pain, and getting dressed is no longer an agonizing chore. I also can raise both of my arms high in the air when cheering for my NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers! Awesome!

Dr. Coleman’s great work was followed by awesome physical therapy at OSC Physical Therapy. Everyone there made coming in for physical therapy fun, which helped me work through the pain. I couldn’t have asked for a better physical therapist than Jim Koske. Jim understood the limitations I faced due to rheumatoid arthritis affecting my joints and causing most of them to be man-made. He came up with a variety of exercises for me to do at OSC and at home to get my shoulder going.

Thanks to Orthopaedic & Spine Center, my left shoulder now feels as good as new.

Lois M. Newman

Patient – Lois M. Newman

Physician – Jenny L. F. Andrus, MD

I am 76, and was born in Washington, D.C., I was married to a retired doctor for 57 years, who practiced in Richmond, VA for 32 years. I have had lower back and leg pain off and on for 30 years.

Once, my husband and I went to Florida with some friends to play golf when it again struck me down. I had to be taken to AMTRAC by ambulance on a stretcher, passed through a window to a lower berth and then home by ambulance, but it would get better after a few days of rest. X-rays and scans didn’t show why I had it, and my neurologist said to stick with the bed rest program when necessary.

Last year, it hit again, but this time it didn’t respond to the usual regimen. I was referred to a “back pain specialist” by my internist, Dr. Mark Souther, and saw Dr. Jenny Andrus, who tried different medications by mouth and then 3 back injections, which didn’t help.

I was then told about a newer approach and was given a trial for a week with a temporary neurostimulator surgery to see if it worked. It did beautifully! The permanent implantation was then done and my life has been changed; now I have control over my pain without pills and am happy as a lark about it!

Sincerely,
Lois M. Newman