{"id":31263,"date":"2020-04-27T13:40:34","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T19:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=31263"},"modified":"2026-04-02T15:22:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T21:22:49","slug":"finally-relief-for-her-back-pain-as-medically-necessary-surgeries-resume-at-uchealth-hospitals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/finally-relief-for-her-back-pain-as-medically-necessary-surgeries-resume-at-uchealth-hospitals\/","title":{"rendered":"Finally, relief for her back pain as medically necessary surgeries resume at UCHealth hospitals"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"Lori
Lori Hopper is relieved to have surgery for lower back pain now that medically necessary surgeries resumed. Photo courtesy Lori Hopper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As medically necessary surgeries resume at UCHealth hospitals across Colorado, Lori Hopper is grateful, relieved and excited.<\/p>\n

For the past year, she has lived with excruciating pain in her lower back \u2013 but a medically necessary surgery scheduled Tuesday with renowned spine surgeon Dr. Evalina Burger<\/a> is aimed to alleviate that pain. Now, Hopper can see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.<\/p>\n

In recent months, Hopper has tried everything from chiropractic adjustments, physical therapy, localized injections, and non-addictive medications. Nothing, however, has worked as a long-term solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went through the gamut of \u2018have you tried this, have you tried that?\u2019 All of those things have helped a little bit, but nothing has lasted,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cI wanted a solution. I am 48 years old and this is getting in the way of me living my life to its highest and best.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

She wants to build back her stamina so she can keep up with her husband and their dogs on the hiking trails, and go camping. The couple sold their boat a couple of years back, but perhaps they\u2019ll buy another one and resume wakeboarding.<\/p>\n

Hopper has worked with a team of providers \u2013 Anita Wolfe<\/a>, NP, MSN, her family practice physician at UCHealth Primary Care \u2013 Lone Tree and others. Ultimately, experts agreed she should have surgery to relieve the pain in her back, which is caused by progression of lumbar scoliosis.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Evalina Burger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hopper was scheduled to have surgery March 19 with Dr. Burger, chair of the Department of Orthopedics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine<\/a>. Knowing surgery was scheduled gave her a mental lift. Then, days before her scheduled surgery, governors across the U.S. ordered workers to work from home and so-called \u201celective\u2019\u2019 surgeries were postponed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my mind, I still had my mental and physical fingers crossed that I could get the surgery done under the wire,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, Burger performed surgery on Hopper\u2019s neck. \u201cI immediately felt better. I had an amazing outcome \u2013 more than I could have hoped for with the outcome there,\u2019\u2019 Hopper said.<\/p>\n

On March 16, Hopper received a call from Burger, who said how sorry she was that the surgery had been canceled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gritted my teeth as best I could, but I was so upset,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cI was so touched to receive a call from Dr. Burger. She called me personally, and when we got to talking, she told me that she, too, was going to isolate at home as much as she could.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

During March and April, Burger was frequently called to the operating room to perform surgery for patients who risked paralysis or death from severe infection. Surgeries like the one Hopper needed, however, were postponed.<\/p>\n

Burger says Hopper has a progression of lumbar scoliosis with significant leg pain. Then, doctors discovered she has an unusual plight of disc herniation. It\u2019s called a far lateral disc herniation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe disc slides out to the side of the vertebrae and then, therefore, catches the nerve that goes to the leg \u2026 there is no space for the nerve to go. That\u2019s why the epidural doesn\u2019t last, that is why she has significant pain,\u2019\u2019 Burger said.<\/p>\n

During the pandemic, Hopper used Virtual Visit to speak to Dr. Justin Merkow, a pain management doctor at the UCHealth Pain Management Clinic \u2013 Anschutz Medical Campus. He prescribed a combination of powerful pain medications along with TENS therapy and exercises via mobile apps, which have helped alleviate Hopper\u2019s pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat nerve is truly pinched in there, so the aim of our surgery is to relieve the pressure on that nerve,\u2019\u2019 Burger said. \u201cSo, it\u2019s like pinching your finger in the door and not opening the door. It is the nerve that provides extension of the knee, so if people lose their ability to extend their knee, then they can\u2019t walk. So it is a very important function of her leg that is at risk.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Lori
Lori Hopper rafts with friends and family. Medically necessary surgeries resume allowing Lori to address her back pain and get back to enjoying the outdoors. Photo courtesy Lori Hopper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hopper said she has a constant aching pain that sometimes produces a \u201cradiating heat type of pain. I also get a powerful, stinging pain that almost takes my breath away. It\u2019s an unexpected zing that catches me by surprise.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Meditation and breathing exercises help her manage. Sometimes, she just has to lie down. At work, she has an \u201cup and down\u2019\u2019 desk and is able to move around. When she sits in the same position for too long, including while driving her car, the inflammation and pain worsens.<\/p>\n

UCHealth has numerous precautions and safeguards in place to ensure that patients having surgery \u2013 or any other type of care \u2013 are protected from exposure to COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Hopper has full confidence in Burger and the safety in the hospitals. She is eager to live a life free of pain. After three days in the hospital, she\u2019ll begin rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

Before she knows it, she\u2019ll be skipping along the hiking trails in Colorado\u2019s great outdoors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As medically necessary surgeries resume at UCHealth hospitals across Colorado, Lori Hopper is grateful, relieved and excited. For the past year, she has lived with excruciating pain in her lower back \u2013 but a medically necessary surgery scheduled Tuesday with renowned spine surgeon Dr. Evalina Burger is aimed to alleviate that pain. Now, Hopper can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":31264,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[574,4859,4860,4786,65,9187,9167,702],"class_list":["post-31263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-living","tag-back-neck-and-spine-care","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-general-and-vascular-surgery","tag-pain-care-and-management","tag-readysetco","tag-specialized-services","tag-surgical-care"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBack pain relief as medically necessary surgeries resume- UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As medically necessary surgeries resume at UCHealth hospitals across Colorado, Lori Hopper is grateful, relieved and excited.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/finally-relief-for-her-back-pain-as-medically-necessary-surgeries-resume-at-uchealth-hospitals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Finally, relief for her back pain as medically necessary surgeries resume at UCHealth hospitals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As medically necessary surgeries resume at UCHealth hospitals across Colorado, Lori Hopper is grateful, relieved and excited.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/finally-relief-for-her-back-pain-as-medically-necessary-surgeries-resume-at-uchealth-hospitals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UCHealth Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-27T19:40:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-02T21:22:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/27092730\/lori-hopper-hiking-horiz-tiny.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erin Emery, UCHealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Emery, UCHealth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/finally-relief-for-her-back-pain-as-medically-necessary-surgeries-resume-at-uchealth-hospitals\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/finally-relief-for-her-back-pain-as-medically-necessary-surgeries-resume-at-uchealth-hospitals\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Erin Emery, UCHealth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/f989ee92cb6da7cfb7f697db1c6771b3\"},\"headline\":\"Finally, relief for her back pain as medically necessary surgeries resume at UCHealth hospitals\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-27T19:40:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-02T21:22:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/finally-relief-for-her-back-pain-as-medically-necessary-surgeries-resume-at-uchealth-hospitals\/\"},\"wordCount\":912,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/finally-relief-for-her-back-pain-as-medically-necessary-surgeries-resume-at-uchealth-hospitals\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/27092730\/lori-hopper-hiking-horiz-tiny.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Back neck and spine care\",\"coronavirus\",\"COVID-19\",\"General and vascular surgery\",\"Pain management\",\"Ready. 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