MUSKEGON, Mich. — Last year, Debbie Reed had a failed back surgery. She was in so much pain afterward, she could barely walk.
"I'm an active person, and I really wanted to be with family and friends, but I couldn't do that," said Reed. "We started having to drive a half block away to go to a restaurant."
Reed, who says her "favorite thing" is hiking, was unhappy with the surgical outcome and new pain in her life.
This year, she was referred to Dr. Robert Lynagh, a neurosurgeon at Trinity Health Muskegon. He had an idea to fix Reed's pain with another surgery. He planned to use a new surgical robot for the hospital, the Globus Excelsius. The machine acts as a GPS for surgical use, allowing precise navigation.
"It takes away, or really mitigates, that human error," said Lynagh.
Trinity Health Muskegon is the first hospital to use this technology in West Michigan.
He explained the robotic surgical tool also helps cut down on time in surgery for patients.
Lynagh performed the surgery using the Globus technology on Sept. 18.
"We had to take care of her pain, and part of that involved fixing the loose hardware," said Lynagh. "We had to extend our fusion to include painful segments and decompress the nerves, and we did that through a combined lateral through the side, and a posterior approach through the back."
Just days after the surgery, Reed said her pain was gone.
"So amazing, so life-changing," said Reed. "I just get to live life again, and not say, 'Oh, I can't do it.'"
Three months after the surgery, Dr. Lynagh showed Reed the robot at Trinity Health Muskegon. She was even able to maneuver the machine in a demonstration and see how her surgery was performed.
"That's amazing," she said after using the Globus Excelsius. "It's a shock."
Currently, the robot navigation system is being used for spinal surgeries. It could be used for other procedures in the future. Patients need a referral from a primary care doctor to see a spinal specialist in Muskegon who uses the technology.
Meanwhile, Debbie is doing well, already back to walking. She has a trip to Florida planned, and cannot wait to walk on the beach someday.
She said she even gained an inch in height.
"Thank you, thank you, I love you," said Reed of Lynagh. "Thank you for my world, for getting my world back."
