After spending a fun day with his grandson on a wave runner during a vacation in Wildwood, N.J., Robert Werner, 53, began noticing that something didn't feel right.
By the time he got back home, pain was radiating from his left arm. After several days, the pain began to travel downward into his back. "I never thought for a moment that anything was seriously wrong," Robert says, explaining that he had concluded it was simply a sore back from sleeping on a thin mattress during a vacation.
But Robert began to worry when, after nearly two weeks of pain, he started experiencing numbness in his fingers. As a lifelong Middletown resident, Robert relies on Riverview Medical Center for care. He immediately made an appointment at the Total Joint and Spine Center at Riverview and met with Keith Rinkus, M.D., a fellowship-trained orthopedic spine surgeon.
After initial evaluation, Dr. Rinkus sent Robert for a preliminary MRI. The results were inconclusive, so Dr. Rinkus sent Robert for a more focuses MRI of the upper neck. That MRI showed nerve pinching. By this time Robert was losing strength in his arm and was having a hard time even closing his hand.
"The second MRI revealed an unusual challenge in that both nerve root compression and spinal cord compression at unusual locations from a pre-exisiting condition were made worse from the constant bouncing on the wave runner," explains Dr. Rinkus.
Dr. Rinkus informed Robert that as a conservative option, Robert should try physical therapy, which he did for about two-and-a-half months. But the therapy didn't work, and the strength actually decreased in Robert's hand.
Because of the unsual location of spinal cord pinching, Dr. Rinkus determined that Robert needed to undergo a laminoplasty -- the first perfomed at Riverview. During the four-hour surgery, Dr. Rinkus widened Robert's extremely narrow spinal canal, giving more room to a twisted and pinched spinal cord and nerve roots.
Several weeks later, Rober was back to work with only slight stiffness in his shoulder after excessive use. "Dr. Rinkus explained to me that this would be the only side effect from this surgery," says Robert. "The trust I have for him is a special bond."
Today, Robert is able to enjoy weekends with his family out on the water but refrains from riding anymore.
About the Doctor
Keith Rinkus, M.D.
Orthopedic Surgery
Red Bank | 732-741-2313
