DANVILLE, Pa. — Dawn Shelley is a 38-year-old mother from Clarks Green in Lackawanna County. After having her daughter eight years ago, she found herself in a lot of pain.
"I developed terrible right leg pain, low back pain, and at the time I thought, 'What is wrong with my leg?'"
Shelley says the pain got to the point where she couldn't walk and do basic tasks like cooking for her family. She went to the emergency room, and doctors decided she needed surgery on her back.
But two years ago, Shelley says the excruciating pain returned, so she met with Dr. Ed DelSole, an orthopedic surgeon with Geisinger. Dr. DelSole introduced her to the option of the MySpine system.
"We obtain patient-specific imaging. We 3-D print guides and models of the patient's spine. It allows us to personalize the implants for the patients and to do a less invasive operation with smaller incisions, less surgical time, less bleeding, and less pain after the operation," Dr. DelSole explained.
Now, two years later, Shelley says she sleeps through the night and is back to doing things with her family that she didn't believe she'd be able to do before this surgery. She credits Dr. DelSole for giving her a new lease on life and not having to leave the area for treatment.
"I got a minimally invasive surgery because of technology. There are surgeons like Dr. DelSole who come from small towns, who want to bring the best to their own town, to their own people."