Dean of Students Don Turney stands a little taller since his return to work March 22 after a 4 1/2 week medical leave.
Turney, who had suffered from degenerative disk disease for the past five years, had two disks replaced in his lower back.
The surgery required six pins, two titanium rods and a bone donation from a cadaver, which left Turney standing half an inch taller than before.
“It’s been painful just to sit, but it’s getting better,” he said. “My muscles have had to stretch.”
Turney had been in pain for several years but could not find a doctor who could perform the type of surgery he required.
“They would just give me pain pills,” he said.
On the reference of a former secretary, Turney met with Dr. Rick Delamarter from the Spine Institute at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica. Delemarter’s first look at Turney’s X-rays caused the doctor to laugh at the idea of trying to replace Turney’s damaged spine with artificial disks.
Instead the doctor would remove the affected disks, bone spurs and other debris left over from previous surgeries and use donated bone along with rods and pins to repair the damage.
Turney remained three months on a waiting list before Delamarter, who is also a medical professor at UCLA, performed the surgery.
The seven-hour surgery required the doctor to operate on the spine through the back, leaving a 10-inch scar, as well as the front through Turney’s abdomen, which left a 6-inch scar. Three pints of blood had to be transfused to compensate for blood loss during the surgery.
Turney had the surgery Feb. 16 and was expected to stay in the hospital for 5 to 7 days.
Much to Turney’s chagrin, he found that he is not Superman.
“I left in 3 [days],” he said. Turney expected to recover quickly but encountered more difficulty than expected. “I hadn’t expected that. I called my doctor, and he said, ‘Who do you think you are?'”
Turney credits his secretary Patricia Rapp and Mildred Lovato, vice president of student learning, for covering his duties in his absence.
“There’s a huge pile of things to get to, but it’s good to be back,” he said.