Sally Overend – Testimonial

After having neck pain for years that over the past 6 months led to weakness in both my arms and loss of strength and grip and a lot of pain I eventually had an MRI scan. I decided to see Dr Pal privately who revealed in the consultation I had quite a bad bulging disc C6/7 (probably years old) but now pressing on a nerve which was giving me pain in my arms and shoulder blades and causing the weakness/loss of grip.

Dr Pal recommended an Anterior Cervical Discectomy & Fusion to remove the C6/7 disc and replace with a "cage", create more space between the discs and free up the nerve. There was no guarantees that this would work and it could actually make the situation worse. I went with Dr Pal's opinion and had the op 5 weeks later. I was in the Nuffield overnight and went home the following afternoon. All in all about 24hours. The same night after the op I was pain free. I couldn't believe it. The next day physio started with very light neck movements/exercises. Within a number of days I started to feel stronger and I was driving within 2 weeks. I followed the advise of Dr Pal and his team and now 5 weeks on I don't even know I've had surgery (except for a very small scar in the crease of my neck) a small sacrifice.

The idea of having the op with all the complications and risks is really daunting but the benefits are seriously worth it. If I needed to have the op all over again I would definitely see Dr Pal and his support team without question and this time no hesitations. Thank you for your sound advice, your no nonsense approach and your steady hand. I am very grateful that I now have a pain free life.