In the 1980s, Emmy-nominated composer Steve Sandberg was crossing a road in Britain when a Mack truck crashed into him, sending him flying into a road sign and starting a 40-year battle with back pain.
Last year, he finally had enough: The Upper West Side pianist, who served as lead composer and musical director for Nickelodeon’s “Dora the Explorer,” was struggling to walk and carry his equipment to gigs, despite decades of physical therapy and chiropractic care.
“It’s really limited what I can do,” Sandberg, 69, lamented to The Washington Post. “I can’t go anywhere.”
Though he was nervous, he decided to undergo the three-hour minimally invasive surgery at NYU Langone Health in September 2023.
Dr. Charla R. Fisher says only a handful of U.S. doctors do this routinely. Revolutionary TechnologyThis is called endoscopic transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF).
Sandberg’s case was particularly challenging: She had developed cysts (fluid-filled pockets) in the facet joints of her spine, destabilizing two of her lumbar vertebrae and narrowing the spaces between them, causing pain in both her legs.
“If you have a lot of arthritis [the facet joints]”The joint capsule can bulge, which is called a facet joint cyst,” Fisher explained to The Washington Post, “and that puts pressure on the nerve roots, which was a big source of pain.”
Dr. Fisher said he made two small incisions, one for the camera and one for the instruments, and removed the entire joint and disc containing the cyst.
She had her vertebrae replaced with disk implants called spacers and bone grafts to help the vertebrae fuse, and robotic technology was used to insert screws and rods to stabilize her spine.
What’s unique about this procedure is that it causes minimal damage to soft tissue, resulting in a quicker recovery time, Fisher said.
“This surgery shows that we can do what we need to do without making a large incision in the spine or causing significant postoperative pain,” Fisher said. “For some patients, this is a home run surgery.”
The technique was developed in South Korea and was first introduced in the New York area by NYU Langone Health, said Fisher, who estimates she performs the procedure about 40 times a year.
For Sandberg, this was a second life-changing surgery.
He’d suffered severe liver injuries, six broken ribs and a punctured lung in a truck accident overseas, and this time his recovery had been much easier.
Fisher said Sandberg was doing well two weeks after the procedure and was mostly recovered by six weeks. Recovery from non-endoscopic TLIF typically takes three months.
Sandberg did not need a cane or walker to get around and only used Tylenol to control pain.
He used his recovery time to walk and stretch every day, and says he’s also lost 13 kilos.
Samberg can now ride a 10-speed bike for five to six miles, walk a few blocks without pain, carry a 20-pound keyboard with ease and feel “20 years younger.”
“Ten months later, I got my life back,” Sandberg said with a smile. “I actually have no regrets at all. It was a great decision.”
