In August 2022, Thomas Gilmore, of Naperville, was stopped due to heavy traffic on the Stevenson Expressway and was rear-ended by a car going approximately 40 miles per hour — an accident that left him badly injured.
In the days following the accident, a CT scan at Endeavor Health Neurosciences Institute showed Gilmore had a major crack in his T7 vertebra. But after three months of wearing a clamshell brace to stabilize and heal his spine, Gilmore was still experiencing incredible levels of chronic pain.
“I had a constant burning pain from my neck down to my elbow,” said Gilmore. A second MRI showed that his spinal cord had severely compressed between his C5, C6, and C7 vertebrae.
Gilmore’s pain was unbearable. He tried a number of therapies to relieve the pain, including injections and pulsed radio frequency treatment. “It muted the pain, but it never went away,” he said.
A third MRI showed that due to several herniated discs in Gilmore’s neck, some of the vertebrae were grinding together bone-on-bone. His best option was now surgery, so he met with G. Alexander Jones, MD, neurosurgeon and system medical director of neurosurgery at Endeavor Health Neurosciences Institute.
Dr. Jones recommended a procedure called anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. As Dr. Jones explained, “Removing a herniated disc removes pressure on the spine and nerves and alleviates pain and numbness. We fuse the vertebrae together to stabilize the spine and reduce the movement between the bones, which causes pain.”
“I was terrified of the operation, but I had no choice,” Gilmore explained, “I had to get this done.”
Gilmore underwent spinal surgery in January 2024. While the operation took a little longer than expected due to the extent of the damage, when he came to the recovery room, he was stunned by the lack of pain.
In fact, Gilmore felt so good that he surprised the nursing staff by standing up, walking around the bed, and sitting down in a chair — all without assistance. He was so thrilled by the lack of discomfort that he sat in the chair for five hours.
“I was amazed, even though I knew I had a ton of drugs in me, because drugs had never stopped the pain before,” he said.
Gilmore slept through the night, which he hadn’t been able to do since the accident. The next day, he amazed the physical therapist by taking a walk around the hospital floor. His sense of balance was already beginning to return, so he was no longer stumbling or leaning against the wall for support. Gilmore was doing so well that he was discharged and able to go home the following day.
“I could not stop telling Dr. Jones how good I felt,” said Gilmore. “The end result was far better than anything I imagined in my wildest dreams.”
Gilmore wants people like him who might be afraid of spinal surgery to know how good life can be on the other side of the procedure, however intimidating it may be.
“I've had a doctor save my life, but this is the first time a doctor has given me my life back,” said Gilmore. “There is no other way to describe this.”
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