Patient up and walking after groundbreaking spinal surgery by South Bend doctor

ABC57 first brought you the news back in 2023 with a South Bend surgeon first in the country to perform this spinal procedure.

After 23 years working in automotive manufacturing, Michael Jonatzke thought retirement in 2019 would be peaceful. But instead, it brought pain that would change his life. 

Jonatzke did everything he could to relieve the pain from pills to chiropractors and epidural shots, but nothing seemed to work.  

That's when in 2023, he made the decision to have spinal fusion surgery, a brand-new spinal cord stimulator, one that would change his life for the better. 

"My only concern to Dr. Reddy was, I want to be able to walk. I'll take the pain if, after surgery, if I have to, but I gotta walk. I don't want to be in a wheelchair. I used to walk with a cane everywhere. I didn't want to do that. He said we would have no problem. He did the surgery. He is quite a, quite a guy, quite a guy." 

The device delivers electronic stimulation to nerves, reducing pain without the need for opioids. 

Fast forward to today, Jonatzke is up and moving around pain free from long daily walks with his two dogs to now sleeping in his bed.  

Jonatzke says he didn’t choose the procedure because it was the first of its kind, he went in hoping for relief, and he’s proud of the results.

"I would say, don't wait too late, don't put it off. You may need a second opinion or something else, but if back pain is something you it really. It controls your life. It does. I can get over ankle, I can get over knees, elbow, anything but the back controls your life. Whether you walk, sit, stand, you know, it controls your life. Don't wait until too late. I'm 70 years old, if I'd have done it back in 2016, and I had a few more years, maybe work when they got to me. It could have been different. I'm thankful for I am and now, but it could have been different," Jonatzke said.