Scoliosis patient and Beacon care team navigate chronic back pain together

Janice Chapman

The strongest medical outcomes happen when patients and providers work together — something Janice Chapman has experienced firsthand in managing her back pain with Dr. Abhishek Das of Beacon Medical Group North Central Neurosurgery.

“Dr. Das and I have been together so long, I can’t even tell you how long I’ve been going to him,” she said.

Janice has a curvature in her spine that she thinks developed in adulthood. “My back just got weaker like this later in life, in the last 20 years or so,” she said. This curvature puts pressure on her sciatic nerve, causing pain in her legs.

“With a scoliosis, the curvature of the spine can put pressure on the joints of the back, as well as the spinal nerves,” Dr. Das said. “That can cause pain in the back or pain down the leg, such as sciatica.”

In Janice, the curve in her spine was also putting pressure on the alignment of her sacroiliac joints, which is where the spine connects to the pelvis, and this was adding to her pain.

“We use injections both diagnostically and therapeutically ― meaning we use them to try and find the source of the pain and then to try and help alleviate the pain as well,” Dr. Das said.

Dr. Abhishek Das, Beacon Medical Group North Central Neurosurgery

A variety of injections have helped over the years, but she and Dr. Das learned that the cortisone shots that had offered some relief were also affecting her bone density. Unfortunately, surgery wasn’t a good option, either.

“They say I’m not supposed to have any more surgeries at my age,” she explained.

Meanwhile, her day-to-day life was suffering more and more, including time with her six-year old grandson. “I’ve taken care of him since he was born. We bake cakes and cupcakes, we bowl on the Wii. I taught him how to ride his tricycle on my deck. He is my best buddy,” she said.

Part of a close-knit family, Janice has four daughters, three stepsons, seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren (one more is on the way). Having pain intrude on her time with them has been heartbreaking. “It was really messing with my quality of life,” she said. “It’s taken me out of numerous family functions, and that’s what I hate the most.”

While many patients with back pain start with their primary care provider before being referred to specialists like Dr. Das, Janice has relied on his expertise for years.

Dr. Das was able to get insurance approval for a new type of injection Janice hadn’t tried before, a sacroiliac joint injection. She now receives these injections every few months.

While she’s thankful for the relief, she’s even more grateful for Dr. Das and his team.

“I definitely feel like I’ve been on a long journey with him,” she said. She knows that she can reach him or his nurse, Christine, within a day. “It makes me feel really good that he’s there when I need him. You could not ask for a nicer, more caring or compassionate doctor than Dr. Das.”