Never too late: One dancer rediscovers life after back surgery

For many, the decision to move forward with spine surgery is never an easy one. For nonagenarian and avid dancer Barbara Wagner, the journey to the operating room was no different. After first experiencing sudden back discomfort more than a decade ago, Wagner’s struggle with increasingly debilitating back pain finally brought her to the office of spine surgeon Dr. Alexander Ropper with Baylor Medicine and Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center. Today, more than a year post-op, neither age nor pain keep this natural-born dancer off the dance floor.

“It was 2013 when I started feeling some discomfort in my back and leg,” Wagner recalls. After an initial visit to a spine neurologist, she was prescribed pain medication which kept her symptoms at bay for a few years. However, she was hit with another episode of severe pain in 2016, and again in 2020.

An avid ballroom dancer who enjoyed taking to the floor with her partner, Wanger eventually found herself with limited mobility, unable to walk without the use of a walker, and even concerned for her overall health. “The pain was so severe that I kept feeling like I was going to have a heart attack.” It was then that she was referred to Ropper. The duo immediately got to work, with the surgeon wanting to exhaust all options before proceeding with surgery.

“Most back pain and leg pain from structural spine causes will improve without any surgery,” explains Ropper, associate professor of neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine and director of spine surgery at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center. “Physical therapy, epidural steroid injections and pain medications remain the mainstay of treatment.”

Wagner recounts, “we tried all sorts of things, but nothing was working.” Finally, in the summer of 2020, she underwent a laminectomy, the surgical removal of the lamina (back of vertebral bone), at the hands of Ropper.

The surgery offered relief for about a year before Wagner again began experiencing symptoms. Once again, she and her neurologist began various treatments, including several injections. “Each time the injections didn’t work, but in the meantime I kept in touch with Dr. Ropper.”

Finally, when the severity of her pain and the dosage of her pain medication reached points that were no longer sustainable, Wagner and Ropper decided to again move forward with surgery. While some may balk at the idea of back surgery at Wagner’s age, Ropper disagrees. “Advanced age should be considered when offering surgery. However, many patients in their 70s, 80s and even beyond are in excellent health, and can safely undergo spine surgery.”

The two met in the OR a second time in 2023 for a spinal fusion, the connecting of two or more bones in the spine. After spending a week in rehab post-op, Wagner returned home and enjoyed a smooth healing process. Eventually, she was able to walk without the aid of a cane or walker.

“The change was night and day. People would marvel at me because of the difference.” A year out from this last surgery, Wagner cannot believe how much her life has improved. “Sometimes I think back on the pain I felt, and I ask myself, ‘did that really happen?’”

At 91-years-old, the shift has allowed her to regain not only her mobility, but also her independence. “I’ve always been active. I like to go out, walk and exercise and I can do that again. People don’t believe me when I tell them how old I am.”

However, for this dancer, the most meaningful outcome of the surgery was her ability to dance with her favorite partner again before he sadly passed away.

“My boyfriend was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and was in memory care, but I visited him often. One time the facility held a dance party and he and I danced. He could remember his steps. I wouldn’t have been able to share that experience with him prior to my surgery.”

Learn more about spine surgery at Baylor Medicine or call the Spine Center at 713-798-BACK (2225).

By Cristina Flores, senior communications associate in the Department of Neurosurgery