Sneeze left me crippled for two years: Mother's agony ends with pioneering spinal surgery



Victoria Kenny has now returned to work



When Victoria Kenny sat down in front of the television, the only drama she was expecting was courtesy of EastEnders.

But then she sneezed - and gave herself an injury that left her virtually bedridden for most of the next two years.

Mrs Kenny, a solicitor and mother of three, told yesterday how the sneeze caused a ruptured disc in her spine, which resulted in her sciatic nerve being trapped between two vertebrae.



She was forced to quit work at the legal firm she had established 25 years earlier because of the constant pain and was left so depressed she contemplated suicide.

The 53-year-old's misery only came to an end earlier this year when she underwent pioneering back surgery to fit a lightweight plastic 'cage' to the affected section of her spine.

Mrs Kenny said she had been watching EastEnders with husband Alan, 52, a surveyor, in April 2007 when she felt a tingle in her nose.

She said: 'When I sneezed I felt a searing pain down my spine. I didn't understand what was happening.

'I couldn't stand or move my limbs. It was terrifying. My first fear was that I was paralysed.'



Her husband Alan, 52, a surveyor, called a doctor who referred Mrs Kenny to St Richard's Hospital in her home town of Chichester, West Sussex.



But despite three operations on her spine, doctors were unable to resolve the problem.



She said: 'Being in that kind of pain day after day, I eventually got to the point where I just didn't want to live. The pain completely took over every part of my life.

'I remember watching a car come towards me on a road, and just thinking, if it hit me, it would solve all my problems.

'It's a terrible way to think, but the pain was just too much to bear, I couldn't live like that.

'The morphine that I was on was making me hallucinate, and working became impossible. I saw people literally melting in front of me, and had terrible visions.

'It was hideous, I started thinking that I'd let my husband down, even though he was incredibly supportive.



'I lost a massive amount of weight, I was in an awful state, and I sunk into a terrible depression.'



Newly-wed Victoria Kenny was left unable to walk or even sit down after a powerful sneeze caused a disc in her spine to rupture

Mrs Kenny's pain was caused by the rupture of the spinal disc - a soft cushion that sits between each vertebrae of the spine.

The disc is soft and elastic in the young, but like many other structures in the body it gradually loses its elasticity and is more vulnerable to injury.



An X-ray shows where the disc at the bottom of the spine has ruptured

After the third operation, a friend suggested she contact spinal orthopaedic surgeon Andrew Quaile, who had worked wonders on her husband.

Mr Quaile runs a private clinic called Spineworks which specialises in back injuries and carried out the £10,000 operation at the private BMI hospital in Basingstoke, Hampshire.

All of Mrs Kenny's treatment was covered by her private health insurance. But the procedure carried out by Mr Quaile is available on the Health Service.

During the four-hour operation, he fused the vertebrae either side of the ruptured disc together using a hollow plastic cage containing bone graft to aid the fusing process and a supportive spring to bolster the disc.

This procedure stopped the disc from collapsing again and prevented the vertebrae rubbing together.

The structure was supported from behind the spine by four titanium rods and two bolts.



The cage will stay in place permanently. Mrs Kenny said the procedure, carried out in April 2009, and subsequent physiotherapy have given her back her life.



The only time the cage or its titanium supporting rods become uncomfortable is if she lies on a hard surface.

She was walking within a week of the operation and has now returned to work - starting up a new conveyancing firm with her daughter Louise, 24.

'The relief was immediate after the operation and I was discharged from hospital the next day,' she said.



'But I'm still terrified of sneezing - I sit down and pinch my nose every time I feel one coming on.'

Victoria, pictured here with her husband Alan, was forced to give up work at her solicitors firm

Mr Quaile said: 'Coughing or sneezing can rupture discs because they are designed like car tyres. If you drive lots of miles you get tears and the outer walls become weaker. Coughing or sneezing can be enough to blow a weakened disc.

'This kind of surgery is only used in the most extreme cases - when a ruptured disc becomes completely debilitating for the sufferer.

'The operation was a success, and the cage immediately relieved the awful pressure on the nerve roots in the spine.'





