He Could Barely Walk. Robotic Spine Surgery Got Him Back on His Feet.

Jeff Bigley spent most of his adult life on his feet. In his career as a mechanic, he had always been physically active, strong, and capable. So when he transitioned to a management role — his first desk job in almost half a century — he assumed the change would be a welcome one.

Instead, it was the beginning of a long ordeal that would slowly rob him of his ability to walk.

A Year Without Answers

The back pain started not long after he made the switch. At first, it was manageable — some lower back discomfort, the occasional sciatic nerve flare.

Jeff and his wife, Donna, took evening walks around the lake in their neighborhood, about a mile and a half each night. Over the months, the walks got harder. Pain radiated down his legs. Eventually, the pain turned to numbness, as if his legs were always on the verge of falling asleep.

“I could barely walk,” Jeff said. “The minute I started moving, I’d feel exhaustion in my legs, and I’d have to sit down.”

For more than a year, Jeff tried everything his doctors recommended. His family physician prescribed oral steroids and steroid packs, which helped for a while. He visited a pain management specialist, who administered three rounds of epidural injections. The first two brought about a month of relief each. But the final one left him in more pain than ever.

He underwent more MRIs, ultrasounds, and X-rays than he could count. An orthopedist diagnosed him with lumbar stenosis — a narrowing of the spinal canal causing nerve pain and numbness. He recommended continuing pain management, but Jeff didn’t want to be on medication forever.

Jeff and his wife, Donna, whose research led them to Dr. Kimberly Ashayeri at Atlantic Brain and Spine.

A Different Kind of Doctor

It was Donna who changed the course of his care.

“It was his spine and nerves,” she reasoned. “Let’s go to a neurosurgeon.”

Her research led them to the Spine Center at Atlantic Brain and Spine – and Dr. Kimberly B. Ashayeri, a neurosurgeon specializing in robotic and minimally invasive techniques. They were both impressed by her resume, which illustrated that she was a leader in the field.

“We liked that she was young,” Donna explained. “Not only was she trained in the latest techniques, she was actually training other doctors to use them.”

From the first appointment, the experience felt different from any doctor Jeff had visited. Dr. Ashayeri pulled up his imaging and walked him through exactly what was happening with his spine: showing him where the nerve compression was, explaining why his legs were going numb, and making clear that surgery was the only long-term solution for his pain.

“She actually showed me what was going on in my back,” Jeff said. “Nobody had ever done that before.”

Dr. Ashayeri took her time to answer their questions, giving a clear picture of what to expect and honestly discussing the risks. Given how long his nerves had been under compression, there was the possibility of residual numbness in his legs.

Jeff’s life didn’t leave room for an extended recovery. Beyond his full-time desk job, he worked with his brother every Saturday and spent Sundays helping his daughter. A traditional open fusion could sideline him for six months. He couldn’t wait that long.

When he asked Dr. Ashayeri about returning to work in two weeks, she was characteristically honest. Physically, he might be able to do it if he was off medications, but she warned him that healing could make him far more tired than he might expect. But there was hope: minimally invasive robotic spine surgery could help reduce his recovery time.

She also advocated on his behalf with his insurance company, ensuring the procedure would be covered. A few insurance-required physical therapy appointments later, Jeff was ready for surgery at Overlook Medical Center.

Less Invasive, More Effective

Dr. Ashayeri, assisted by Dr. Farah Musharbash, performed a robotic-assisted, minimally invasive bilateral L3-5 transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion. The procedure used neuromonitoring and robotic guidance to maximize surgical precision while minimizing disruption to the surrounding tissue.

Jeff went home the next day with two small scars on his back — and for the first time in over a year, no nerve pain radiating down his legs.

Recovery unfolded almost exactly as Dr. Ashayeri had described. The fatigue was real. Christmas and New Year were a blur.

Jeff missed his goal of returning to work after two weeks, but was back at his desk in a month. His home physical therapist noted that his posture — which had been stiff and hunched to compensate for the pain — had become stronger, and he could walk normally again.

“I got my legs back,” Jeff said. “It’s night and day. Everything Dr. Ashayeri said was true. And it worked.”

At work, Jeff compared the results of his minimally invasive procedure with a colleague who had undergone traditional open fusion, with incisions in his front and back. They both happened to return to the office at the same time, but his coworker had been out for four long months recovering. In contrast, Jeff was stronger and more mobile in less than a quarter of the time.

Stronger, Steadier, and Moving Forward

Nine weeks after surgery, Jeff still had some residual numbness in his left foot as the nerves continued recovering after being compressed for so long. When he pushed a little too far, he used a heating pad to manage the pain. He expected his back to keep improving, but he was grateful to be back on his feet.

“Surgery was the only thing that was going to fix me,” Jeff said. “Now, I’m doing everything I did before.”