Kyle Snyder
“I am 100% pain-free and extremely glad I did it. Dr. Gerlach is fantastic, and all of the staff knows what they are doing. I felt taken care of by a great team.”
Kyle Snyder is a dedicated husband and proud father to 18-year-old twins – a boy and a girl – who will both be going to college this year. As a young person, Kyle played just about every sport and was always active. To this day, he enjoys golfing, mountain & road biking, skiing, volleyball, and taking long walks with his wife and their Australian Sheppard “scooter.”
Besides living an active lifestyle, Kyle is a sales and marketing professional in the title insurance business, which often requires him to stand for long periods of time. Kyle began to notice that when he stood for an extended time, he would have pain located toward the side of his torso, over his right kidney area. He lived with the pain for a long time, and over 3-4 years, it progressed to where he had to stop going on the cherished long walks with his wife. Finally, when he could not walk or stand for more than 5 minutes without unbearable pain, he knew he needed to see a specialist. Kyle first came to Front Range Orthopedics & Spine (FROC) with a shoulder injury, a torn labrum that Dr. FitzGibbons successfully repaired. So when his back started aching, and his primary care doctor recommended Dr. Gerlach at FROC, he felt confident he would be in good hands.
Kyle tried everything to find relief from his pain. He completed multiple acupuncture sessions, went to a chiropractor, completed physical therapy, and had steroid injections, but nothing helped. “Dr. Gerlach gave me every option to pursue conservative alternatives. I really liked that he approached my care in this manner and didn’t just immediately suggest surgery.” However, based on his x-ray and MRI, it was clear that Kyle needed surgery. “Dr. Gerlach was great; he said there was a clear cause of the problem and that the fusion should reverse it. He didn’t guarantee it, but he said there was a very high probability of success. He showed genuine concern for me, and I felt confident in his ability to help.”
It was a piece of cake to schedule surgery. “When I woke up, I felt great, but as the pain medication wore off, it was a little scary. I didn’t realize that my back was actually fixed because I had lived with pain for so long and the discomfort from surgery was in a similar place.” Kyle was in the hospital for 2 nights. Recovery went very well and surprisingly quickly. Kyle was standing the day of surgery and took a small walk-on on day two. The breakthrough day was day 3, where not only did he walk and tackle steps, but he could immediately tell that he could stand pain-free! Only 2 weeks after surgery, he was off pain medication, driving, and back at work part-time: at 4 weeks, he was back to work as normal. The best day of recovery, though, was when 3 weeks after surgery when he completed a 3-mile walk with his wife. “I am 100% pain-free and extremely glad I did it. Dr. Gerlach is fantastic, and all of the staff knows what they are doing. I felt taken care of by a great team.”
Whether you’re an avid skier or a one-time mountain biker who sustained an injury while enjoying your adventure, we are here for you. Our team of specialists will work with you to help you get back out there and live life to its full potential again.
