Daniel Sapen

I am a 58 year old psychologist. I was always an athlete - college baseball, football, some amateur boxing matches and lots of sparring. In my late 40s, I had worsening sciatica and a tendency for my leg muscles and glutes to cramp. Massages and yoga helped a lot, but only for a while. Like most people, I was afraid of the risks and implications of back surgery, and I waited too long. In April 2019, I was playing a gig with my cover band at a bar, and needed my buddy and my kid to carry my few pieces of equipment and I had to sit while performing.

I decided at that time that I could no longer put off a surgical consult. I had had good results with pain management injections in my shoulder from a different HSS surgeon, and a couple of epidurals by an HSS physiatrist, Dr. Stephen Geiger, all of which bought me months of pain relief. However, my legs were getting weaker from the pressure my spinal stenosis was placing on the nerves innervating my legs.

I met with four surgeons - one good and one was out of my insurance network. Two others insisted that my whole lumbar spine had to be fused or I was at risk of paralysis soon! One of those two informed me of this no more than five seconds into our consult, looking at my films, never making eye contact, never asking anything about me, my life, my activities - as if I were a car he were the only one capable to swapping out the parts, the alternative being doing nothing and regretting it forever.

Finally I met Dr. Rawlins, who, I learned, had been an Olympic-level boxer in his youth, with a remarkable and diverse academic background, an engineering background which led to his invention of some of the hardware used in these procedures. Additionally he is known for his charitable work in countries where spine surgery remains an undeveloped skill.

Dr. Rawlins seemed to take an active interest in my case. He immediately wanted to know about my life and what my priorities and activities were - and we were able to chat about our boxing experiences. He understood my need to remain active, and though he advised me to plan for a different hobby - sensible given my age and spinal condition - he offered to have me given a through neurological workup by an associate in order to see whether the surgery could be limited to fewer levels.

By taking this extra time and making the effort which no other Dr thought to make, we discovered that I was not symptomatic in other areas, and did NOT need to have the whole area fused. Dr. Rawlins gave me the choice to do the full lumbar spine, or partial, the latter giving me the prospect of more mobility for at least a few years - time to play with my kid, run with my hyperactive dog, and plan for some less taxing activities in the next phase of my life. As long as I understood I may need more such surgery in the future.

I chose to do less surgery now and live more fully while I could.

The surgery went very well. The staff at the HSS Main Campus in Manhattan were incredibly attentive to my pain and needs as well as my desire to do as much for myself as possible, but without letting me endanger myself. I was walking around the lake at our local park the day I returned home. I was back in the boxing gym doing the light stuff - the speed bag, the double-end bag, and light shadowboxing. My left foot remained numb, as it already was. But I could live with that, and managed to change my technique and my gait to compensate.

Three years and two months later, I fought a three-round boxing match for Long Island Fight For Charity, in which my fellow business-person boxers and I raised a huge amount of money for disadvantaged and developmentally disabled kids. The announcers at this PPV event, with thousands of people in attendance, commented on my mobility and footwork. And although I was boxing a big tough guy with little boxing experience and held back, my ability to have fun and really move around in there - and spar hard with athletic young guys and pro boxers in preparation - was a huge gift. Forty months earlier, I was having trouble standing up for more than a minute at a time. And now, I'm uploading some video. Check "Dr. Danger" Sapen vs Ankelman.

A few weeks after that, I hiked the Lofoten Islands in Arctic Norway. Feelin' good.

I'm very thankful for Dr. Rawlins, neurologist Dr. Brion Reichler, their staff, and the nursing staff at HSS for giving me many more years of activity and enjoyment. My kid, my wife Dina, and my dog Bo are thankful as well!