Back Surgery

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio State football coach John Cooper still plans to direct his team against Minnesota on Saturday despite being hobbled by back surgery.Cooper underwent surgery Sunday to repair a ruptured spinal disk.Speaking on the Big Ten Conference teleconference yesterday, the third-year coach of the Buckeyes said he expected to be released from University Hospital today."There won't be any changes at all," he said.

Former Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold walked out of the jail shortly after 10 this morning where he has been locked up after being convicted of misconduct in January. Rain fell outside at the jailhouse, which stands on a four-lane road near the Anne Arundel County Medical Center. Leopold was led here from court in handcuffs in March and hauled to the jail to serve a 30 day sentence. He was also ordered to pay a $100,000 fine. He is expected to walk out with a GPS tag clasped around his leg to monitor him while he serves a further 30 days of home detention.

To cover the incision from Dale Borgman's recent bac surgery, his doctor needed only a Band-Aid. That's because the incision consisted of a single needle puncture.Yet that needle -- as skinny as a plastic coffee-stirrer -- contained a miniature laser and fiber optic lens that made it possible for Sacramento orthopedic surgeon Paul Lim to operate on the ruptured disk that had plagued Mr. Borgman for several months. The procedure was done in a half hour.Dr. Lim and other doctors believe the laser surgery, which has been used on a small scale around the country, may revolutionize back surgery, allowing those who suffer from debilitating back and leg pain to be cured relatively easily.

North Carolina junior midfielder Duncan Hutchins will miss the 2013 season as he will be undergoing back surgery and will redshirt, the team announced Friday. Hutchins, a Baltimore native and Gilman grad who has played on the Tar Heels' first- and second-team midfield units the past two years, has been troubled by back problems since his arrival at North Carolina.  In consultation with doctors, he elected to undergo surgery in January and will miss the spring semester during his recovery.  He will return to school in the summer, and it is anticipated he will make a full recovery and be ready to compete with the Tar Heels in 2014 and 2015.

Phoenix Suns swingman Dan Majerle is suffering numbness and strength loss in his right leg after back surgery, and doctors say it might be a year before it is known whether the problems are permanent.Majerle, the runner-up for the National Basketball Association's Sixth Man Award this season, first experienced the symptoms during an April 4 game against the Los Angeles Lakers. He missed the next five games but was bothered by the condition throughout Phoenix's first-round playoff loss to the Utah Jazz.

A Maryland defensive unit that was a disappointment in 1992 lost one of its top players this week, as the career of senior nose guard Jim Panagos was declared over after back surgery.Panagos underwent surgery Monday to repair a bulging disk in his lower back, an injury that occurred in early June. He also had back surgery in 1989, his redshirt season, to repair a herniated disk, and team doctors have advised him not to play football.Since it was my second operation, I was told it's best that I not play anymore," Panagos said from his family's home on Long Island.

After 10 days of testimony and less than two hours of deliberations, a Baltimore County jury awarded $4 million this week to a 35-year-old woman who said she has suffered chronic pain and partial paralysis since 1998 because a doctor in Fallston General Hospital's emergency room delayed sending her for back surgery. Linda McAlexander, a Harford County resident who worked as a real estate loan processor, had an established diagnosis of lumbar disc disease when she went to the emergency room in June 1998.

At age 70, Charles Slechta loves dancing with his wife, Viola. And thanks to a new kind of back surgery, the Pikesville resident is again able to do the jitterbug and the polka. Slechta and more than 40 other area residents have taken part in a Food and Drug Administration clinical trial testing a surgical procedure designed to relieve chronic back and leg pain without the need for a spinal fusion. With as many as 400,000 Americans a year undergoing spinal fusion surgery, the potential benefit of this relatively new technique, called Dynesys, is significant.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- No longer able to withstand the pain and numbness that have followed him much of this year, Orioles third baseman Cal Ripken will undergo back surgery this morning, ending his season.To alleviate the nerve condition that twice sent Ripken onto the disabled list this year, Dr. Henry Bohlman will perform what is expected to be a 2 1/2-hour procedure, beginning at 10 a.m. at Case Western Reserve University Hospital in Cleveland, the team announced. Orioles officials were told Ripken will be hospitalized for at least three days and unable to resume normal activities for about a month.

Gary Hatter likens his vehicle to a large citrus fruit. Or an orange UFO. But when passers-by in Manhattan saw Hatter roll down Broadway at nine miles per hour, they knew he was riding a lawnmower. They'd just never seen one before. Children touched the hood in awe. People drove by, doubled back to stare, then doubled back again to give him a thumbs-up. One man even offered him $12,000 for it. Hatter declined. After all, his 14,000-mile drive through the lower 48 states in the next five months will help cover the $100,000 pricetag of his third back surgery.

Are the Ravens on the verge of adding another name into their starting left guard competition? They're at least looking into it as they will work out former Cincinnati Bengal and Cleveland Brown guard Eric Steinbach on Tuesday as first reported by CBS Sports.   Steinbach, 32, was once considered one of the better guards in football, but he missed all of last season after having back surgery. He is now working out for teams to prove that he is healthy. From 2003 to 2006, Steinbach, a second-round pick in 2003 by Cincinnati out of Iowa, started all but two regular season games for the Bengals over four seasons.  He then signed a seven-year, $49.5 million deal with the Browns before the 2007 season.

At this time last year, Jarred Jones was hurting. It wasn't the knee he tore up playing summer basketball. Or the stress fracture in his shin, which ended up needing bone marrow from his hip to fix. The surgeries and demanding rehabilitation were successfully behind him, and there was a chance he could make a late-season contribution to the John Carroll boys basketball team. But his hopes were dashed when the doctor told him not quite yet. So Jones had to stay on the bench, helping his teammates and coaches any way he could — except for the way he knew he could pitch in the most.

In a year when extensive state budget cuts are forecast, legislators are looking at one more possible way to boost revenue besides possibly raising the tax on alcohol and/or gasoline — reinstating the income tax surcharge on people who annually make $1 million or more. None of Howard's 11 state legislators is enthusiastic about the idea, though several said it might win support in the end, depending on other options for resolving the projected $1.6 billion revenue shortfall next fiscal year.

Ravens center Matt Birk doesn't expect a long stay on the physically-unable-to-perform list. The six-time Pro Bowl center declined to talk about his injury, but a league source said he had minor elbow surgery. "I expect to be back real soon," Birk said. "It's nothing major." Birk can be activated at any time, but he is unsure whether he will be ready for Friday, the official first day of training camp. The Ravens won't rush him back because they know how valuable he is to the team.

County Executive John R. Leopold is recovering from his second back surgery in five months, his spokesman said Monday. Leopold underwent revision lumbar spinal fusion surgery Friday afternoon at Anne Arundel Medical Center and was released from the hospital Sunday, said spokesman Dave Abrams. He had a similar procedure in February. "After the initial surgery, unfortunately he still was experiencing some pain," said Abrams. "He decided to have this procedure done so he can mount a full and vigorous campaign in the fall."

County Executive John R. Leopold was recovering Tuesday afternoon after back surgery at Anne Arundel Medical Center, his spokesman said. "It was a successful surgery, and we're all looking forward to him getting back to work and having a speedy recovery," said spokesman Dave Abrams. The procedure, which Abrams described as "minor elective surgery," began about 7:30 a.m. and ended about 10:30 a.m. Leopold had been experiencing "soreness in his back that was very uncomfortable," Abrams said.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- An endless winter's abstinence from 3-on-3 basketball combined with a frequently tedious rehabilitation finally pushed Cal Ripken to the breaking point. Along with the Orioles' pitchers and catchers, Ripken walked into Fort Lauderdale Stadium yesterday, pulled on his uniform, grabbed hitting coach Terry Crowley and disappeared to a back field. Providing camp's first positive sign, Ripken's playful shouts carried almost as far as a series of line drives. Position players aren't due until Tuesday; however, a serious case of cabin fever caused the Orioles third baseman to interrupt his final week of vacation to begin a personal confirmation.

Colene Daniel's education began with hope, determinationWhile other corporate executives talk a good game about coming up the hard way, few could match the odds Colene Daniel faced.A vice president at Johns Hopkins Hospital currently oversees a $32 million budget and 700 employees. But 30 years ago, she was an 8-year-old sent to live at the Colored Orphanage of Cincinnati. Ms. Daniel spent four years at the orphanage, then three years in various foster homes before running away and striking out on her own.At 15, she was living in a basement apartment and working odd jobs to support herself.

Oilers goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin will have surgery Thursday to repair a herniated disc in his back and is expected to be out 12 weeks. The Oilers didn't provide a timeline for his return, saying Wednesday that he's "out indefinitely," but Khabibulin's agent, Jay Grossman , said the goalie will need 12 weeks to recover. Khabibulin, who signed a $15 million, four-year contract over the summer, hasn't played since Nov. 16. He's 7-9-2 with a 3.03 goals-against average.

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman was recuperating from outpatient back surgery performed Wednesday at University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore to remove a protruding portion of a disc that has been causing him pain for nearly a year. Kevin Enright, Ulman's spokesman, said the surgery was successful, and the 35-year-old executive was able to walk the same day. County government is closed this week, with unpaid furloughs, and Ulman was not planning to be out of action long, according to Enright.