Freedom Restored: Motorcycle Enthusiast Rides Pain-Free After Spine Surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital

Two wheels sped down a rural Missouri highway, and a 14-year-old fell in love.

“It was a freedom feeling,” Tom Waller says, more than six decades after his first motorcycle ride. “And I’ve never lost it.”

A scary wreck at 17 didn’t stop Tom from riding. Neither did a quadruple heart bypass surgery as an adult. From having kids to changing careers, the 77-year-old has navigated a motorcycle through all of life’s twists and turns.

So, when a spine problem started impacting his love of the open road, surrendering wasn’t an option.

Tom reached for the throttle and accelerated, determined to find a permanent solution.

“I didn’t want to live like that,” Tom says. “It was too much.”

In the fall of 2023, during a trip to Colorado’s Estes Park with his wife, Ramona, a breathtaking ride was rudely interrupted by a problem that had become all too familiar to Tom.

“The numbness was getting crazy,” he says.

The issue had started months before, when Tom felt a numb sensation near his waistband. It wrapped around him like a belt. Over time, the uncomfortable feeling spread down his right leg, then both. A doctor prescribed Tom gabapentin, a drug used to treat nerve pain. It helped dull the discomfort, but didn’t stop it.

“It got to the point where I’d walk down the hallway of my house, and my leg would kick out and hit the wall,” Tom says. “If that had happened to me in another situation, I would have fallen down.”

During a University of Missouri football game that same fall, Tom had to lean on Ramona during the post-game walk to their car. It was the only way he could get there. That moment, combined with his discomfort during the couple’s Colorado trip, confirmed Tom’s decision

“It was getting progressively worse,” he says. “I felt like if I was going to walk normally and have an active life, continuing to do the things I wanted to do, I had to have surgery.”

Thanks to a recommendation from his cardiologist, Tom was introduced to Wilson Zachary Ray, MD, a WashU Medicine neurosurgeon at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, which U.S. News & World Report has consistently ranked in the top-20 nationally for neurology and neurosurgery. 

Tom worked with Dr. Ray and physician assistant Jared Thatcher, MPAS, to diagnose his problem and find the best possible solution.

Decades ago, Tom suffered a disc injury between his fourth and fifth vertebrae. That disc, he learned, had completely deteriorated. One of Tom’s vertebrae had slipped and turned, producing a pinch that was causing the numbness and pain Tom was feeling throughout the lower half of his body.

“Tom had a very common condition related to progressive arthritis in his spine that leads to back and leg pain,” Dr. Ray says.

Tom’s condition could be treated by an outpatient, minimally invasive surgery that decompresses the nerves and stabilizes the slipped vertebrae. Dr. Ray has performed this specialized procedure on nearly 1,000 patients and teaches surgeons across the nation how to perform it.

On April 1, 2024, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Dr. Ray performed surgery on Tom to remove the deteriorated disc and replace it with a substitute material. He realigned Tom’s spine and used titanium rods and screws, and a titanium interbody cage, to secure everything in its proper place.

After Tom spent one night in the hospital, X-rays confirmed the repair’s positioning held, and he headed home with a plan for physical therapy in hand. Eight weeks later, Tom met again with Dr. Ray and received an all-clear to return to his favorite activities.

One thing was at the top of Tom’s mind.

“That’s when I said, well, I ride a Harley,” Tom says. “Dr. Ray said, ‘Well, the weather is pretty nice. I suggest you get home and jump on the bike.’”

Tom never took a pain pill after leaving the hospital following his procedure and describes himself as totally pain-free now. He was walking normally again three weeks after his surgery. He exercises, walks up to five miles every day, and is looking forward to an upcoming motorcycle trip with Ramona.

This summer, the couple will ride from Missouri to Seattle, one of their longest trips together.

“It’s going to be a test,” Tom says, “But I know my back will be OK.”

To make an appointment with a spine specialist, call 557-747-9186. 

Learn more about spine care and surgical options.