Some surgeries are a long time in the making. This patient in her 70s recently came to me to have surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis. She also said, ”By the way, I was shot in the back more than 50 years ago in Chicago, can you remove the bullet?” I told her that I don’t do surgery to remove bullets, especially ones that have been there for more than 50 years. I also explained that bone spurs and not the bullet were causing her pain and difficulty walking.
She told me confidently, “I think you will find it, and you’ll take it out just for me.” She was absolutely correct! The bullet was only a few millimeters away from where I was doing a laminectomy to relieve her stenosis.
The bullet went in the trashcan, and the patient went home without her pain and walking much better than she did before!
