Dr. Wong was recently an invited guest speaker at the Brazil Spine Society winter meeting in Ribeirao Preto (a university town located about 300km north of San Paulo). It was winter in Brazil, but temperatures were still in the mid 80’s.

The congress was hosted by Professor Helton Delfino, Past President of the Brazil Spine Society, who knows Dr. Wong from meetings of the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (ISSLS). 
The faculty dinner was at a traditional Brazilian steakhouse where the outstanding reputation of Brazilian beef was definitely upheld!

In addition to the Brazilian faculty, Dr. Wong was joined by invited speakers from the US, Italy, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Dr. Wong gave four lectures on various aspects of minimally invasive microsurgery. The bilateral microdecompression from a one-sided approach developed by our former partner John McCulloch was a popular talk. 

Brazil (with no FDA) is a popular location for companies to run clinical trials for new innovations in spine surgery. A number of these, which we have not seen in the US, were presented.

There were over 400 attendees, which led to standing room only in the auditorium. Overall, a superb meeting format and educational experience for both the attendees and the faculty.

Chad is not your typical school Principal. He heads up Rocky Mountain School for Expeditionary Learning, which brings the value of Outward Bound to a school through expeditions including biking, canoeing, rafting, hiking, and camping for weeks at a time. Chad personifies this philosophy himself, a track and field athlete in high school and college, and an avid mountain and road biker, Chad leads students on many of the school’s outdoor adventures.

Chad met Dr. Ghiselli through a road biking group they were both a part of and Chad decided to see Dr. Ghiselli for an existing herniated disc at L4-L5. Dr. Ghiselli treated Chad’s spine conservatively, starting with non-surgical treatments like PT, steroids on occasion, and exercise – and they both monitored Chad’s spine for changes over the years. Chad’s back held up enough to earn him a State Championship in Cyclocross in 2009, and a State Championship in Short Track Mountain Biking in the same year. Chad completed the Leadville 100 mountain biking race three times, taking on the grueling 100-mile course with 12,000 feet of elevation gain, and winning the Big Belt Buckle award each time for finishing this endurance race in less than 9 hours.

Chad's herniated disc finally gave way and ruptured in July of 2021 while he was loading rafts on a gear truck after whitewater river rafting with his kids. The next day he knew something was wrong, he had lost feeling in his legs and control of his bowels. Dr. Ghiselli was out of town but told him to head to the emergency room, where Chad spent 24 hours. Dr. Ghiselli returned the next day and performed a microdiscectomy surgery to restore the function to his legs.

Surgery was successful and Chad felt immediately better but was told he had to wait 3-6 months before getting back on a bike. And then Chad knew it would take months to get back into his pre-surgery condition. So, Chad looked ahead and decided the Leadville 100 in August of 2023 was a goal he could work toward.

Chad worked with his PT and a specialty sports trainer for 6 months before getting back on his bike. He had check-ins with Dr. Ghiselli and slowly worked his way back to his pre-surgery shape. On July 9, 2023, with his wife, son, and daughter cheering him on, he completed the run-up race, the Silver Rush 50. And on August 12 Chad completed the Leadville 100, just shy of the 9-hour mark by 15 minutes.

Chad credits Dr. Ghiselli’s careful and conservative treatment for giving him the maximum time with his spine, and his skilled hands for fixing it when the time came. “Dr. Ghiselli’s team is top-notch, and his post-op follow-up treatment supported me through my entire recovery,” Chad says. Chad also says the $250,000 he and his First Descents teammates raised for the Leadville 100 toward beating childhood cancer was better than winning the Big Belt Buckle award anyway.

We are proud to announce the addition of Dr. Chris Johnson to our practice. Dr. Johnson is a board-eligible, fellowship-trained spine surgeon specializing in adult scoliosis, deformity, complex failed back surgery, artificial disc replacement, and minimally invasive spine surgery. 

Raised in Colorado, Dr. Johnson attended Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch and is happy to be back in the state. Dr. Johnson attended CU Boulder for his undergraduate education, followed by the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He completed his residency in orthopedics at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, CA, and then completed a fellowship in spine surgery at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA. 

Dr. Johnson and his wife, Courtney, have a 2-year-old son named Dawes. Aside from spending time with his family, Dr. Johnson enjoys the outdoors including hiking, mountain biking, and skiing. Welcome Dr. Johnson!

Colorado Spine Partners

Dr. David Wong, Dr. Sanjay Jatana, Dr. Gary Ghiselli, and Dr. Chris Johnson

145 Inverness Drive East, suite 100

Englewood, CO 80112

303-MY-SPINE

www.coloradospinepartners.com

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145 Inverness Drive East ste 100 | Greenwood Village, CO 80112 US

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