When Harrell Glenn Alexander started having back pain at the age of 33, he thought it was just a product of getting older. He spent the next two years treating the pain with steroid injections, massages and physical therapy. Yet Harrell continued to experience days and nights when he could not function as a result of his pain. By the time he started living on pain pills, couldn’t tie his shoes and had trouble getting his legs into bed, Harrell decided to put his wife’s research to use and called Texas Back Institute.

Harrell was to the point where he “was willing to do anything” when he met Dr. Guyer in September 2000. Suffering from degenerative disc disease, Harrell had his first surgery, the Charité artificial disc replacement. Eight years later, another disc in Harrell’s back was failing, so in January 2008, Dr. Guyer performed the second surgery to fix his L4 disc. After a “relatively easy” recovery process for both surgeries, Harrell is a changed man. Even his wife noticed the difference – the pained look on his face was gone. Everyday chores like brushing his teeth and tying his shoes were now simple tasks.

At 33 years old, Harrell had “no life whatsoever,” yet on August 24, 2008, only seven months after his second surgery, he participated in the Hotter ‘N Hell Hundred, a 100-mile bike ride in Wichita Falls, Texas. He finished the race in seven hours, 51 minutes.

He couldn’t even ride bikes before his surgeries, but in 2008, Harrell biked more than 1,500 miles in 2008 thanks to Dr. Guyer and the team at Texas Back Institute. And not only is Harrell riding bikes, he is also riding horses, something he never could have done of 10 years ago.

Harrell recommends Dr. Guyer and Texas Back Institute because they consider the least invasive treatments first, and they “listen, hear concerns and explain everything that goes on.” But more important, he says, “They changed my life and our lives.”