Two years ago, Dustin Farber, now 39, a firefighter-paramedic for the Phoenix Fire Department, was flipping a heavy water hose off a firetruck during a training exercise. As he completed a twisting motion, he suddenly felt pain in his upper back.
“I felt a little stinger. I thought it was just a pulled muscle,” said Dustin, who didn’t worry too much about it at first. “Our job inherently comes with some expectation of pain. We encourage our members to know the difference between being hurt and being injured. Unfortunately, I just thought I was hurt and could push through it, not understanding the severity of my situation.”
“I didn’t realize how badly I was injured. I just sucked it up,” said the 18-year veteran firefighter who had previously worked in Apache Junction, and in wildland firefighting across the west, from California to Montana.
Over the next few days and weeks, his back muscles began to cramp and spasm. He tried steroid injections, “but It just kept getting worse. It went from stinging and feeling a little uncomfortable to a really deep burn.”
Soon after, the 5-foot-7-inch, 185-pound firefighter lost strength in his right arm. He could barely lift a cup of coffee; couldn’t even grip his helmet or a broom. He remembers standing in a hallway of the fire station, crying from the pain.
Another firefighter, sensing his distress, suggested Dustin consider seeing a special doctor affiliated with the Neuroscience Research Division at HonorHealth Research Institute.
An MRI revealed Dustin had a severe spinal disc herniation, but during the COVID pandemic it was difficult to get an appointment or schedule a surgery.
Luis M. Tumialán, M.D., a former U.S. Navy officer and a neurosurgeon specializing in spine surgery, took up Dustin’s case and — as part of a clinical trial — implanted an experimental “Synergy” disc in Dustin’s spine where the neck meets the shoulders. Dr. Tumialán is the principal investigator supervising the clinical trial, and also is HonorHealth’s neurosurgery research director.
Dustin had seen other firefighters get their spines fused, resulting in limited mobility. The experimental disc Dustin received provides him with flexibility left and right, forward and backward. And it was done on an out-patient basis, all in one day.
“I’m doing really good now,” said Dustin, who still sees Dr. Tumialán for annual checkups. “The doctor made all the difference. He listens. He genuinely cares, otherwise he wouldn’t have fit me in between other patients. He’s clearly very good at what he does.”
