DENVER (KDVR) — Gina Hargett-Freed is finally back on her bike and feeling good after spinal surgery to correct scoliosis.
“I’m doing fabulous,” the Littleton woman said with a smile.
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Hargett-Freed suffered from scoliosis for years and said it got worse as she got older, plus she was dealing with rheumatoid arthritis.
“When I went into menopause is when things really sped up,” she said.
Hargett-Freed had a 60-degree curve in her spine that pitched her to the side and forward. She had incredible pain, needed a cane to walk, and at times felt hopeless.
“Once it started getting really bad, it just put me on the couch, and I just I couldn’t do anything,” she said.
Hargett-Freed had two surgeries that did not help before she found a new doctor and new hope.
Dr. Shay Bess is a spine surgeon at Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center in Denver.
“Her pain levels were so high, and she was so debilitated,” Bess said.