12/23/2025
Patient Testimonial:
James Swift has struggled with low back pain and sciatica on his left side ever since he injured himself working as a Los Angeles County fire captain at age 40.
Although he underwent a laminectomy and microdiscectomy to repair a protruding spinal disc pressing on his nerve, the symptoms returned when he was 55, after retirement. “It got to be pretty unbearable,” Swift recalls. His wife, who is a registered nurse, helped him find Dr. Anand for further treatment.
During their consultation, Dr. Anand discovered that Swift's spinal disc had ruptured and was compressing the spinal nerve, causing severe pain down his lower back, buttocks, and leg on the left side. Dr. Anand recommended and performed a two-level spinal fusion on Swift’s L4-5, and L4-S1 disc.
Dr. Anand informed Swift that he would be seeing him in about 10 years as the upper portion of his spine was beginning to become problematic. "He showed me on the x-ray, he said this is starting to fatigue, starting to wear," he explains.
As predicted, about 12 years later, Swift again began feeling pain radiating from his lower back down his left side, but this time he noticed additional symptoms affecting his left quadricep and thigh. "I'd just be sitting there, and it felt like somebody took a bare electrical cord and stuck it on my leg to give me this intense electrical shock."
On July 21, 2025, Dr. Anand performed a two-level disc replacement at Swift's L2-3 and L3-4 disc. Since then, Swift said he feels like he's back at 100% in a short amount of time. "And the nerve impingement, that electrical shock that I described, that's completely gone," he adds.
And as a gymnast in high school and current student of martial arts, Swift was worried about losing flexibility due to multiple spinal surgeries. Fortunately, that hasn’t happened. "Two weeks ago, I just resumed my flexibility training and stretching, which has been a concern because with that surgery being fresh, I didn't want to do any bending, lifting, or twisting on his surgery site that would stress that area," Swift says. "But Dr. Anand gave me the okay for it in moderation."
Swift enthusiastically recommends Dr. Anand, describing him as personable, straightforward, and thorough in explaining both the problems and solutions. "And he went to bat for us with the insurance company," Swift continues. "He had applied for the two-level fusion and when we asked what about the disc replacement, he said, well, I never ever had it approved, but I will ask. He spent quite a bit of time on the phone with them and went to bat for me and asked for approval on the two-level disc replacement and he was able to get that."
☎️ To Schedule Appointment: (310) 423-9779
✅Sharing is caring!
🌏AnandSpineGroup.com
