Baine Brooks of Allen, Texas, is a busy guy. A restaurant owner and Allen City Councilman, Baine and his wife Juli are also proud parents of two high-achieving daughters in college. One is a collegiate gymnast and the other is pursuing her doctorate.

Even though Baine was experiencing increasingly intense pain under his shoulders, he refused to let it slow him down. But when long hours at the restaurant mixed in with community commitments, family time and the occasional round of golf found him in a chronic, constant state of pain, Baine knew it was time to stop ignoring it.

“I really didn’t want to stop doing anything, so I kept doing everything but I was doing it in a significant amount of pain,” said Baine. “I figured it was just a pinched nerve or something, but my primary care physician referred me for an MRI to rule out other possibilities.”

Without a diagnosis, Baine was then referred to a neurosurgeon and found himself in the office of Dr. Kalra at Kalra Brain & Spine. Dr. Kalra showed him how the bulging discs in his upper spine were causing all the problems. After a lengthy consultation, many questions from both sides of the table and diagnostic testing, Dr. Kalra recommended artificial cervical disc replacement as a solution to Baine’s near-constant pain.

Patient Turned Ambassador

In early November of 2019, Baine met Dr. Kalra at the hospital for his minimally invasive procedure. “Surgery was a Thursday, I was back at work by Saturday and off all pain meds by Sunday,” said Baine. “I couldn’t believe it. It was amazing! I was back and it felt so great.”

There were so many things Baine appreciated about his experience with Kalra Brain & Spine, and specifically, with Dr. Kalra. “He spoke to me in a very relational, approachable way and I really appreciated that,” said Baine. “And I never once waited more than five minutes for my appointment. He respected my time and that, I appreciate as well. And when he told me that he’d eaten at my restaurant in Houston frequently back when he was in college, I knew we had a match! I am a guy who is going to get second opinions, and with Dr. Kalra, I just didn’t feel I needed one.”

Today, Baine is back to swinging a golf club and pounding the ball on the racquetball court. He travels with Juli to watch their daughter compete in gymnastics events and continues his civic commitments to the city of Allen. He recently spoke at a large event for restaurant owners. And after sharing about his life-changing experience and how all his pain was now gone, several people found him afterward to ask more questions because they, too, were dealing with either back or neck pain that was affecting their lives.

“I tell everyone who will listen about what a great guy Dr. Kalra is and how much he helped me get my life back. I feel great!”

Hope for Chronic Neck and Back Pain

When world-class training meets hometown values deeply rooted in family and community, the result is the kind of medical care you’ve always hoped for. This describes Kalra Brain & Spine, the practice of Dr. Ricky Kalra, who specializes in the most up-to-date, evidence-based care. If you’re living with chronic neck or back pain and don’t know where to turn, schedule a consultation with Dr. Kalra today.

John’s Story

John Floyd is an active guy. The Frisco resident thoroughly enjoys the season of life he’s in, semi-retired and enjoying life with his wife Gini and their family. “We love to hike and ride bikes,” he said. “I lift weights and do cardio. Being healthy and fit is important to us.

But it wasn’t very long ago that John was dealing with constant neck pain causing him to stop all physical activity. “No matter what I did to compensate, the pain just never relented,” he said. When rest and physical therapy failed to offer any lasting relief, John sought out the expertise of Dr. Kalra.

A candid yet compassionate consultation with Dr. Kalra left John feeling more hopeful than he’d felt in a long time. “Even though I knew I needed the surgery, I wasn’t scared and felt confident in his ability to help me,” said John.

In August of 2019, John had surgery to treat the degenerative disc disease that was slowly stealing his life. “I felt relief immediately,” said John. “It was an amazing feeling. And within four weeks, I was able to start working toward an active life again. It was life-changing.”

Next-Level Care

Fast forward a few months, and John was experiencing some knee pain just before leaving for a Florida vacation with his family. His orthopedic doctor prescribed a medication for that pain but said it would first need to be approved by Dr. Kalra, as John was still under post-op care for his spine surgery.

With no appointment scheduled and less than 24 hours before the trip, John made a desperate call to Dr. Kalra’s office and left a message outlining what he needed. Dr. Kalra was scheduled to be in surgery all day, but when he received the message, he returned to the office late in the evening, called John and sent the authorization needed to get the prescription filled.

“Who does that?” said John, still awed by the above-and-beyond care he has received in countless ways during his time as a patient at Kalra Brain & Spine. “In today’s healthcare climate, I just don’t know who does that sort of thing. The entire team at Kalra Brain & Spine is amazing and helpful in every way.”

Today, John is back to his full workout regimen and is feeling better than ever. He has resumed lifting weights and has traded in running for other kinds of cardio that are less jarring to his knees. When asked what he most appreciates being able to do now that he wasn’t able to do before his surgery with Dr. Kalra, John took a moment to reflect. “It’s so nice to be able to bow my head in prayer without the intense neck pain,” he finally said.

John and Gini are so grateful to have found Kalra Brain & Spine. With the skilled hand and expertise of Dr. Kalra, John feels like he has been given a second chance at life!

Hope for Chronic Neck and Back Pain

When world-class training meets hometown values deeply rooted in family and community, the result is the kind of medical care you’ve always hoped for. This describes Kalra Brain & Spine, the practice of Dr. Ricky Kalra, who specializes in the most up-to-date evidence-based neurosurgical care. If you’re living with chronic neck or back pain and don’t know where to turn, schedule a consultation with Dr. Kalra today.   

Recent patient and all-around amazing person, John Bramblitt, went out of his way to record a video review after his treatment. He’s an amazing artist from Denton, Texas and we’re so happy to help him recover from his chronic back pain. Thanks so much John!

Watch His Video

Read What John Had to Say

“Hi, I’m John Bramblitt and I just wanted to take a moment and say thank you to Dr. Kalra and his office for everything that they did for me. I’m a painter and the work that I do is very active. Both in my studio and I travel around the country and I give talks and workshops. I work on giant murals and it was excruciating before the surgery. 

It hurt to stand and walk, let alone to get around the studio and do the work that I need to do. The idea of taking a walk for fun was just out of the question and it’s been like night and day [since the surgery].  

I wasn’t sure what to expect with the surgery, but I had a problem with the vertebrae. It was hitting the nerves in my spine, so we ended up doing a lumbar fusion for it and oh my goodness, I can stand up, I can walk around for fun, and my work is actually fun now! 

I can actually do all the things I had enjoyed doing before. I have them back again. I can enjoy taking walks with the family, [and I’m enjoying] just being able to get up and move around and not have that excruciating pain… it’s just been incredible!

So thank you so much to Dr. Kalra and his entire staff for making this happen!”

Relief is in Reach

We love to hear our patients share about how the Kalra Brain & Spine team helped them regain their lives and live free from the pain that was holding them back. And John’s story is one of our favorites! If you’re living with chronic neck and/or back pain, don’t wait another day to get the help you deserve. Schedule a consultation with Dr. Kalra today. 

Kristina’s Story

Justin, Texas resident Kristina Furnas was so tired of living with chronic back pain. Life had already taken so much from this young mom, including the unexpected death of her husband when their son was only a year old. So when severe and persistent back pain caused Kristina to have to stop working as a human resources director at the young age of 26, she knew she needed to find a solution.

Frustratingly, Kristina didn’t have an initial injury or physical trauma she could point to as the source of her debilitating pain that radiated down her back and into her legs. She had experienced some sciatica during pregnancy, and she also remembers lifting a hefty box of printer paper at work the morning before her initial attack of stabbing back pain. But, other than those two theories, she is at a loss as to how she ended up living in chronic pain and unable to work or enjoy her life to the degree that she wanted to.

Kristina embarked on a series of injections for pain management and ultimately had a laminectomy. And a year later, a revisional laminectomy. Then some ablations. Nothing helped. Her surgeon told her that the next course of treatment would be a spinal fusion, but because of how young she was, he was hesitant to jump to that.

Kristina’s surgeon encouraged her to seek out second and even third opinions from other neurosurgeons to see if any of his colleagues could find something he couldn’t. And thank goodness he did because this is where her story takes a happy turn.

After much research, Kristina found herself in the exam room at Kalra Brain & Spine, the office of Dr. Ricky Kalra. From the front desk team to the clinical side, Kristina was so impressed with how friendly and helpful everyone was. She found Dr. Kalra to be warm and funny, compassionate and confident. But the best part? He said he could help.

Kristina teared up as she told him, “Dr. Kalra, I’m just at the point where I have no quality of life, and I don’t know what else to do.” She explained that she didn’t want to be dependent on pain medication for the rest of her life. At this time, Kristina was 30, engaged to a wonderful man named Koby and mom to an active five-year-old. “I want to be able to have more children, and I want to be able to work again,” she explained to him.

Dr. Kalra told her she didn’t have to live like that and that he believed he could help. After an MRI and several other diagnostic tests, Dr. Kalra recommended spinal fusion. “Something about him just made me instantly trust him, so I agreed, yes, let’s do it,” said Kristina.

Just five weeks post-op, Kristina is feeling better than she has in years. The constant pain she has dealt with for years is beginning to subside. With the support of Koby and in-home physical and occupational therapy, she is making small improvements every day. Her recovery will be long, but she feels hopeful. And hope is something she hasn’t felt in a long, long time.

When Dr. Kalra told her he expects that most of her pain will be eliminated, that she will be able to have another child, be able to work again and enjoy the things she loves to do, Kristina broke down and cried. “I so look forward to being able to have a dog, go on road trips, horseback riding and being able to host parties with our friends,” said Kristina.

“I’m just so excited to be alive again.”

New Hope for Neck and Back Pain

When world-class training meets hometown values deeply rooted in family and community, the result is the kind of medical care you’ve always hoped for. This describes Kalra Brain & Spine, the practice of Dr. Ricky Kalra, who specializes in the most up-to-date evidence-based neurological care. If you’re living with neck or back pain that is unresolved with other treatment modalities, schedule a consultation with Dr. Kalra today.