For more than 20 years, crashing cars, leaping off buildings in a single bound and surviving being lit on fire has all been in a day’s work for Joni Avery, a Granada Hills resident whose husband and two sons share her career path. Known for her "hardcore stunts," the veteran stunt player has appeared in more than 300 movies, commercials and television shows. The 46-year-old mother is known best for jumping more than 50 feet off buildings, being hit by cars and being lit on fire.

But in 1996, she crash-landed and severely hurt her back. It was a stunt for the Blues Brothers 2000 movie-a car jump that went awry. Instead of turning over, the car fell 30 feet and landed on all four wheels with Joni and the car absorbing the shock that broke her back. She walked away from the accident-even went back to work the next day with the help of strong pain medication. Each day for the next nine years was marked by chronic pain.

"Despite unbearable pain, I worked. It wasn’t until Christmas of 2003 that the throbbing pain became unbearable. For last four years, I could not survive without my pain medication. I become dependent. I couldn’t walk well. I couldn’t sit for more than 20 minutes. I was completely, utterly miserable," she said.

In January 2004, the light at the end of the tunnel appeared for her. The stunt coordinator who hired her for the movie, "The Little Black Book," had just recovered

from neck surgery. He told her about a new procedure-an artificial disk surgery-that eventually became her salvation, rescuing her from nine years of constant, chronic agony. Dr. John Regan, a Los Angeles spine surgeon on staff at Century City Doctors Hospital, inserted the artificial in April 2004, while it was still an investigational device.

"For almost 10 years, there was not a day that went by that I want not in constant, chronic discomfort. I was at the end of my rope. In vain, I turned to cortisone shots in my spine and root nerve shots to deaden the agony. Nothing worked for me, except for artificial disc replacement surgery."

In late October, the FDA approved the first artificial spinal disc. The artificial spinal disc replaces the spongy cushions between the bones and the lower spine, preserving the back’s ability for movement and relieving pain. Previously, patients’ only hope was spinal disc fusion that curtailed movement and flexibility.

During the surgery, the physician makes an incision near the belly button and moves aside blood vessels, organs and nerves to reach the damaged disc. Candidates for the surgery are afflicted by only one damaged disc and have strong bones. The procedure, ranging in cost from $35,000-$45,000, also has a recovery time of less than half of the time needed for spinal disc fusion.

"Undergoing artificial disc surgery was the only answer for me. For me spinal fusion surgery would have ended my career. I woke up from surgery with a smile on my face. I still experienced pain from my surgery, but knew the worst of it was over," said Avery, who calls herself the bionic woman. "The surgery was an overwhelming success and since then I haven’t even needed an aspirin."

© 2005 HealthNewsDigest.com