Published: February 10, 2026
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Reviewed by Shawn W. Adams, M.D., and Geeta A. Ganesh, M.D., MPH
Put simply, Allan Collard loves to fix things.
“When I get called in, I’ve got to go,” he said. “I know it’s important when I get that call.”
A diesel mechanic for more than 40 years, Allan works on heavy equipment — bulldozers, excavators, scrapers and more. It’s a specialized craft he’s refined since starting at age 18.
Rewarding, yes, but also demanding.
Decades of hands-on labor took a toll on his body. At first, the aches felt like a normal part of the job. But in 2021, discomfort along his right side grew into pain, and then into something he could no longer ignore.
“Honestly, I thought it was just wear and tear,” he said. “But then it was almost like I hit my funny bone on my entire right side. It affected how I slept, how I walked … everything. It was this burning, electric pain. It was awful. The oddest sensation, and nothing made it go away.”
He started with a chiropractor, who told him the issue might be bigger than a bad back. He urged Allan to see a neurologist and get tested for multiple sclerosis (MS).
“I told him, ‘I don’t know why I need to do that,’” Allan said. “[I told him], ‘We’ll just keep on with this.’”
But signs kept appearing. One night, Allan’s wife was watching a movie where the main character had symptoms nearly identical to his and was diagnosed with MS. She mentioned it.
“I told her, ‘Honey, it’s not MS.’”
Then an eye doctor noted Allan’s optic nerve looked slightly discolored, another potential sign of MS. That made three different warnings. Allan finally went to his primary care provider and requested testing.
An MRI revealed white matter spots on his brain, something that can indicate multiple sclerosis, though not definitively.
The owner of Allan’s company referred him to Norton Healthcare, and eventually to Geeta A. Ganesh, M.D., MPH, neurologist with the Norton Neuroscience Institute Hussung Family Multiple Sclerosis Center.
Dr. Ganesh reviewed the brain MRI and the white matter spots it revealed. As part of her neurological workup, she ordered a thoracic spine MRI in July 2023. Her job — determine the cause of the spots and guide Allan toward the correct treatment.
“Sometimes we can see white matter spots in people who have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, uncontrolled diabetes, even smokers can have it,” Dr. Ganesh said. “So, we have to rule things out. The key is listening to you patients, to hear if there is any history of neurological symptoms that could correlate with those lesions on the brain. We do the exam and understand there can be more than one diagnosis that could cause these symptoms.”
Turns out, Allan’s instincts were right. He did not have MS.
Instead, the spinal images revealed spinal stenosis, or narrowing of the spinal canal, which was compressing his spinal cord and nerves. With MS ruled out, Dr. Ganesh referred him to Shawn W. Adams, M.D., spine surgeon with Norton Leatherman Spine.
“I know patients can come in with mixed feelings,” Dr. Ganesh said. “Some have already done a lot of research and come in scared. When I tell them it’s not [MS], there’s a flood of relief. But on the other side of the coin, there is something else going on, bringing its own set of anxieties. So that’s an uncertain space to be in. But the great thing about Norton Healthcare is that our communications are smooth. I know I can call the other specialties and get a fast reply for my patients. And in this case, that’s exactly what Allan needed.”
Dr. Adams diagnosed Allan with thoracic disc disease, a degenerative condition affecting the discs in the upper and middle back. He also diagnosed Allan with myelopathy, or spinal cord compression, caused by his stenosis.
In this case, surgery was the only effective treatment.
On Jan. 18, 2024, Dr. Adams performed the surgery. He began with a transpedicular thoracic discectomy, a minimally invasive procedure to remove Allan’s herniated T9 disc. He then performed a laminectomy of the T8 and T9 vertebrae, removing the bone plates (lamina) enclosing the spinal cord. Finally, he performed a spinal fusion from T7 to T10, connecting the vertebrae to create a stable, solid segment and support the thoracic spine.
Ten screws and two rods later, Allan was out of surgery and into recovery.
“[The pain] affected my entire day-to-day,” Allan said. “I couldn’t sleep, and then I’d be worn out the next day. It was just … debilitating. I couldn’t get any relief. Every time I walked it hurt. Every time I sat, it hurt. Every time I lay, it hurt. It’s hard to explain how much pain it is until you get fixed. But after this, I woke up and realized the difference.“It was life changing.”
Nearly two years later, Allan is back to doing what he loves, fixing the machines that keep job sites running. And now, he’s doing it without the pain that once dominated every hour of his life.
He credits that recovery not only to the surgery, but to the communication and teamwork between his physicians, starting with the neurologist who listened closely and ending with the spine surgeon who offered a clear path forward.
“It was very scary,” Allan said. “But all you can do is first, put your faith in God. And he’ll lead you to the right people. And those people were at Norton. I mean, there’s no other way around it. Those doctors were handmade for me.”
Today, Allan continues to check in with both Dr. Ganesh and Dr. Adams once a year. Those visits ensure his spine remains stable and the white matter spots on his brain haven’t changed.
“It’s really important to look at the whole picture and understand sometimes your work isn’t completely done after [a patient leaves] your office the first time,” Dr. Ganesh said. “The truth is someone did a brain MRI for him that showed white matter spots. So, I need to make sure we’re not missing something else. I need to make sure nothing new is taking place. Sometimes the best thing is time.”
For Dr. Adams, too, the work is about healing the whole person, and not about the hardware he uses to do it.
“It’s working with people to get great outcomes, improve function, decrease pain and add life to their years, not just screws to their spine,” Dr. Adams said.
For Allan, that’s enough. Back on the job, back on his feet, and finally back to living without pain.
“I just had to trust the professionals,” he said. “They’ve got God-given talent. I just had to do what they said, and I had the best outcome I could’ve gotten.”