-Farm News file photo by Doug Clough
From the left, Brad and Brian Lundell stand by a statue that represents part of the family farm profession. Both significantly contribute to hog growing through Audubon Manning Vet Clinic hogs. “I couldn’t have gotten the needed work done without Brad,” said Lundell. “The best thing, of course, is that it wasn’t even a question that needed to be asked. He just wanted to know what needed to be done, and that helps a lot. To be in this position, and not have that stress load on me, is huge.”

KIRON — Brian Lundell, 37, remembers a time when sitting down for any length of time was painful.

“I’ve been suffering with back pain for the last couple years,” said Lundell. “It just hurt to ride in a car and sit in meetings.”

Like many people with back pain, Lundell thought he could alleviate his pain by going to the chiropractor.

“On the farm, it’s not unusual to do something that might throw a person’s back out,” said Lundell. “For simplicity, over the past couple of years that was my mentality.” However, Lundell’s health issues went beyond what a chiropractor could do for a long-term fix.

The next step was to seek an MRI to see what was going on in Lundell’s lower back.

-Submitted photo
Hog farmer Brian Lundell went under extensive lower back surgery Feb. 22, just five days before his 37th birthday. The surgery involved placing donated bone marrow into a lower back disc to repair a rupture. It took Lundell's surgeon almost six hours to complete the surgery.

“Before I could get an MRI to be covered by insurance, I had to try physical therapy and a number of other smaller steps,” said Lundell. “I know if we went to the extreme immediately, our insurance would be 10 times higher than it is already, but all those extra steps meant prolonging my path to feeling better.

“I went through physical therapy and tried muscle relaxers and pain meds, but none of that worked,” he said. “We then reapplied to the insurance company, and the MRI was approved.”

Just prior to harvest 2023, magnetic imaging revealed that Lundell suffered a ruptured disc and the ones above and below it were going bad; therefore, the muscles strained to keep the vertebrae intact and straight.

“I did some due diligence and talked to a few other people in similar situations,” said Lundell. “I wanted to know what they went through, and where they went for a solution, and the type of experience they had.”

The MRI also showed a shifted vertebrae suggesting that an event caused the damage.

While Lundell doesn’t remember any one accident, he does acknowledge that he’s been an active farmer since the day he could help on his parents’ farm.

“I’m the type of person who might get knocked down, but I brush myself off and get back to it,” said Lundell. “I would carry 100-pound tractor weights in each hand. Can you imagine the amount of compaction on my lower spine?”

Lundell cites not just one event but said many years of working his body to the max brought him to this point.

After meeting with an Omaha surgeon, Lundell felt he was on the track to recovery.

“In my case, I had two discs — one on top of the other; one was very bad and the other needed repair as well. If we hadn’t had the second disc repaired, I would have been back in surgery dealing with it.

Lundell’s surgery was Feb. 22, taking almost six hours to perform. The surgeon inserted donated bone marrow into the center of the disc and then screwed the vertebrae together. The spine takes about six months for the bones to grow together.

For the weeks following the surgery, Lundell is to take it easy, which is not his demeanor.

“I have to give [my wife] Lisa credit,” said Lundell. “On the labor side, it’s psychologically tough to consider chores getting done without my involvement. Lisa helps me with doing anything and everything to recover as quickly as possible, but she also helps me deal with the mental aspect of not being able to be involved. My parents have also been very helpful; my mom has done a lot of chauffeuring me around.”

Lundell also credits his older brother Brad, another AMVC hog producer, as a great help as well.

“The hog work is the main thing right now,” said Lundell. “I couldn’t have gotten the needed work done without Brad. The best thing, of course, is that it wasn’t even a question that needed to be asked. He just wanted to know what needed to be done, and that helps a lot. To be in this position, and not have that stress load on me, is huge.”

Even though Lundell is only in his second month of recovery, he notes immediate improvements. “Right away the sciatic pain was gone,” said Lundell. “While I have recovery pain, the back pain — the pain that drove me to surgery — is gone.

“The surgeon told me that the discs above are in good shape, but if I don’t change my lifestyle, I could have more issues down the road. I love raising hogs and doing daily chores, but I will be looking at a hired person to do some of the loading and sorting. It’s just what I need to do to age well for my family and myself.”