Father Almost Ends His Life from 17 Years of Back Pain

With a failing marriage and no job, Robert Noble decided that ending his life was the only way to get out of back pain. But then he found a doctor that put his arms around him and said, "I can help you."

I’m Robert Noble, and I’m one of Dr. McCord’s patients. I’d just like to tell other people about my experience with Dr. McCord. Dr. McCord is a very caring individual. I came to him late 2002 early 2003 with a very serious back problem. I had from T12 to S1 that was having problems with. I live in the state of Alabama, but I found Dr. McCord through another contractor where I worked at a chemical company. He saw me walking down the hall, struggling, and he told me his daughter was a nurse up here at Vanderbilt, and she said Dr. McCord was who I needed to see. I came to Dr. McCord because all the other doctors had told me no, there’s nothing I can do, I wouldn’t touch you with a ten foot pole. But Dr. McCord brought me in, put his arms around me and said “Hey we can fix this problem.” Just gave me an opportunity. By that, it made me a lot more comfortable that somebody knew what they were doing, and cared about me as an individual. Not just a person who was a number to them, I was a human being. So that put me at ease. I went through my first surgery with him, he got me back out on the road, he gave me my life back! People don’t really realize what you go through when you’re having back pain. And how you feel not being able to work, your income’s not coming in, you’re not taking care of your family.

“I feel like I’m having a nervous breakdown. I’m losing it for the simple fact that I can’t make money and provide for my family."

There were times I called Dr. McCord after hours and I told him “I feel like I’m having a nervous breakdown. I’m losing it for the simple fact that I can’t make money like I used to and provide for my family. My job they don’t want me. They’re not cooperating with me right now.”

He said, “Don’t worry partner we’re going to fix this. You just come up and tell me what you need.” He genuinely meant what he was saying, and he cared about the individual person. Not only do I believe in Dr. McCord for myself, I recommend Dr. McCord to everyone. No matter where I go, where I’m at, if I see someone they don’t even have to tell me they’re having back problems. Because a person that has back problems can identify another person having back problems. So I can see they have a back problem and I go up and ask them, “You might not know me…(that’s my line)...I say You might not know me, but I feel like I need to talk to you because I see that you have back problem.” They say “How did you know?” I say, “I had them myself. But I got an individual that if you was to give him a chance, I believe he can help you.”

Believe it or not, I can remember Dr. McCord’s number...I can’t even remember my own brothers’ and sisters’ phone numbers, but I can tell you Dr. McCord’s number in my sleep. That’s how much I believe in him. I know it’s six one five, three two nine, zero zero three three. So I remember how to get in touch with him and to let people know where I’ve been, where I came from, and where I’m at now. It’s just the experience at the hospital during the surgery, he always I mean always continuously update what he can do for you. The staff here, the staff of Dr. McCord...they’re great! It’s hard to explain the experience, but if you were have the opportunity to give him a chance, that’s what I say...give him a chance and you’ll see. I’m from the state of Alabama, I travel about two hours just to get here. But the trip was easy for me, I wouldn’t go anywhere else. I don’t even give anyone else a chance to even think about touching me. He cared about your person, he cared about your family. I’ll give you an example:

We had tornadoes two years ago in April, and I had my appointment up here. I called Dr. McCord’s office and told them I wouldn’t be able to make it, our power is out, a tornado tore up our neighborhood. He asked, “Is there anything I can do, are you okay? Is there anything I can do for you or the neighborhood?” How many people would even think of that? Well, it’s not affecting me, ya know? “I’ll see when you get a chance.” He genuinely cared about me, my family, and my neighbors. That says a lot.

I keep emphasizing “getting your life back.” A person don’t have to live with the pain. I’m not going to lie and say it’ll all go away, but it’ll go away to the point where you can manage, get back up, doing the things with your kids and family.

I got a little girl that’s 2 ½ years old. I couldn’t do anything with her. I mean I would go in my room, close the door, I didn’t want to have anything to do with my wife, I was on the brink of divorce. Because I was in so much pain. I told Dr. McCord about it, he said, “I can help you. Just tell your wife to hold on.” She even came up with me, and Dr. McCord talked to her, one on one. He explained to her, “This is what he’s going through.” I can honestly say he saved my marriage! He saved my marriage. He really, really and truly saved my marriage. My wife and my kids are my world. My family mean the world to me. And I will always be indebted to him because of that. He was a God-send, to be in my life.

Dr. McCord talked to my wife and told her what I was going through. I can honestly say he saved my marriage!

To be honest with you, I had gave up on life. Because I didn’t know there were any options. I told some of my friends, “If I got to live like this for another 25 years, I don’t even want to live.” He fixed it where I can manage. I can get up everyday, I don’t get a chance to do the things I used to, I don’t have the job that I had. But I can still stay at home and do things with my little girl, she can hold my hand, we can walk, I can take her to the park. I didn’t have that before I met Dr. McCord, but now I got it, and I’m thankful. He’s God-sent. I honestly believe he’s a man of the faith. Sometimes I get a loss of words to explain him as an individual. I’m a walking billboard for Dr. McCord! You can ask anyone in my family how I talk about him. Strangers out in the street, I’ll just stop and talk to them. “Just go talk to him. Even if you don’t let him do anything else, I just guarantee you’ll feel better just talking to him.” The work that he does is superb. A day or two after my surgery, I’m up, I’m walking around! My boys they ask me all the time, “Do you hurt?” I said it hurt from being cut on but the other alternative to where I was? I didn’t know that I could feel this good!

I dealt with pain for 17 years of my life. I was on the verge of losing my wife, my kids, I was even to the point I was ready to lose my life, I was ready to take my own life. But I knew that Dr. McCord could save me, and he did. Look at me now! I couldn’t be happier.

I was recommended to Dr. McCord after going to every kind of doctor you could think of. I had doctors tell me “Look, I won’t touch you with a 20-foot pole, there’s nothing I can do for you,” and so on. But when I got in touch with Dr. McCord, I talked to him, he told me to come on up. Did an X-ray and went in depth on a lot of different things. And by doing so I knew then he cared about the situation. He was going to fix it and not stop until, as my mom says, “get this calf licked.” He was going to continue on until he made me whole as I could get back to. When you’re doing surgery you’ll never get back to where you were 100% with what the good Lord gave you, but, he put me as close as a person could get. I don’t need to see him for problems anymore but I could call him up and have a conversation with him. That’s just part of the healing process. He would have that relationship with any individual. I talked with other patients in the office and all of them seem to have the same story about how he treats you as an individual, going to stay after it until he get the job done right. That really means a lot to a person who’s suffering from back pain.

I knew when I left home I was going to commit suicide. I’m going to jump in front of an 18-wheeler and take myself out.

I’m the life of the family, I mean I’m the life of the family. But it got so bad I wasn’t coming around anybody, I wasn’t taking no phone calls, I was just gone. Nothing could make me happy, I was crying all the time. My wife said she couldn’t take no more of it. It got so bad, that I left home, grabbed my keys, my wife asks where I was going. I said I’ll be back in a while. But I knew when I left home I was planning on committing suicide. And why I picked out 1918 Willis, I don’t know, but I picked 1918 Willis St. and said I’m just going to do it. I’m going to jump in front of an 18-wheeler and take myself out. As I was going down the road, my oldest son called me on the phone and asked what’s going on. I said “nothing.” He said, “Naw, don’t lie to me pops. I know something’s going on with you. You’ve been distant. Meet me at grandma’s house, you and me are going to talk.”

So I was crying uncontrollably, I told him I can’t take no more. This pain is driving me crazy. He said, “Why not talk to Dr. McCord and see what he can do for you? You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to live this way.” I said “Okay I’ll do it.” I called him, the rest is history, here I am.

Anyone with the mindset they are ready to give up on life, don’t think you have to live with back pain.

Anyone with the mindset they are ready to give up on life, don’t think you have to live with back pain. Because you don’t have to. I have every bit of confidence in every fiber of my being that Dr. David McCord can help you, I know he can, look at me I’m a prime example!