Despite Tragic Diagnosis, Monmouth Co. Vet Gets New Lease On Life

SEA GIRT, NJ - World War II veteran, Queens native and blueberry pancakes lover Ken Hauck spent the first few weeks of the coronavirus pandemic largely unaffected, making sure he kept up his exercise regimen while the world was on lockdown.

Huack, 94, benefited from aides from Veterans Affairs, who assisted the vet in a variety of movements. However, while Huack took it upon himself to exercise without his aide one day (who was self-isolating due to exposure to COVID-19), he overexerted himself on his exercise bicycle and began experiencing pain.

Due to compression in his spine causing excruciating pain, simple activities such as walking or even laughing without pain were out of the question. The next day, Huack went to the local urgent care clinic as pain became excruciatingly unbearable. Over the next several months as his pain worsened, the Sea Girt resident was told by multiple doctors that he would never be able to walk again.

“Months went on, and the pain continued to worsen to the point that I could barely move,” Huack said. “At 94 years young, and a WWII veteran, I’ve been through a lot in my lifetime. This pain was worse than anything I have ever experienced. Any time I moved I would yell out in pain, much to the chagrin of my family. It was so bad that I couldn’t get out of bed by myself, I couldn’t walk by myself, I couldn’t dress or wash myself. In fact, the pain was so bad that I had no appetite and had lost over 40 pounds. It was no way to live.”

It wasn’t until Huack turned to orthopedic specialists at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in August 2020 when he began to receive a glimmer of hope. Thanks to treatment from Dr. Yoon, HSS head of interventional radiology in New York City, Huack received an innovative spine treatment called a kyphoplasty procedure in which acrylic cement is injected into his spinal fracture.

“It’s one of the most satisfying procedures I perform. Patients come in not being able to stand or walk and immediately after the procedure, they don’t have any pain,” Dr. Yoon told Patch. “My colleagues and I are huge proponents of this procedure. Sometimes patients are told by doctors that there’s nothing you can do [for an ailment] and just take pain medication, which is not a good solution for an underlying problem. I’m glad he is now able to be up and about.”

Instantaneously, Huack woke up from the procedure with virtually no pain, and is now enjoying a variety of activities that he participated in such as walking on the boardwalk, eating blueberry pancakes for breakfast, doing chair exercises with his aide and watching the golf game on TV.

He now looks forward to his 95th birthday in June.

“My appetite has returned, and I’ve gained some of the weight back,” Huack reports. “Life is livable again and I can smile today. My family and I are grateful to Dr. Yoon and his staff for all of the help and care I was given.”