Dr Oz: The Little Couple
As Dr Oz said, Jen Arnold and Bill Klein capture the hearts of people across the country each week on their TV show The Little Couple. Bill and Jen not only work together to raise two toddlers, but they’ve also faced multiple health challenges. Their most recent health scare could have left Bill in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
Jen battled cancer and while she was trying to get back to her normal life, her daughter was brought in for genetic testing to identify what kind of dwarfism she has and what medical conditions she may be at risk for. Just when they thought the hard times were over, Bill had to undergo serious back surgery.
Dr Oz: The Little Couple Health Scares
Dr Oz talked to Jen Arnold and Bill Klein, otherwise known as The Little Couple, about their recent health scare and having their daughter undergo genetic testing. (luchunyu / Shutterstock.com)
Jen and Bill joined Dr Oz and they started by talking about Jen’s battle with cancer. She shared that she was stage four and is now completely cancer-free, nine months in remission. Jen explained that they found out that their daughter Zoey has a type of dwarfism called achondroplasia, which is the same type that her brother Will has. What’s good about that news is that they should not have nearly the number of problems orthopedic and bone-wise that Jen and Bill had growing up. Jen’s had 30 surgeries and Bill has had 20.
Bill said that as a parent, he’s appreciative of the better life that they’ll have health-wise. He said it’s a lot harder being a parent than it is a patient.
Dr Oz then wanted to talk about Bill’s health scare, and Jen said that because she’s a doctor, she knows a little more than the average person, so that makes going into Bill’s procedures a little scary.
She said they knew that Bill has curvatures and deformities of the spine due to a pre-existing condition and an injury as a result of using a kettle bell during a workout. Bill had to have a decompression and then a fusion done, and Bill said that he lost one and a half liters of blood during the surgeries. He said he researched the procedure on YouTube beforehand, which he doesn’t advise anyone to do.
Dr Oz: What Is Spinal Stenosis?
Dr Oz then wanted to explain exactly what spinal stenosis is. Dr Oz explained that inside the spine, there are nerves and spinal fluid, but with spinal stenosis, there is a narrowing of the spinal column, which causes numbness. The doctors had to peel off the stenosis and then relieve the tension. Bill said he’s still having to take a lot of pain medication and he’s walking as much as he can.
Dr Oz then welcomed out Will and Zoey. Ben and Jen joked that Will kept saying, “No shots, Dr Oz.” Then Dr Oz gave them each a doctor stuffed bear.
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