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CHICAGO (AP) - Vito Buffalo didn't let his age stand in the way of open spine surgery to relieve his back pain. The 73-year-old retired butcher from Wauconda, Illinois, said he needs to feel good because he leads an 18-piece swing band.
"I'm a singer, and there are a lot of songs I have not yet sung," he said, explaining his decision to try surgery.
Active senior citizens like Buffalo are choosing — sometimes demanding — surgery that once would have seemed extreme for older patients. Healthier older people and medical advances make it possible for surgeons to say yes to those demands.
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