Patient Testimonials
Kelly Lake
After facing paralysis, spinal cord surgery gives Kelly Lake a new lease on life
Kelly Lake of Breese had one thing on her mind this past August. She had to help her son, Brent, move into his dorm at Illinois State University, where he was beginning his freshman year.
There was just one thing that was distracting her: the excruciating pain in her neck and shoulders. For the previous five months, in fact, the pain had grown progressively worse. Three days before her son’s scheduled move, she sat at her desk in pain, tears running down her cheeks, with no idea what was wrong. Her primary care doctor had been unable to diagnose her problem.
Then came the phone call she’ll never forget. Her doctor had sent the results of her MRI to Dr. Nicholas Poulos, a neurosurgeon at St Elizabeth’s Hospital in Belleville. “I got a call telling me I had a 2 o’clock appointment with Dr. Poulos the next day, and that he was scheduling me for surgery the following morning.”
Kelly’s MRI, it turns out, indicated that a massive cervical disc herniation was pressing on her spinal cord. “Her spinal cord was so compromised that, literally, any wrong movement could have turned her into a quadriplegic,” Dr. Poulos said later. “It was that serious.”
Kelly’s motherly instincts, however, had shifted into high gear. She had been in pain for months, she reasoned. Despite Dr. Poulos’ strong disagreement, Kelly decided that surgery could wait until she returned home the following week. Or so she thought.
The next day, her family made the trip to Normal, Ill., as planned with Kelly in a neck brace. But as she lay in bed that night, Kelly realized something had gone terribly wrong. “I was experiencing pain I had never, ever experienced before. It was so excruciating that I thought I was going to pass out. I tried everything to relieve the pain and suddenly my left shoulder was no longer working, and the weakness was spreading into my arm and leg,” she recalled, remembering Dr. Poulos’ warnings about paralysis. “I was scared to death.”
A frantic middle-of-the night call to Dr. Poulos ended with Kelly back in the car for the three-hour trek back to St. Elizabeth’s. While she was en route, Dr. Poulos began mobilizing the surgical team that would perform emergency cervical spine surgery the following morning.
During this delicate surgery, Dr. Poulos used intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring. Utilizing the sophisticated techniques of somatosensory evoked potential monitoring (SSEP), transcranial electrical motor evoked potential monitoring (MEP), and intraoperative electromyography (EMG), he was able to monitor the functional integrity of the spinal cord and nerve roots.
Electrical signals traveling between Kelly’s spinal cord and her brain were continuously monitored throughout the operation. “If there was any change in those signals, I needed to know it immediately so I could adjust my surgical strategy accordingly,” he explained.
When Kelly awoke from surgery several hours later, what was the first thing she noticed? “All the pain was gone,” she said. Subsequent physical therapy has helped restore full use of her arm and enabled her to resume her busy life.
“This was extremely high risk surgery,” said Poulos. “Fortunately, St. Elizabeth’s had the technology and the well-trained professionals needed to complete it successfully.”
Kelly now realizes how lucky she is to be totally healthy again. “In retrospect, I can’t tell you how comforting it was to know that I had a highly experienced surgeon who I could call at 2 am and know that he would personally pick up the phone and help me through the most frightening moments of my life,” said Kelly.
“Dr. Poulos is the kind of doctor who tells you exactly how it is, and I appreciate that -- even though I wasn’t ready to hear it at first,” she added. “When I’d come to terms with what was happening, he took the time to explain everything to me in great detail. He’s a doctor who really cares, and who is wonderful at what he does.”
Julia Divine
How Julia got her groove back
At first, Julia Divine thought it was just her arthritis acting up. After she would pick something up, her hand would give way, and then she’d drop it again. The Granite City resident knew it was something more, however, when she started reeling in pain whenever she put her hand behind her back or raised it over her head. Even talking became painful.
After explaining her symptoms to her general practitioner, he recommended an MRI and a visit to Dr. Nicholas Poulos, a neurosurgeon at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. Test results showed a herniated disc in Julia’s neck that was pressing on her spinal cord.
“Dr. Poulos said I had two options,” recalls Julia, age 53. “I could treat the pain with cortisone shots, or repair the damage with surgery.”
Because she was allergic to cortisone, she opted for surgery. But what surgery?
For the past 50 years, the “gold standard” for patients with Julia’s condition has been a cervical fusion, explains Dr. Poulos. “In that operation, a bone graft is used to promote two bones growing together into one,” he says. The procedure eliminates motion at the fused joint, but can add stress to the adjacent discs, which can lead them to break down at faster-than-normal rate, he explains.
“In someone Julia’s age, you don’t want to just relieve the arm pain,” he says. “You need to think about the consequences 10 or 20 years from now.”
For this reason, Dr. Poulos recommended a newer surgical procedure that involves replacing the herniated disc with an artificial one made of stainless steel. Called a cervical arthroplasty, the procedure is typically reserved for younger patients – those in their 40s or 50s – who are suffering from a single disc herniation. Because the artificial disc preserves motion in the joint, it reduces the risk of adjacent segment disease and the chance of further surgeries down the road.
After learning more about the technology for herself, Julia agreed. In February 2008, she entered St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Belleville for the procedure. She left a little more than 24 hours later, pain-free. Later, tests showed that she had regained completely normal range of motion at the operated level.
“The surgery took the pain away immediately,” says Julia. “I can’t feel the replacement parts in my neck at all. I feel totally natural. And it’s wonderful to be able to use my arm again.”
Her experience with Dr. Poulos was just as positive. “He takes the time to talk to you and explain what’s going on,” says Julia, whose boyfriend had undergone successful back surgery from Dr. Poulos in the months prior to her own surgery. “Plus, he has a sense of humor, which can help in situations like this.”
William Freeman
Brain cancer gives 37-year-old father a new outlook on life
For William Freeman, life was proceeding according to plan. He and his wife, Ethel, had settled in his hometown of West Frankfort to raise their two young children, a boy and a girl. Always a hard worker, William was putting in up to 70 hours a week at work, first at his job as a delivery driver, and then at the auto detailing service he and his wife were building at home.
Then in October 2007, William’s plans changed overnight.
For several months – his wife would say longer – he had suffered with headaches, some so severe they kept him home from work in bed. Soon, he was having dizzy spells as well. Following a visit to the family doctor and a round of tests, he learned the news: there was a mass in the right frontal lobe of his brain. At age 36, William was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
William’s doctor referred him to Dr. Nicholas Poulos at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital for treatment. After a biopsy indicated the tumor was malignant, Dr. Poulos scheduled surgery for October 26.
“With brain cancer, the goal is always to remove as much of the tumor as physically possible, while minimizing the loss of neurological function,” explains Dr. Poulos. “Given the location of William’s tumor, his age and good physical condition, we made the decision to be very aggressive in our approach.”
To minimize risks, Dr. Poulos was aided during surgery by two sophisticated technologies. The first, image-guided neurosurgery enables him to view the critical structures in his patient’s brain on an operating room computer. Similar to a pilot using radar, the technology allows him to plan the incision and access the tumor with millimeter precision.
To augment what he saw on the computer, Dr. Poulos also employed intraoperative brain mapping, a technique that enables him to establish a real-time functional map of the brain’s surface. “Everyone’s unique in the way the functional areas of his or her brain are organized,” explains Dr. Poulos.”
Intraoperatively a grid of electrodes was laid directly on the brain surface. A nerve in the patient’s arm was then electrically stimulated. The brain’s responses were then used to map areas that control movement and should not be disturbed during surgery. When used in conjunction with image-guided surgery, the brain mapping process helps create a safe boundary for removing the tumor, while maximizing preservation of neurological function.
In William’s case, the result was everything both doctor and patient hoped for.
“Dr. Poulos told me I’d be in intensive care for three days and then in a regular room for a couple more,” recalls William. “But when they found me sitting up and watching TV just a few hours after surgery, I was booted out of Intensive Care in half a day.” A week later, he was home erecting a privacy fence in his backyard.
His rapid – some might say remarkable -- recovery from brain surgery was followed by multiple rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. The news has been good ever since. “According to Dr. Poulos, my last three MRIs were better than perfect,” William says. “I’ve been blessed with nothing short of a miracle.”
Nine months after surgery, William experiences few side effects from the ordeal. In fact, in many ways, he believes his life is better than ever. Currently on disability (his anti-seizure medicine prohibits him from operating a motor vehicle) he says he is enjoying his time with his family in a way he never imagined.
“I used to spend all my waking hours working,” he says. “My goal now is to be a professional fisherman, and I’m enjoying the family time I had missed the past three years.” Both William and Ethel have also recently begun to take a more active role in their church, Harvester’s Fellowship in West Frankfort. The couple has taken charge of a Sunday school class, and their 8-year-old daughter sings in the church choir.
“I’ve always believed things happen for a reason,” he says. “I questioned that when I got the diagnosis. But now I see how, in many ways, this experience has changed me for the better. I had a quick temper for a while. Now I have no temper at all. My relationships are all better. Every day I wake up and look at my wife and kids, and I know it is a great day.”
William says he knows that he is also being watched over from above. “Right before I had surgery, I had a car that I was trying to sell, but there had been no buyers,” he said. “So I said a prayer to the Lord to give me a sign that He was still here. The next day, someone came and bought the car and paid more than I was asking.”
William today believes that the Lord, working through Dr. Poulos, saved his life.
“I’ve told Dr. Poulos thank you a dozen times,” William says. “That hour and a half drive to Belleville for my check up every three months is a small price to pay. I don’t know where I’d be today without him.”
Ernie Miller
Even cancer can’t stop avid cyclist, Ernie Miller
Ernie Miller can’t remember a time in his life when he wasn’t riding a bike.
Now a young 79 years of age, he’s still at it. In recent years, he enjoyed taking long rides with his friends, taking the trails near his home in Collinsville to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and elsewhere, sometimes cycling more than 100 miles a day.
“It is something I’ve just always enjoyed, and it’s kept me in shape,” says Ernie.
Then, in February of this year, Ernie was forced to take a break.
“My doctor detected some cancer in my spine, above my tailbone on my sacrum,” he recalled.
After hearing the bad news, Ernie learned what his options were from Dr. Nicholas Poulos, a neurosurgeon. “Dr. Poulos told me that I could have surgery to remove the tumor,” Ernie says. “Or, if I chose not to have the surgery, I’d eventually lose control of my legs and internal organs.”
Ernie knew which choice sounded better to him. Soon he was admitted to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, where Dr. Poulos removed the tumor. Radiation treatment followed. “And now, it’s gone,” said Ernie.
Ernie and Almira, his wife of 56 years, were pleased not only with the outcome, but also with the care both received during his hospitalization. “They kept my wife informed during the surgery,” he recalled, “and just took really good care of us. We felt like we were in good hands.”
Following his surgery, Ernie stayed off of his bicycle for three months as he recuperated. But then this past summer, as he began feeling like his old self, he slowly eased back into his cycling routine. Today he is back up to riding 30 miles a day, several times a week.
“I’m just thankful everything has turned out as it has,” he says. “For someone my age, I’m doing very well.”