I hadn't realized how much pain was showing on my face," says Joy Marshall from Murfreesboro. "My husband and daughter saw a physical change in me right after my surgery."
Joy had suffered from lower back pain for more than a decade. Arthritis was the main problem, but a car accident made it almost impossible for her to function. "I had extreme pain just getting in and out of bed," says Joy. "Pushing a grocery cart was almost impossible. I'd just have to grit my teeth. Sometimes I'd leave it at the end of each aisle and go get what I needed."
She had tried pain medications, injections and physical therapy, but nothing seemed to help. Looking for answers, Joy's daughter took her to see Ernest Wright, MD, a neurosurgeon with Ascension Saint Thomas Spine Institute. By then, Joy's pain was so bad, she could hardly walk and had to go in a wheelchair. "He knew my story, but he listened to what was going on with me," Joy remembers. "He was so reassuring that he could help me. He said it would be minimally invasive. And he made it so simple."
Minimally invasive procedures allow surgeons to operate through small incisions. Dr. Wright used a lateral access approach, reaching the spine from the patient's side rather than going in from the back. "Joy's experience is a testament to the technological advances in minimally invasive spine surgery made over the last five years," says Dr. Wright. "Approaching the spine from the side allows for quicker and lasting relief from pain. Nothing gives me more satisfaction than seeing my patients get better."
In fact, Joy says when she woke up the day after surgery, "the pain was just gone. After a few weeks, I was off pain meds altogether. Dr. Wright changed my life." The best reaction: "My daughter brought me home and when I walked in the house, my husband was so surprised. He said, 'I haven't seen you smile like that in years.'"
At 76 years young, Joy can now do anything she needs to do. Her husband passed away this summer, so she's just taking care of herself now. She especially loves going to her exercise class three times a week. "Any time you can help someone who has pain issues," she says, "it's just a blessing."
INFORMATION:
Ernest Wright, MD, a neurosurgeon
Ascension Saint Thomas Spine Institute
Phone: (615) 327-9543
