By Robert Strang, MD
Like any avid golfer, Terry Tullis couldn't wait to hit the links. He looked forward to the scent of the perfectly manicured green and the feeling of the club in his hands—until he was hit with a double bogey. Sleeping, sitting, driving and walking became nearly impossible for Tullis when he began experiencing pain in his neck and back.
"After several months of pain and my initial diagnosis, I was faced with, 'Where do I go for help?'" he says. "I went for a consultation at an area hospital before I found out that Labette Health had a neurosurgeon from Springfield who was treating patients right there at Labette Health."
Severe degeneration
Tullis was one of the first patients treated at Labette Health by Robert Strang, MD, a neurosurgeon from the Springfield Neurological and Spine Institute. When they first met, Tullis had severe neck pain, coupled with radiating pain—to the point that he began experiencing difficulty walking and even using his hands.
His neck (cervical spine) pain was the result of degenerative changes, most likely caused by the natural aging process.
"Typically, our initial treatment of a patient with spine disease is nonsurgical," Dr. Strang says. "Terry's degeneration was severe enough to cause a minor spinal cord injury in his cervical spine; therefore, he was not a candidate for physical therapy or other nonoperative treatments."
In addition to his neck injuries, Tullis had low-back (lumbar spine) degeneration and osteoarthritis (spondylosis) at three of the five levels in the lumbar spine, causing a compression of the spinal cord (central canal stenosis). Dr. Strang was confident that Tullis would do well with spinal surgery.
"I was most impressed with Dr. Strang's knowledge," Tullis says. "He told me exactly what needed to be done for both my neck and back."
Health's spine program offers nonsurgical and surgical treatment options. The neuro-spine team takes a multidisciplinary approach, ensuring that patients receive the appropriate treatment plan.
A patient's treatment model:
- Physical medicine and rehabilitation
- Diagnostic and interventional radiology
- Physical or occupational therapy
- Neurosurgery
'Life is much better'
In February 2018, Dr. Strang addressed the neck pain first by performing an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). With an ACDF, bone and tissue are removed to relieve the compression on the nerve roots and spinal cord, as well as to enlarge the openings that the spinal nerves pass through. The incision is made along the front of the neck and takes about two hours to complete.
"Terry did very well from this surgery," Dr. Strang says. "I was pleased with how quickly he regained neurological function."
In April, a few weeks after his neck surgery, Tullis underwent a lower-back surgery to remove bone and tissue—relieving compression from the spinal cord, as well as opening the canals (neural foramen) that the spinal nerve roots pass through. The one- to two-hour procedure is done through small incisions in the lower back.
Now that Tullis has recovered, he's pain-free, back to work and hitting the fairways. "Life is much better because of Dr. Strang and Labette Health," he says. "I feel that I got everything I hoped for and more."
Get back in the swing
Find out how our surgical services could help you get back to the life you love. Visit labettehealth.com/surgery.