Patient Perspective

Patient Perspective

Dolores Kulish* had enjoyed good health most of her 67 years, but in November of 2001 she began to have lower back and lower thoracic pain on the left side, primarily with twisting type maneuvers or walking. “At first my doctors just thought it was arthritis, “ said Mrs. Kulish, “but I didn’t get any better with the pain or arthritis medications.” She noticed that the symptoms greatly increased in February 2002 with more lower back pain and numbness in both feet, as well as a pressure and pain sensation under her ribcage on the left. She has noted increasing difficulty with walking and moving her left leg. “By September of 2002 I could hardly walk by myself,” said Mrs. Kulish, “I had to have my son drive me and I had to hang on the furniture to get around the house.”

Finally, on September 20^th, 2002 she had a MRI that showed the problem. She was referred to Dr. El Kadi and her examination revealed signs of spinal cord compression. “Her left leg was very weak and she had increased muscle tone and over reactive reflexes of her legs which is also a sign of extreme cord compression,” stated Dr. El Kadi. The MRI confirmed these findings as it revealed a large grape size tumor mass in the thoracic spinal cord at the level of T4-5. “It is not unusual that spinal cord tumors in the thoracic spine are often not diagnosed until the symptoms are fairly advanced”, said Dr. El Kadi, “the lumbar spine is the usual area where we see the most problems and therefore this is often where the evaluation starts.” “Fortunately, her family doctor continued to investigate her symptoms and found her problem with the MRI.

She was operated on October 4, 2002 at Presbyterian University Hospital. She had a thoracic laminectomy at T4-6 and resection of benign meningioma by Dr. El Kadi. “This was a very difficult case due to the large size of the tumor,” stated Dr El Kadi, “but it when very well.” She was discharged after several days in the hospital and due to her rapid improvement she could be sent home with Home Care physical therapy.

“I am walking without pain now, states Mrs. Kulish, notice that my leg strength is almost back to normal, and I am able to walk stairs without help. I feel I am getting better everyday.”

Mrs. Kulish’s results are usual of this operation. Each patient’s recovery differs and depends on many factors. Age, sex, type and amount of disability and length of symptoms all play a role in the recovery process. Our goal in all cases is to allow the patient to resume all the activities they did prior to your injury whenever possible.

* Mrs. Kulish has signed a released to permit the release of this personal information. We will not disclose any information unless the parties involved agree in writing. Mrs. Kulish chose to permit this information because of her gratitude to Dr. El Kadi and his staff.

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Last Updated: January 15, 2003