The right care, right here.
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Last summer, my wife and I bought a new house. With a new house comes a lot of responsibilities, and I spent most of my weekends renovating our fixer-upper. I painted, refinished doors, and occasionally I took a break from housework and worked on the landscaping in my yard.
I can’t tell you exactly when it began, but it was somewhere between roto-tilling and hanging a new door that I started having pain in my arm and my neck. The pain was so strong that even when I sat still, I’d feel it shoot down my arm. My fingers would feel hot and then cold. After a few weeks, not a single minute went by when I wasn’t in constant pain.
I started physical therapy, but about two months into the program my general physician realized that my condition wasn’t improving. Having something wrong with your nervous system is really confusing, especially when you think your brain is telling you your hand is on fire, but then you look down and realize that it isn’t.
With advice from my doctor, I had some nerve tests done at a local clinic. After initial testing, I had an MRI. A few days later I was on a business trip in Washington D.C. when my neurologist called me to share the test results. I immediately became concerned when she asked whether or not I planned any sports activities during the next few days and advised me not to carry heavy luggage on my way back to Cheyenne.
Tim enjoys riding his bike through town.
"I did some research and found out that
I could get the best care right here in Cheyenne."
- Tim
The results from the MRI showed that the extreme pain I was feeling was because one disc in my neck was pinching the nerve to my arm, and another disc was actually pinching my spinal cord. It turned out that there was so much pressure on my spinal cord that any jolt could have left me paralyzed. My only real option was surgery and, to be honest, hearing that was pretty scary.
- First in the region to use X-Stop technology that provides a safer alternative to alleviating a common form of back pain
- Medical/surgical management of head, neck and back injuries
- Treatment of stroke, spinal cord injuries and nervous system disease
- Featured on the Discovery Channel as the first hospital in the nation to use the Stealth Treon neurosurgical navigation system, which allows surgeons to get a “real time” 3-D image of a patient’s surgical anatomy
- Comprehensive treatment from diagnosis to recovery
After doing research about treatment options, I found out that I could have the surgery right here in Cheyenne and I wouldn’t need to travel or spend time away from my family. I flew home, and three days later I was talking to a neurosurgeon who practices at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center.
Many hospitals would have used a more conservative treatment that would have left me in a neck brace for six months. But my surgeon used an advanced neurosurgical procedure to remove the two discs and replace them with bone and a metal plate. The technique actually quickened my recovery time and had me back at home the next day.
I felt great about the care I received at the hospital — the nurses and doctors were friendly, and my surgeon made me feel confident about the procedure.
One year later, I can do home improvements, work in my garden and I can ride my bike to work everyday if I want to. I thank the expert medical professionals at Cheyenne Regional for that.
