Rick and Nancy’s Story

Last September, Rick Newton woke up one morning and said to his wife, Nancy, “My back hurts.” He had never had back problems, but his pain was suddenly so bad that he spent the next two weeks in bed, barely able to move from the bed to the bathroom and back.

Around that same time, Nancy had noticed a change in her vision. She was losing the peripheral vision in her right eye. She saw her doctor, who said, “I think you’ve had a stroke.” She went home and told her husband, “I did NOT have a stroke! And I’m going to prove it!” 

Rick and Nancy are friends with Shea Nielsen, a nurse practitioner at Summit Brain and Spine. When Shea heard about Rick’s pain, she called Nancy and said, “Bring him into the office today. We’ll take care of him.” 

Nancy asked Shea if Dr. Edwards could take a few minutes to look at an MRI she’d had while she was there for Rick’s appointment. Shea said, “Of course.” 

Nancy had a pituitary tumor, which had grown large enough that it was pushing up on her optic nerve, which caused her loss of vision. Rick had a bone spur and a bulging disc which were impinging on a nerve in his spine. Dr. Edwards scheduled both of them for surgery.  

He did a minimally invasive surgery on Rick to repair the disc and trim the bone spur. As usual, Shea assisted with the surgery. 

Rick walked out of the hospital that day. His pain was gone. 

A few weeks later, Dr. Edwards performed surgery on Nancy. He was assisted by Dr. Seth Riddle, an ear, nose and throat physician, who was, as he described himself, “the bus driver” – going into Nancy’s lip and up through her nose to get access to the tumor. When Dr. Edwards had finished removing the tumor, Dr. Riddle sewed her up. 

Nancy noticed immediately after the surgery that her vision was a little better, and was told it will continue to improve over the next six months. She was surprised that she had very little pain. She spent 24 hours in the hospital after the surgery, but only had what she called ‘a sinus headache.’ 

Rick and Nancy are both back to normal, actively enjoying life with their grandchildren, traveling together, and looking forward to many healthy years to come.

#summitbrainandspine

#dredwards

#lifeisback