Surgery For Cervical Spine (neck)
KAREN R.

A 65 years old female suffered from motor vehicle accident that caused fracture in the cervical spine in the neck at C5-6 and C6-7. In her first two emergency room visits, it was not diagnosed. She went home, but the neck pain and the arms and leg weakness brought her back for the third time in the emergency room. At that time, she lost a lot of strength and feelings in her arms and legs. The MRI, CAT scan and X-rays of the spine showed severe cord compression and broken neck and instability that will lead to complete paralysis. Her neck immediately was held still in a traction device with weight called cervical tongues. She then went to surgery where the herniated discs were removed, her spine was put together and aligned and then fixated with screws and plate made of titanium from the front. In the same time, she was positioned in her back and fused from the back of the spine at C5-C7. The fusion was done 360 in order to make sure no more instability and danger to the spinal cord and nerves. The surgery was done in 2003. She recovered well and took her 6 months to regain her strength. She started to drive and working until today. Her last visit with Dr. Ghaly was in 2009. The patient and entire family believed in the miracle of her recovery and continued to enjoy her presence.

Five or six years ago Karen R. sustained a broken neck in an automobile accident. “I had a car hit me on a rainy night and went to three emergency rooms before I came upon Dr. Ghaly, who finally recognized that I had a broken neck,” Karen says. “The first ER gave me some pain pills. The second told me to give it some time and I’d feel better. Dr. Ghaly just happened to walk past me and I heard him say, ‘Oh my gosh, she has a broken neck.’”

Karen had surgery and wore a cervical collar for a month. She also did therapy, but today she’s back to normal. “I’m so blessed to find Dr. Ghaly,” Karen said. “If it was not treated I could be paralyzed! But today I’m up and walking, and a real terror!”

Karen did several weeks of physical therapy and rehab after surgery and then returned home. Her daughter drove her to medical appointments and outpatient therapy form a while, but she says it wasn’t long before she was back behind the wheel.

“I still wear a light cervical collar at night, because it’s comfortable,” she says.

“I’d tell anyone in my condition to hope to find an excellent doctor like Dr. Ghaly,” she says. “And therapy was a big help. The real challenge is to find the right doctor, though. Without the right treatment I would be in terrible shape today. Who knows what might have happened?”