By Laura Hegwer
As a lifelong competitive tennis player, Ellen conquered many opponents. But beginning in 2017, she faced a new challenge: widespread numbness from degenerative disc disease, which occurs when the discs that cushion the vertebrae in the spine wear out.
Throughout the day, Ellen would completely lose feeling in her face. Often, the numbness would spread to the entire left side of her body down to her foot. She also had limited mobility in her neck and frequent headaches. At night, she was barely able to sleep.
Ellen, who lives in the western suburbs of Chicago, saw several local spine specialists but could not find relief after years of trying physical therapy and pain medications.
By 2024, “my quality of life was going rapidly downhill,” says the retired attorney, who is now a small business owner and novice private investigator. “I thought this is no way to live.”
That’s when Ellen made an appointment to see Timothy Wang, MD, a neurosurgeon specializing in minimally invasive spine surgery at Rush.
Uncovering the cause
“Ellen’s symptoms were not very typical for people with cervical spine problems, which usually causes neck pain that radiates down the arms or hands, or difficulties with balance,” Wang says. Recognizing how significantly Ellen’s concerns were affecting her quality of life, Wang ordered a bone SPECT/CT scan, which is not a routine test for patients with spine issues. This specialized nuclear medicine test can detect signs of inflammation from degenerative disc disease in the bones and ligaments that other imaging tests can miss.
When the bone SPECT/CT confirmed she had inflammation from two damaged discs in her neck that might benefit from surgery, Ellen met again with Wang to discuss the next steps.
Surgery No. 1: Cervical fusion for neck pain
In September 2024, Wang performed Ellen’s anterior cervical discectomy and fusion through an incision in the front of her neck. During the procedure, Wang moved her breathing tube and esophagus to the side and removed two damaged discs between the vertebrae in her neck, replacing them with implantable “spacers.” Then he used small metal plates and screws to help fuse the vertebrae together.
After a two-day hospital stay at Rush, Ellen went home to complete her recovery. Within two weeks, she was off postoperative pain medications and feeling significant relief.
“I had no more neck pain, and the surgery restored all feeling in my lower extremities, face and base of my skull,” she says. The surgery did not limit her neck flexibility, and she could finally sleep again.
Surgery No. 2: TLIF for lumbar pain
Five months after her neck issue was resolved, Ellen had a new problem — intermittent low back pain, which she thought was a pulled muscle. However, the pain escalated rapidly, spreading to her right hip down to her right foot. Because the pain made her unsteady, she started using a walker. The pain also sapped her energy, and physical therapy only made the symptoms worse.
In June 2025, Ellen’s pain peaked while she was shopping at a local hardware store. “My back completely seized up,” she says. “The pain in my legs — it just shot down. My feet went completely numb.” An ambulance took Ellen to her local emergency room, where she received a pain shot.
Not satisfied with temporary fixes, Ellen returned to Rush. An MRI and another bone SPECT/CT scan on Ellen’s lower back found a deteriorated disc between the two lowest vertebrae in her lumbar spine. Wang explained to Ellen various procedures to reduce nerve pain and stabilize her spine. One option was minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, or TLIF, which is only offered by specially trained neurosurgeons.
During minimally invasive TLIF, Wang makes several small incisions on either side of the spine. He uses advanced surgical navigation technology, microscopes and specially designed instruments to separate the back muscles and carefully remove bone and other tissues that are compressing nerves. Then, he places a spacer between the affected vertebrae. “This creates a window for bone to grow through the implant and allow for fusion,” says Wang, who trains other neurosurgeons on how to perform the procedure. He may add a bone graft inside the spacer to speed bone growth, and then he uses small screws and rods to hold the vertebrae in place to promote fusion.
Together, Ellen and her neurosurgeon decided that minimally invasive TLIF was preferred over other types of lumbar fusion. In December 2025, Wang performed her surgery at Rush. The day after surgery, she was able to walk with a physical therapist at Rush. “I received excellent care from the PTs, nurses and patient care technicians while I was a patient in the hospital,” Ellen says. “They were wonderful.”
After two days in the hospital, she returned home, where she received a month of in-home care coordinated by Rush’s nursing team. Initially, she still used a walker to help her get around, although she felt significantly less pain within weeks of surgery, she says.
Strength during recovery
Not all patients can expect to have the level of pain relief that Ellen had so soon after both surgeries, says Wang, who conducts research on patient outcomes after minimally invasive spine surgery. He believes Ellen’s athletic background and desire to return to her active lifestyle made a difference. “I chalk it up to her being a strong, remarkable woman who set the right expectations for herself,” he says.
In March 2026, Ellen — a self-described “TLIF warrior” — harnessed her competitive spirit to push herself during four weeks of PT at Rush. In May, Wang gave Ellen the green light to resume her daily activities. Since then, she has been taking two-and-a-half mile walks in her local nature preserve. Besides being pain-free, Ellen has regained 2 inches of height and can once again stand to cook and bake in her kitchen while supervised by her beloved feline, Megan. She’s also returned to playing guitar, one of her favorite pastimes.
Today, Ellen is grateful to have her life back. “I remember standing in line at the grocery store and feeling like I was going to fall over because I hurt so badly,” she says. “Now, I’m able to do everything — go live life, no pain, no suffering.”
A lasting partnership
Ellen says she is blessed to have found the right neurosurgeon with the skills, wisdom, encouragement and advice to help her overcome her chronic pain. “If it wasn’t for Dr. Wang and the entire neuro team, I would not be where I am today,” she says.
Being chosen twice by Ellen to perform her surgeries is “the biggest compliment,” Wang says. “I tell patients that, ‘I’ll be your surgeon for life as long as you want me to be, and I’ll always try to be there for you.’ And I think Ellen really took that to heart.”
Getting help for neck and back pain
As a patient, Ellen recognizes that spine surgery is a big decision and offers this advice for those considering neurosurgery for back or neck pain: “Everyone is nervous when making the decision to have major surgery, however your results will hinge on the skills of your neurosurgeon,” she says. “I am living proof of that.”
If you’re interested in learning more about neurosurgery for neck or back pain, call (888) 352-7874.
