Chronic Nerve Pain Success Story – Meet Linda
Linda’s journey to overcome chronic nerve pain is off to a successful start with surgery performed by Dr. Tollestrup*
Dr. Tim Tollestrup focuses his practice and surgeries on helping patients overcome chronic nerve pain. Very often these patients have exhausted every option available and he is their last hope. Such a patient is Linda G. This is the first in a series of posts chronicling her journey from a life of chronic pain to recovering her ability to walk and live the life she desires.
Linda has a history of lumbar spine surgery back for severe low back pain as well as right-sided sciatica pain. She was operated on a few years ago and her sciatica pain was significantly better but healed completely. Her pain continued to be severe enough that she required on going narcotic pain medication.
Earlier this year, she was diagnosed as having a problem with the right hip and she was told that this was the source of the residual pain in the right hip and leg. She underwent a right total hip arthroplasty he in May, 2016. Immediately after surgery she developed significant weakness in the right leg. This has significantly affected her ability to walk. In addition she also developed significant pain and paresthesias in the right lower leg and foot. Unfortunately, the right hip replacement did not relieve any of her original symptoms and in fact she ended up being much worse postoperatively.
Last week Dr. Tollestrup operated on her for the first time, decompressing the right lumbosacral plexus and proximal sciatic nerve related to her right piriformis syndrome.
One week later Linda’s sciatica pain in the right leg is totally gone and the amount of pain in the bottom of the right foot is significantly improved. She is also much more stable on the right leg making it easier for her to move the leg.
Linda is coming back to see Dr. Tollestrup in a few weeks at which point the next stage of her surgery will be scheduled. This will involve decompressing the right femoral nerve. She may ultimately require three or four surgical procedures to eliminate all of her pain and restore normal motor function.
We will keep you posted on her journey and her quest to overcome her chronic nerve pain.
Thank you, Linda, for allowing us to share your story.
*Disclaimer
We do not guarantee any specific results or outcomes for surgery, should our practice work on your behalf. Information on this website may be used as a reference for successes we’ve achieved for our patients, and not as an assurance or guarantee for similar results in all instances.