[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2019\/05\/spine-surgery-mauras-story\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2019\/05\/spine-surgery-mauras-story\/","headline":"Spine Surgery: Maura\u2019s Story","name":"Spine Surgery: Maura\u2019s Story","description":"Learn more about Maura and her experience with spine surgery at UPMC Passavant. ","datePublished":"2019-05-17","dateModified":"2023-04-17","author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/","name":"UPMC","url":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/","sameAs":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/upmc\/","parentOrganization":"UPMC"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"UPMC HealthBeat","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/UPMC-Choose-4-18-19-516-scaled.jpg","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/UPMC-Choose-4-18-19-516-scaled.jpg","height":1367,"width":2048},"url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2019\/05\/spine-surgery-mauras-story\/","about":["Living and Wellness","Spine Health","UPMC Stories"],"wordCount":536,"keywords":["surgery","UPMC"],"articleBody":"Maura McQuaide was an active grandmother, avid walker, and devoted animal shelter volunteer until her two dogs accidentally knocked her down last October while running around her Johnstown yard. Falling on concrete, she immediately felt soreness in her back. It was the beginning of a long and painful ordeal.Learn more about UPMC Passavant.By December, Maura\u2019s sore back had developed into a sharp pain radiating down her right leg to her toe. Sitting became unbearable, and she needed a walker to move around. Her family doctor prescribed pain medicines, muscle relaxers, and steroid injections, but the pain worsened.\u201cNothing would stop the pain,\u201d says Maura, 60. \u201cIt was excruciating, and I couldn\u2019t do anything. Sitting was not an option, so I was stuck inside standing all the time. All I could do was cry.\u201dAt the suggestion of her niece, a physical therapist in Pittsburgh, Maura made an appointment with Matt El-Kadi, MD, PhD, FACS, chief of neurosurgery at UPMC Passavant and director of the UPMC Passavant Spine Center in Wexford. He was able to examine her in Monroeville, so she only had to travel 90 minutes by car \u2014 lying down \u2014 from her Johnstown home. When she saw him, Maura described her pain level as fluctuating from 10 to 15 on a 10-point scale.Dr. El-Kadi examined Maura and studied the results of an MRI that revealed she had degenerative disc disease in the lower back at L5 to S1. Her pain was caused by stenosis due to arthritis and a bone spur pressing on her spine \u2014 conditions that were aggravated by her fall. When he recommended surgery, she promptly asked, \u201cHow soon?\u201dDue to the severity of Maura\u2019s symptoms and the pain she was experiencing, Dr. El-Kadi wanted to help her as soon as possible. Like most patients experiencing severe pain, Maura had her surgery scheduled at the earliest available date.In late January 2019, Dr. El-Kadi performed a lumbar hemilaminectomy to decompress the nerves. Within hours of her surgery, Maura was sitting up in her hospital room at UPMC Passavant crying \u2014 from relief.\u201cIt worked! My unbearable leg pain was gone for the first time in over a month,\u201d says Maura. \u201cDr. El-Kadi gave me my life back.\u201dTwo weeks later, Maura began physical therapy, including exercises to strengthen her core. By March, she was back to walking \u2014 two to three miles indoors at the mall or outside around the track and campus of nearby University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown. She\u2019s also enjoying her five young grandchildren \u2014 all of whom live close to her.\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to be back to normal. I\u2019m loving life again!\u201d exclaims Maura. \u201cI can run with my grandkids and pick them up again. I\u2019m walking and I\u2019m looking forward to starting water aerobics and yoga classes.\u201dMaura, who drove to Wexford for her follow-up appointment, says she doesn\u2019t mind traveling two hours to see Dr. El-Kadi.\u201cI had such a good experience. Everyone at the hospital and at the office treated me so well,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m hoping it never happens again, but if it does, I\u2019ll call Dr. El-Kadi right away. He\u2019s the best, and I\u2019d go anywhere to see him.\u201d"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2019","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2019\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"05","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2019\/\/05\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Spine Surgery: Maura\u2019s Story","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2019\/05\/spine-surgery-mauras-story\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]