Mimi Nettour

Mimi Nettour was recently retired and looking forward to spending more time swimming, scuba diving and skiing when pain in her right arm and rotator cuff began limiting her activity. Eventually, the pain migrated to her neck and made it impossible for her to stand after about 10 in the morning.

“I’d never really experienced pain quite like this pain,” explained Mimi.

The instability in her spine increased and her neck pain grew so intense that Mimi couldn’t drive or fly – making it impossible to do anything. Instead, she spent much of her time simply lying on the floor.

When it came time to seek medical assistance, Mimi researched her options thoroughly. She interviewed four neurosurgeons, but selected Dr. Jatana because of his comforting bedside manner, education, reputation and experience performing cervical spinal fusions. During her first appointment, Dr. Jatana explained Mimi’s problem in detail, offered treatment options and outlined the risks of surgery, including the possibility of future corrective procedures.

In the end, Mimi decided the best way to treat her degenerating discs and stenosis was to follow Dr. Jatana’s recommendation to fuse four vertebrae in her neck. She had two separate surgeries – a C3-7 anterior discectomy and fusion and a C3-7 posterior fusion – one day apart, requiring a five-day hospital stay.

“Dr. Jatana saw me every day, which was very consoling,” said Mimi.

Within two weeks of surgery Mimi was walking two miles a day and within a month, she had increased her distance to five miles a day. Even more impressive, Mimi achieved her goal of participating in a challenging scuba trip just six months after surgery.  Less than a year post-surgery, Mimi has resumed swimming a mile daily, continues to walk and is skiing again.

“I could not have had better treatment,” said Mimi of her experience working with Dr. Jatana. “Everyone was so professional and that gave me confidence. I have had better results and more of my life back than I had hoped for.”