Pedaling After Pain

Cheryl Ruff knows a thing or two about going the extra mile.

The 66-year-old Sun City resident spent more than 26 years serving as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) in the United States Navy, including tours in Baghdad and several years aboard Naval war ships.

Not one to sit around, she’s also completed 25 marathons and logged thousands of miles cycling across large swaths of the U.S. and Canada.

But all of that stopped in July 2021 when progressive hip and back pain sent Cheryl to her primary care doctor for help. An X-ray and MRI scan (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) would reveal five bulging discs in Cheryl’s back, and result in a referral to a pain specialist.

“I had always had hip pain, but this was something different,” she says. “I got to the point where I had to lean on the cart at the grocery store to prevent the pain caused by walking.”

At that time Cheryl was still riding her bike which, ironically, provided more relief than anything.

“I realized that arching my back to reach my bike handles relieved the compression from the bulging discs on my nerves,” she said.

As a highly trained health professional, she also knew that continued wear and tear could lead to permanent nerve damage or worse. Cheryl had other plans.

“I had a trip scheduled to cycle across Prince Edward Island in July 2022, plus a 3,100-mile ride from San Diego, CA to St. Augustine, FL in March 2023, to celebrate my 65th birthday,” she said. “I had to get moving.”

After six months of epidural steroids and physical therapy that failed to resolve her symptoms, Cheryl was referred to Dr. Scott Strohmeyer, a board-certified spine surgeon with Beaufort Memorial’s Advanced Orthopedics & Spine Program.

Bumps in the Road: When Conservative Treatments Failed

On March 8, 2022, Cheryl limped into Dr. Strohmeyer’s office, hunched over and fighting back tears from the excruciating pain.

“Cheryl was barely able to walk when she came to my office,” Dr. Strohmeyer said. “She had advanced lumbar scoliosis and was experiencing a tremendous amount of pain. I knew we needed to correct the problem as soon as possible.”

Dr. Strohmeyer acted quickly, scheduling Cheryl for a multi-level lumbar laminectomy and lateral fusion at Beaufort Memorial the following week.

“Cheryl had a three-level decompression of L3-5 and a two-level lateral fusion with reconstruction,” Dr. Strohmeyer says. “We essentially straightened the compressed, lower levels of her lumbar spine to relieve the pressure on her nerves.”

Among the most common spine procedures, lumbar laminectomy is a minimally invasive surgery to relieve compression on the spine. It is performed under general anesthesia and is a first-line treatment for spinal stenosis. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, more than 500,000 laminectomies are performed in the U.S. annually.

Two days after surgery, Cheryl left the hospital with a walker, then began six weeks of physical therapy.

Uphill Grind and Hard-Fought Victory

“I wanted to be well, so I pushed myself to do PT on my own time in between appointments,” she said.

The extra effort paid off.

Four months later Cheryl was on Prince Edward Island completing her first post-op ride and looking ahead to the cross-country event in March 2023.

Then in October 2022, just five months before the big event, Cheryl was riding her bike when she was struck by a golf cart clocking 20 miles per hour. The accident left her with stitches, soreness and another six-week stint in PT.

“The accident was a big blow,” she says. “I really questioned whether I should do the cross-country trip at all. I remember wondering if these obstacles were a sign.”

Fortunately, the accident did not require surgery, nor did it cause new problems with her back.

One year and one day after the fateful meeting with Dr. Strohmeyer, Cheryl mounted her road bike in San Diego and began the nearly two-month trek across the country, just as she’d planned.

Her advice to anyone experiencing chronic back and hip pain is simple: ‘talk to your doctor and advocate for yourself.’

“Start with your primary care doctor, find out the problem, and follow (their) protocols to the letter,” Cheryl says. “If you get to the point that nothing is working, do not hesitate to take the next step until you find a solution.”

Dr. Strohmeyer agrees. “In many cases, the patient drives the outcome for this type of surgery, and that was certainly true with Cheryl. She had goals to continue her active lifestyle and bike across the country, and she put in the work to recover and regain her strength and mobility,” he said.

“If it wasn’t for Dr. Strohmeyer I would not be standing right now,” Cheryl says. “As a former CRNA I’ve worked with a lot of surgeons, and he is the best I’ve ever seen.”

If back pain is limiting your daily activities, request an appointment with one of our spine specialists.