The Challenge
As a student-athlete involved in both soccer and lacrosse, Allison recognized the physical strain that participating in sports had on the body. However, during her sophomore year of high school, Allison began experiencing an intense ache and cramping pain in her upper right leg, which sometimes spread to her lower back and hip. On days when the pain was at its worst, it affected her ability to fully engage in the sports that she was so passionate about.
In her home state of New Jersey, Allison consulted with a physical therapist and an orthopedist to determine the cause of her pain. After a series of appointments, it was decided that Allison had a pinched nerve in her leg. She was given exercises to alleviate the pain, but ultimately believed that it was something she would have to continue to live with.
In the fall of 2018, Allison went off to college at the University of Pittsburgh to study nursing. She completed clinical rotations at UPMC Mercy, UPMC Presbyterian, UPMC Children’s Hospital, and UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital throughout her first few years of college. She continued to deal with frequent leg pain during this time.
In December of 2020, Allison returned home to New Jersey for winter break and decided to see another orthopedist to determine why the debilitating pain kept recurring.
Allison’s orthopedist suggested that she receive an MRI of her lower spine to help determine the cause of her pain. The MRI revealed that Allison had a spinal arteriovenous malformation (AVM), which is an abnormal tangle of blood vessels located on the spinal cord. The abnormal tangle of vessels had an adverse effect on the surrounding spinal tissue cells, depriving them of oxygen and disrupting the flow of blood, causing them to deteriorate or die. The spinal AVM also created risk for a possible aneurysm that could burst on the spinal cord and cause significant damage.
“It was concerning at first because it is such a rare condition, it was hard to know what to do about it,” said Allison.
Being on the patient side and truly experiencing how the UPMC nurses and clinical staff treated me will undoubtedly influence how I am as a nurse and how I treat my future patients. I’ve had a really great experience with UPMC.
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The Path to UPMC
Growing increasingly concerned about her health, Allison and her parents talked with specialists all over the country to determine the best place to receive treatment for her rare condition.
“UPMC was definitely on my mind since I am a Pitt student and already have such a strong connection to the area,” said Allison.
With her parents, siblings, and friends rallied around her, Allison ultimately chose to return to the community at Pitt following her winter break and receive treatment at UPMC.
UPMC’s Dr. Bradley Gross specializes in cerebrovascular neurosurgery for the treatment of brain and spinal cord vascular disorders and suggested that Allison receive an angiogram to look more closely at her blood vessels and pinpoint the location of the AVM. Once the exact location was determined, Dr. Gross connected Allison with UPMC neurosurgeon Michael Lang, MD, who presented Allison with two options: to monitor the situation with a series of future angiograms or to proceed with surgical intervention.
“Dr. Lang was very honest from the start about the severity of my condition and openly discussed the risks and complexity of the surgery. He assured me that he and his team would make my safety the highest priority in any decisions they made during the surgery.”
Allison and her family were confident in the care that she would receive and ultimately decided it was best for her to have the surgery.
The Solution
On June 10, 2021, Dr. Lang performed a spinal AVM resection to remove the malformation and restore the normal blood flow to Allison’s spinal cord. She remained in the ICU for five days at UPMC Mercy after the surgery and was then transferred to a stepdown unit to monitor her recovery progress. Allison was ultimately moved to an inpatient rehab floor where she remained until her discharge on June 26.
Allison experienced a foot drop and numbness in her right leg and foot shortly after the surgery, which prevented her from being able to walk. She returned home to New Jersey and received outpatient rehab care combined with a significant amount of rest to restore the strength in her leg and foot. She spent the next few months following the surgery walking with a cane and wearing a brace on her right leg.
The Results
On November 18, 2021, Allison finished outpatient rehab after five months of working to strengthen her right leg and foot. She is currently running 5Ks, with the goal of a half marathon in April 2022.
She is expected to make a full recovery, and while she still has back pain sometimes, the reoccurring leg pain that would prevent her from being active and keep her up at night is gone.
“Since the surgery, I am doing really well and happy to be running again.”
Allison finds herself extremely connected to the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC community now more than ever. She has returned to work as a Nurse Intern and she looks forward to graduating with her BSN in the spring of 2022. She is excited to use her experiences to help pediatric patients.
“Being on the patient side and truly experiencing how the UPMC nurses and clinical staff treated me will undoubtedly influence how I am as a nurse and how I treat my future patients. I’ve had a really great experience with UPMC.”
Our patient stories profile a number of patients who have had minimally invasive brain surgery at UPMC. Although everyone's care experience is unique, we hope that sharing these stories will help other prospective patients and their families better understand these procedures and their potential benefits.
Allison's treatment and results may not be representative of all similar cases.