Last summer within a two-week span, Leslie McPeak went from walking normally to wondering if she’d ever be able to get around on her own two feet again.
The 64-year-old Mount Airy woman had experienced profound weakness and numbness in her right leg and decreased sensation in her left leg and abdomen.
“The week before Memorial Day I thought I had overdone it a little bit. I thought it was fatigue, but my right side kept getting weaker,” she said.
McPeak said her symptoms progressed while she was on vacation, which was frightening. “My right leg started feeling heavy, and I could barely pick it up and my knee would give way without any warning. When I got back the next Tuesday, I was at the doctor’s office on Wednesday. By the middle of June, I went from walking normally to being in a wheelchair.”
As the music director of Haymore Baptist Church, who also oversees the church’s finances and plays the piano for services, life for McPeak had changed dramatically. She knew she needed an answer quickly.
Advanced spine, back and neck care.
McPeak was referred to neurosurgeon Dr. Michelle De Witt of Novant Health Brain & Spine Surgery - Kimel Park. Because of her rapid immobility, she couldn’t get in the car and had to be transported to Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center by ambulance. An MRI revealed that she had severe pinching of her spinal cord in her upper back.
“Dr. De Witt came to see me in the hospital,” McPeak said. “She couldn't promise if I would get all or even some of my feeling back. It was all in God's hands.”
On Wednesday, July 3, De Witt performed a thoracic laminectomy – a type of back surgery during which a small section of bone called the lamina is removed from the middle part of the spine to make more room and relieve pressure on the spinal cord and nerves. Following surgery, McPeak could move her foot and toes again. By that Sunday, she was able to work from her hospital bed to process the church payroll, she said.
De Witt said that many people who experience back pain can begin with less invasive procedures, but there are certain cases, like McPeak’s, that require immediate attention.
“Some red-flag symptoms are progressive numbness, walking imbalance, as well as muscle weakness,” De Witt said. “It’s really frustrating for the patient, because one day they're going along well enough and within days they’re not living the same life.”
She spent two weeks in the hospital, followed by two weeks in a rehabilitation hospital and follow-up with home health services once she returned to Mount Airy and her family. She was soon able to walk without any assistance.
“I'm thankful for Dr. De Witt because she believes in God just as well as I do, and we all prayed together several times,” McPeak said. “It was just a miracle through her hands that's gotten me back to doing my work and enjoying my life.”
