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St. John's Riverside Hospital Doc Helps Patient Find Freedom From Pain

Soyica G., who works at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, started feeling a pain that radiated through her legs. The pain made her so weak she eventually could not hold herself up and became partially paralyzed in both legs.

Soyica with Dr. Choudhri, a neurosurgeon and advanced orthopedic spine surgeon, at St. John's Riverside Hospital.

Soyica with Dr. Choudhri, a neurosurgeon and advanced orthopedic spine surgeon, at St. John's Riverside Hospital.

Photo Credit: St. John's Riverside Hospital

The first hospital emergency room she visited sent her home without any tests and recommended bed rest. After weeks lost from work and getting worse, she contacted her brother who in turn called an ambulance that took her to St. John’s Riverside Hospital. She began to believe she would never be able to walk again.

Determined to find the cause, Dr. Choudhri, a world-renowned neurosurgeon, sat with Soyica and listened to her entire history. He asked many questions. He was able to make connections where others had not. He learned of her past back problems and was inspired to look closer at a few more images when he learned she was traveling in the back of a small car for many hours on her recent vacation. By taking the time to listen to her history, he became certain her spinal cord was pinched and was cutting off the signals to her legs. The second set of images he ordered, from a different view, clearly showed what he suspected was right.

“Dr. Choudhri listened. Now I can walk," said Soyica.

“After listening, I knew I had to get images from the front,” said, Dr. Choudhri. Most doctors would stop looking after not seeing anything on the x-ray; this was not the case with Dr. Choudhri. Dr. Choudhri said he could repair the problem with a surgical procedure the next day and Soyica would no longer have any pain.

“I could not believe, as soon as I opened my eyes I was capable of lifting my legs off the bed and moving my toes. I was able to go from a wheelchair to walking out of the hospital the very next day,” Soyica said.

For a spine consultation call 914.964.4DOC or visit RiversideHealth.org.

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