Easing the Pain

When Debbie Komassa, 72, of Menomonee Falls, fell in her home in July 2025, she went completely weak in her arms and legs. It took hours for her to crawl to a phone for help. After a visit to a local emergency department where she was checked for a head injury and cleared, Debbie went to an independent inpatient rehabilitation facility to try to regain her strength. For three weeks, her condition continued to decline until she was unable to get out of bed or even feed herself.

“I thought this could be the end of my life,” Debbie said. “But I wasn’t giving up.”

Severe Cervical Myelopathy Diagnosis

Debbie’s daughter, Jenny Tegge, wanted to know what was causing her once active mother to suddenly become so weak. Jenny and her husband lived in Nevada, but they quickly decided to move home to help. In August, Jenny took her mother to Froedtert Hospital, the academic medical center of the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network, for a neurology consultation. The team did a full workup, including CT scans and an MRI of the spine, to pinpoint the cause of Debbie’s symptoms. She was diagnosed with severe cervical myelopathy, a condition that causes compression of the spinal cord in the neck.

“I had a team of doctors consulting on my case, and everyone was so thorough, compassionate and caring,” Debbie said. “They explained all the tests they were doing and what they were looking for. I knew I was in good hands.”

Cervical myelopathy is a progressive degenerative condition that is often confused with general aging because the symptoms can be similar. Worsening weakness in the arms or legs, balance issues, gait instability that progresses to difficulty walking, hand clumsiness and loss of hand dexterity, and bowel and bladder changes are some of the more common symptoms.

Laminoplasty Relieves Pressure on Spinal Cord

There is no cure for myelopathy, but surgery to relieve the pressure on the spinal cord can prevent symptoms from progressing.

John P. Wanner, MD, orthopaedic spine surgeon and MCW faculty member, determined a laminoplasty would be Debbie’s best option. He explained the need for the procedure with the analogy of a person pinned against a wall by a truck.

“A crush injury is happening, and my job is to back off the truck,” Dr. Wanner said. “How the spinal cord responds and what type of improvement a patient experiences is difficult to predict. The goal is to stop the symptoms from worsening and preserve the person’s current range of motion.”

A laminoplasty creates more space in the spinal canal by opening part of the vertebrae like a hinge and reshaping it so the lamina, or bone, is no longer putting pressure on the nerves in the spinal canal. If the patient’s anatomy allows for it, a laminoplasty is usually preferred over a laminectomy, which is a more invasive spinal cord decompression procedure that removes part of the vertebrae and then fuses it for stability. Laminoplasties require a high level of surgical expertise and are not offered by all surgeons. Dr. Wanner has the experience and training to offer both.

“If we can treat patients earlier in their myelopathy, the data for laminoplasties shows we have a good chance at neurological improvement, and in some cases, we may reverse symptoms to some extent,” Dr. Wanner said. “Most patients do not have neck pain after surgery and recover well.”

Rehabilitation on the Road to Recovery

Debbie’s laminoplasty was in August at Froedtert Hospital. She spent three weeks at Froedtert Bluemound Rehabilitation Hospital before returning home. Debbie is grateful for the organized and skilled rehabilitation team she continues to work with. She is also immensely grateful for her daughter, calling Jenny her hero.

“It’s hard to know how much to push for answers when a loved one is going through something like this,” Jenny said. “I’m relieved the team at Froedtert Hospital gave us the answers we needed.”

Debbie is motivated by her progress since surgery. Her recovery is different than most because she had a previous leg amputation, but she is not letting that stop her from walking again. In just a few months, she was already able to push a shopping cart and walk through the grocery store.

“I was walking five to seven miles a day before my fall, and I plan to be fully out of a wheelchair and get back to that by summer,” Debbie said. “I’m always thinking about what I can do next.”

Froedtert & MCW spine experts customize care to patients’ needs and offer a full range of nonsurgical and surgical treatments. For an appointment, call SpineCare at 414-955-7199. Learn more at froedtert.com/spine-care.

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