Quincy Reporter

Sherri Johnson had one request for Blessing Health neurosurgeon, Dr. John Olson, during her first appointment with him.

“I asked him to give me at least one day without pain,” the 62-year-old Memphis, MO, resident said.

If Dr. Olson could deliver Sherri’s wish, it would be her first pain-free day in the last 30 years.

“I was in excruciating pain every day to the point, at times, it debilitated me,” she said. “I had days that I would stay in bed because I was in so much pain. I was taking Tylenol or ibuprofen or whatever wasn’t a prescription to try and relieve some of the pain. It wasn’t working. Pain consumed my life.”

Sherri also participated in physical therapy and underwent injections over the years. Nothing provided lasting relief.

Her main source of pain was arthritis all along her spine. Sherri had seen other doctors in search of a long-term answer – three in the state of Louisiana during the 15 years she lived there – and one in Columbia, MO, after she moved to Scotland County in 2018.  She found no help.

“They all told me they would not touch me,” Sherri stated. “They couldn’t guarantee that surgery would do any good.”

Sherri’s primary care provider at the time, a nurse practitioner at Scotland County Hospital in Memphis, referred her to Dr. Olson.

Certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery, Dr. Olson earned his medical degree and completed residency at the University of Kansas Medical School. His areas of interest include brain tumors, traumatic brain injury, carpal tunnel surgery, and the care that Sherri so desperately needed – degenerative spine conditions.

“The first time I saw him, he sat and listened to every word I was saying, how I described my pain and how I had lived with it for 30 years,” Sherri said. “And he said, ‘Well, sounds to me like you need surgery.’”

After all these years, Sherri felt someone had heard her.

“He genuinely cares about his patients,” she said.

And what about that request for at least one pain-free day?

“Dr. Olson told me he could not provide a 100 percent guarantee on that,” she said. “But he guaranteed he would give me 100 percent of his effort.”

“She came to me with horrible spinal stenosis,” said Dr. Olson. Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the space within the spine that puts pressure on the spinal cord and nerves.

Dr. Olson performed a minimally invasive decompression, during which the spinal canal is made larger and the arthritic overgrowth is removed from the bones and ligaments freeing up the nerves.

While the doctor says spinal stenosis is a common condition, Sherri’s case had an uncommon element to it.

“She was pretty young for that problem,” Dr. Olson continued. “People in their 70s and 80s typically have this problem. But we were able to treat it with a minimally invasive outpatient procedure.”

With her request exceeded, Sherri said her experience at Blessing was exceptional. 

“Dr. Olson gave me my life back, better than it had been in 30 years,” she concluded.

For more information on neurosurgical care at Blessing Health, go to blessinghealth.org/neurosurgery.

Original source can be found here.