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Article Category: PeopleCare

UlyssesCare

Getting back in action after spine surgery

Published on March 11, 2022

Last updated 02:33 PM December 14, 2022

Ulysses Price holding a tennis racquet.

If you looked up the word “active” in the dictionary, you just might find Ulysses Price’s picture.

Between serving on the tennis court, racking up strikes in bowling and learning new moves in martial arts, he defines life by what brings him the most joy: movement.

But all that changed when severe neck and shoulder pain entered the picture. Ulysses could barely do a double take let alone hold play doubles on the court.

“Not being able to do simple things like reach for a bowl in the cupboard or turn my neck were big limitations in my life,” Ulysses said. “I tried to tough it out. But when the pain was non-stop, that’s when I decided I needed medical attention.”

Ulysses turned to Wellstar’s neuro experts to help him take control of his health. Now, after a state-of-the-art neck procedure, Ulysses is back in action and doing his favorite activities — even better than before.

From diagnosis to surgery and recovery, Ulysses formed a lasting partnership with his Wellstar care team and knows he can face any health hurdle with confidence.

Health providers who have your back

When pain became a constant part of Ulysses’ life, he sought help from his Wellstar primary care provider.

Ulysses' provider took his pain seriously. After an MRI revealed a serious spinal issue, he connected Ulysses with expert neuro care at Wellstar right away.

That’s when Wellstar Neurosurgeon Dr. Phillip Parry joined the team, determined to help put an end to Ulysses’ pain. Dr. Parry stressed how important primary care providers are when it comes to keeping a keen eye out for potential medical issues.

“The value of having a primary care provider who can identify neck and low back pain cannot be overstated,” Dr. Parry said. “Having these conditions addressed early by the right specialists is extremely important.”

Catching neurological conditions at the start is key to helping patients have the best outcome possible. The same was true for Ulysses, whose spine issues were interfering with his everyday life.

“Ulysses had a narrowing in the cervical canal of his cervical spine, the bony portion through which the spinal cord is transmitted,” Dr. Parry said. “As we age, virtually all patients develop some amount of this compression.”

“In Ulysses’ case, his spinal compression had become so severe that it was causing spinal cord dysfunction,” Dr. Parry explained. “His condition resulted in weakness in his hands, being unable to walk with confidence and feeling very unstable on his feet.”

Working together, the pair discussed the potential treatment options for his pain. Because Dr. Parry always kept an open dialogue, Ulysses felt comfortable being an active participant in his care.

“I always try to be proactive about any medical procedure and do my research to know as much about it as possible,” Ulysses said, sharing how Dr. Parry took time to answer his questions. “Dr. Parry listened and spoke with me about the most up-to-date procedures, and that made me quite comfortable with him as a person and a physician.”

Soon, they created a care plan that would help Ulysses live his healthiest life for years to come.

After the surgery, I felt like a human being again — like I could go out and do things and not be in pain. I feel whole again.

- Ulysses Price

Wellstar Neuro Care Patient

State-of-the-art spine surgery

Our neuro experts work with patients to find personalized solutions for their pain, whether it requires a surgical intervention or not. Due to the severity of Ulysses’ spine issues and lifestyle, surgery made sense.

“Ulysses is an incredibly active person. His ability to do all the things that made his life meaningful — like playing tennis, running 5Ks and traveling — was negatively impacted by neck pain and cervical spinal cord compression,” Dr. Parry said.

“Given the amount of neurological dysfunction he was experiencing, surgery was the appropriate next step in his situation,” Dr. Parry explained how the procedure was the right choice.

To correct the issue, Ulysses received an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) at Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center.

For this procedure, a neurosurgeon performs the surgery through the front of the neck and removes the damaged discs. The impaired discs are replaced with bone grafts and fastened in place with a plate and screws.

This cutting-edge surgery helps relieve pressure in the spine and can alleviate other symptoms like pain, weakness, tingling and numbness.

“We were able to perform the procedure in a minimally-invasive fashion with maximal positive impacts to his overall condition,” Dr. Parry added.

“Minimally-invasive surgery focuses on small incisions which allows for fantastic post-operative results, while also lessening the damage to the area, blood loss and the amount of post-operative pain,” Dr. Parry said, explaining the benefits to less invasive procedures.

“In Ulysses’ case, he was up and walking the same day as surgery and discharged the next day,” Dr. Parry added.

It wasn’t just the expert care that made the difference in Ulysses’ healing and recovery. He found comfort and support from his Wellstar team every step of the way.

“I was very happy to have Dr. Parry on my team,” Ulysses said, sharing his positive experience. “He put me totally at ease and told me exactly what would happen, so I knew what to expect.”

“All of the nurses and caretakers were also very attentive,” he said. “They took time to explain all of my medications and everything that was required for recovery like how to sit with my neck to avoid any complications.”

Because of the cutting-edge, minimally-invasive techniques used in the surgery, his recovery time was quicker compared to other types of traditional open procedures. For Ulysses, that meant getting back to living a full life, faster.

Stopping pain in its tracks

Since the surgery, Ulysses’ recovery has been nothing short of remarkable. Rehabilitation has helped rebuild and enhance his ability to do daily activities.

“Physical and occupational therapy allowed Ulysses to regain confidence in his walking ability as well as regain strength in his hands and arms,” Dr. Parry said.

Since then, Ulysses has been on the mend and taking major strides towards healing. The life-changing surgery gave Ulysses a fresh start, allowing him to pursue all of his passions, pain-free.

“Before the surgery, I had a lack of mobility and lost range of motion in my arm. It was down to about 20 percent,” Ulysses said. “After the surgery, I was able to do all the simple things again. I can do all my hobbies just as well or better than before the surgery.”

“Identifying Ulysses’ condition early and having surgery to correct the problems he was experiencing, resulted in a near complete resolution of his symptoms and return to a better quality of life,” Dr. Parry added.

During each step of his recovery, he’s gotten many aspects of his life back again, too.

“After the surgery, I felt like a human being again — like I could go out and do things and not be in pain,” Ulysses said, sharing how the surgery impacted his quality of life. “I realized how blessed and happy I was to just feel ‘normal’ again.”

Wellstar knows treating complex neck and spine issues aren’t just about the pain. It’s about helping people live life again like Ulysses is doing today.

“I feel whole again.”

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Phillip Vaughan Parry Sr Kennestone Regional Medical Center Neuro Care
PeopleCare Primary Care
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Highlights

Commemorate Cancer Survivors Day with Wellstar

Wellstar supports people with cancer throughout their journeys, from early screenings to diagnosis to treatment. But our encouragement and dedication to delivering world-class, compassionate care doesn’t end in remission.

Across our system, Wellstar honors the bravery and strength of survivors every day, rejoicing in each milestone. This National Cancer Survivors Day, June 1, 2025, we are proud to pay tribute to the people who have conquered cancer and offer hope to those still fighting. This year’s Cancer Survivors Day theme—Strike Out Cancer—exemplifies our commitment to being a steadfast source of encouragement for cancer survivors and fighters across Georgia.

“On Cancer Survivors Day, we reflect on our patients’ journeys and cherish victories over cancer. We also offer compassion and support for people currently fighting cancer, so they and their loved ones know they’re not alone,” said Wellstar Director of Oncology Professional Practices Melissa Higdon.

Several Wellstar facilities will host events—and you can be a part of the celebration!

 

Northwest Georgia Oncology Centers in Cartersville
June 5, 2025
10 AM to 3 PM
100 Market Place Blvd., Cartersville
Contact Mary Ellen Smither at [email protected] or (678) 858-1146.

Wellstar Cobb Medical Center
May 30, 2025
12 to 2 PM     
4040 Hospital West Drive, Austell
Behind the building in the garden and parking lot area
Contact Ashley Dapremont at [email protected] or (470) 732-4523.

Wellstar Douglas Medical Center
June 7, 2025
11 AM to 2 PM
8954 Hospital Drive, Douglasville
Surgical services lobby
Contact Diane Harris at [email protected] or (470) 644-5411.

Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center
June 7, 2025
11 AM to 2 PM
320 Kennestone Hospital Blvd., Marietta
First floor
Required RSVP, contact Nancy Page at [email protected] or (470) 793-7470.

Wellstar North Fulton Medical Center
June 1, 2025
2 to 4 PM
3000 Hospital Blvd., Roswell
Main lobby in hospital
Contact Sarah Bentley at [email protected] or (770) 751-2556.

Wellstar Paulding Medical Center
June 1, 2025
144 Bill Carruth Parkway, Hiram
Second floor auditorium
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Wellstar Spalding Medical Center
May 28, 2025
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Women’s Center
Contact Sherry Connell at [email protected] or (470) 935-5526.

Wellstar West Georgia Medical Center
June 6, 2025
10 AM to 12 PM
111 Medical Drive, LaGrange
Enoch Callaway Cancer Center
Contact Stephanie Hand at [email protected].

Learn more about cancer care at Wellstar.

Keep reading
Cindy cutting vegetables in her home kitchen

PeopleCare

CindyCare

To say Cindy Mejia is “busy” is an understatement. 

She’s constantly crunching numbers as an accounting manager for a large research institute, trying out new recipes in her kitchen at her Roswell home, or trying to keep up with her little granddaughter (who just discovered how much fun it is to run).

But one Wednesday in September, Cindy woke up and reached for her computer, trying to get an early start to her workday. She felt a little groggy and couldn’t remember her password but didn’t immediately realize something was wrong.

Then she stood up. Her right arm and leg weren’t functioning, and that’s when Cindy knew what was happening—she was having a stroke.

“The first thing I thought was, ‘I need to get to Wellstar North Fulton right away,’” Cindy said. “I knew the hospital was nearby and has a good reputation.”

That decision ultimately saved her brain and life.

For Cindy, the critical care she needed was close to home, too—she lives four miles from Wellstar North Fulton Medical Center. There, her care team sprang into action, bringing her the treatment and peace of mind in a moment of crisis.

“From then on, I felt well taken care of,” Cindy said. “I was relieved, and I knew I was going to be OK.”

 

Cindy's close-to-home 'pit crew'

When a patient has a stroke, every second matters. Each minute that ticks by could be the difference between a permanent stroke and a return to routine. So at North Fulton, Cindy’s care team assembled quickly to save her brainpower.

“We’re like the pit crew on a NASCAR team,” said Dr. Ed Malcom, an emergency medicine physician at Wellstar North Fulton. “We have our emergency stroke care response down to a science. Everyone knows their role and works together to act quickly.”

Cindy was one of the first patients at Wellstar North Fulton to benefit from the hospital’s new addition to its stroke program. While the hospital has been a primary stroke center for years, the introduction of thrombectomies at the hospital gives patients a close-to-home, life-saving option for stroke care—saving them both time and brainpower.

A thrombectomy is a minimally invasive procedure used to unclog an artery, restoring blood flow to the brain and preventing further damage. It does not involve cutting of the brain but instead starts with the insertion of a catheter through the patient’s groin.

“Recently, we’ve developed our own capability right here in the North Fulton area to pull the clot out of the brain. That’s a giant leap forward,” Dr. Malcom explained. “It's good for the whole state because there's only a handful of hospitals that do that, and it's good for the residents that live in that North Fulton area to have a hospital so close. They don't have to take a helicopter ride somewhere to get that procedure done. It saves time.”

For Cindy, having that procedure just a few miles from her home, right when she needed it, helped save her brain function.

“If Cindy would have gone to a different hospital that didn't provide this care, then it would have been a long time before she was able to have blood flow restored to the brain,” Wellstar Neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Zussman said, explaining how critical each section was when it came to Cindy’s care. “The delay could have been 30 minutes or even an hour, and it's possible that she would have had permanent stroke, permanent damage to her brain instead of making the recovery she did.”

Offering thrombectomies at Wellstar North Fulton has brought long-needed stroke services to the area north of Atlanta, so patients like Cindy don’t have to travel into the city through busy traffic to get the treatment they need. 

Proximity to care is especially important for critical situations like strokes, said Dr. Rishi Gupta, director of stroke care at Wellstar.

“Any disease that is time-sensitive where patients need to get to the hospital quickly, get treated quickly—the geography is everything, particularly in bad weather when helicopters cannot fly,” he said, explaining how logistics can impact life-saving stroke care. “We need to be able to provide services in the communities the patients reside and the North Fulton program is uniquely positioned to do that.”

Signs of a stroke can include a loss of balance, dizziness, blurry vision or sudden vision loss, drooping in the face, arm or leg weakness, and difficulty speaking. Patients who experience any of those symptoms should call 911 and seek medical care right away. 

Cindy said she is glad she got to the hospital as soon as she could—“I am so thankful that I took quick action and that I had Wellstar so close.” At Wellstar North Fulton, she not only received the highest level of stroke care. Wellstar takes a multidisciplinary approach to stroke care, including specialists such as critical care specialists, neurologists, neurointerventionalists and physical therapists on the care team. 

“When you're feeling pretty healthy, you don't think a stroke can happen to you. It happens so quickly. You don't necessarily get a warning,” Cindy said, sharing the importance of listening to your body’s signals when it comes to health. “You can feel one way one day or one minute, and the next minute, it changes.”

Keep reading
Illustration of fruits and vegetables, people exercising, checklist on clipboard

Highlights

Reducing Your Risk of a Stroke

While strokes have become relatively common—more than 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—many risk factors for stroke can be managed in partnership with your healthcare team.

Managing your risk factors

Factors that can increase your risk of experiencing a stroke include:

High blood pressure

Hypertension, or elevated blood pressure, increases the risk of a stroke. Stay up to date on your annual physicals to know your blood pressure levels, and if you have hypertension, talk to your clinician about managing it. “High blood pressure is the most modifiable risk factor, meaning it’s the one that is most treatable and has the most impact on one’s risk,” said Wellstar Neurologist Dr. Ashis Tayal. “It is vastly underdiagnosed and when it is treated, it’s often undertreated.”

High cholesterol

Elevated cholesterol can lead to plaque buildup in the blood vessel and clotting in the blood, which can cause a stroke if the clot travels and blocks blood flow to the brain. Your primary care team can help you monitor your cholesterol with a blood test and manage levels with medications or lifestyle changes.

Diabetes

People with diabetes are at increased risk of experiencing a stroke. Talk to your clinician about diabetes screenings. If you are diabetic, discuss managing the condition in partnership with your care team.

Smoking 

“Cigarettes accelerate atherosclerosis, or clogging in the arteries, and cause inflammation in blood vessels that then increases people’s risk of stroke and heart attack,” Dr. Tayal said. 

Atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation, a heart arrhythmia, can cause clots that then travel to the brain, leading to a stroke, according to Dr. Tayal.

While many of these risk factors can be controlled through medication or lifestyle changes in partnership with your care team, other risk factors for stroke are out of a person’s control. People of any age can experience a stroke, but stroke risk increases with age.

The risk of having a first stroke is nearly twice as high for Black adults as for white adults, and Black adults and Pacific Islander adults have the highest rates of death from stroke, according to the CDC. Hypertension is more common in Black patients, Dr. Tayal noted. People in rural communities may also experience higher rates of stroke due to limited access to healthcare and nutritious foods, he added.

To help lower stroke rates in our communities, Wellstar Community Health will distribute around 75 blood pressure cuffs in 2025 and educate community members about stroke risk and blood pressure monitoring at Wellstar Mobile Markets. The blood pressure cuffs can be used to monitor blood pressure at home so patients can work with their providers to take action against hypertension.

Recognizing a stroke

Learn the warning signs of a stroke, and if you notice any of these in yourself or someone else, be fast and call 911 right away. 

Balance

Look for a sudden loss of balance or coordination. This can also appear as a sudden, severe headache or dizziness.

Eyes

Blurred vision, double vision or loss of vision can be signs of a stroke. If you think someone else may be having a stroke, ask if they are having trouble seeing out of one or both eyes.

Face

One side of the face may be feeling numb or appear to be drooping. Ask the person to smile and see if it appears uneven.

Arms

Check for sudden arm weakness or numbness. See if the person can lift both arms without one drifting downward.

Speech

Watch out for slurred speech or difficulty speaking. Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence to find out if they are having trouble talking.

Time

The more treatment is delayed, the more the brain is damaged. Don’t wait to seek care. If you notice any of these symptoms, call 911 immediately.

Learn more about stroke care at Wellstar.

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