@ Thank you, Jeff. I had 2 years of hoping and searching for a surgeon who would help me locally and those were difficult years. I have a biology degree and previously worked in neurological research, so I knew to look for published literature and understood what I read, and then being an artist and because of biology, I had studied anatomy and understood how the body is put together in 3 dimensions. That gave me a beginning and I also watched all the online neurosurgery conference presentations I could find. It was after looking up a term in a paper co -authored by my Mayo surgeon that I found other literature that described cases like mine, so I knew that this surgeon would understand and believe all the spine symptoms I was describing when I saw him as a patient.

Having spine surgery at Mayo profoundly changed my life. I had a gifted surgeon who did a great job, and I did my homework to work through the emotional part of major surgery and confront and deprogram my fears. It's something I never expected to have the ability to do, but I surprised myself. I worked out a plan of how I would cope and get through it step by step. I learned how to advocate for myself even when I was afraid, and every appointment face to face with a surgeon who dismissed me also taught me how to face them at an appointment. When I came to Mayo I knew enough about spine surgery to know that I had found a great surgeon and there was relief in knowing that I would finally receive the medical help I needed. Being a patient is difficult and can be frustrating, but the patient can have real power in their healing and recovery by embracing the situation, learning everything they can, and making an educated choice not only about a surgical procedure, but also about which surgeon they think is best qualified to handle the case.

I also had a goal and I would not know if I had regained my artistic ability through spine surgery unless I proved it to myself. It's hard to describe how you feel when you can no longer do what you love the most, and trained several years for at art school, because you can't hold your arm up and control its movement. Then when you rediscover this ability and regain the gift that was lost, there are no words to describe that, and the best way I could say it was by expressing it in a watercolor portrait of my surgeon. It was a win-win for both of us and he loves the painting. That is also why I am here helping patients because of what he did for me and because it is a difficult journey. He's a guy who loves his job and I want to give back and express my gratitude any way that I can.