One morning while making breakfast, Ron Hoerst’s back pain had become so severe that his eggs, bacon and toast made it to the kitchen table, while he crawled to the couch to sit down.
“I went back half an hour later and ate my cold eggs,” Ron Hoerst said. “They were delicious.”
What’s more is that his wife, Cathy Hoerst, was also experiencing her own symptoms caused by back pain. For her, the pain was in her leg, shooting down to her foot. Before retirement, she traveled frequently for work and had to constantly adjust her rental car’s seat to suit her comfort level so she could drive without pain.
Eventually, for the Hebron couple, their pain became too much, and they decided to have surgery about nine months apart. Their surgeries were both performed by Dr. Steven Bailey, a neurosurgeon at Mayfield Brain & Spine, at St. Elizabeth in Edgewood. Mayfield’s Crestview Hills office is about a mile down the road from St. Elizabeth, and Mayfield neurosurgeons and providers work daily with the hospital system to serve patients in Northern Kentucky with spine disorders, brain tumors and other neurologic conditions.
Ron Hoerst said his pain went down both of his legs, into his feet and knocked him off balance. He couldn’t stand up to put one pant leg on at a time. Bailey said that Ron Hoerst’s diagnosis was “lumbar stenosis,” which is a narrowing in the lower back around the nerves. The surgery for that was a “laminectomy,” which Bailey said is probably the most common thing Mayfield does.
“It involves enlarging the space for the nerves, so they’re not being compressed,” Bailey said. “That’s a degenerative (chronic and progressive) condition. I think in Ron’s case, it was pretty extensive from the upper part of the lumbar to the bottom.”
Cathy Hoerst said her pain had persisted for about three years. Her condition, called “spondylolisthesis,” is a slip in the spine. Bailey said that indicates some weakness or instability in the joints. She underwent a smaller laminectomy and had a spinal fusion.
Prior to deciding that surgery would be necessary for her, Cathy Hoerst met Mayfield nurse practitioner Brittany Riley in 2023, who helped her figure out the best course of action for her. That started with physical therapy first.
Riley said there are some people she meets with whom she feels an instant connection, and for her, that was Cathy Hoerst. From working through physical therapy with her and then deciding that surgery was the best course of action, to then getting to work with Ron Hoerst because of his wife’s positive experience.
Cathy Hoerst described Riley as “the girl who changed her life,” and said that she always remains positive.
“Part of the reason I’m a nurse is because I want to help people,” Riley said. “My job, whether it’s in the clinic or here in the hospital, is trying to get them through it and showing them the good side of what can happen and what can come and just trying to really help them have a good experience.”
One of the things that Mayfield did that Cathy Hoerst said helped her have a good experience was walking her through her back pain through photos.
“They showed you the pictures, and that meant a lot,” Cathy Hoerst said. “To say ‘This is exactly what’s going on. This is what it’s causing. This is how we can fix it.’ It was very weird to me, because I’m not a needle and shot person, but it was like I had no qualms about what you (doctors) were going to do, because you showed me exactly what you were going to do, and that made all the difference.”
Riley said in her role, she gets to see patients before surgery, in the hospital after surgery, and then oftentimes back in the office for their post-operation visit.
“I get to see the full circle of everything that happens, which is really awesome,” she said.
While Bailey said Mayfield sees plenty of patients who refer family members, this case was unique, with the couple undergoing surgery nine months apart. When measuring what success looks like for patients like Ron and Cathy Hoerst, Bailey said it’s getting them back to their daily routine, like being able to stand while cooking eggs and bacon in the morning.
“In this case, when they come to see me when they’re not able to live their life the way they want to do it, and being able to get back to living the way you want to and doing the things you want to do, that is a successful outcome,” Bailey said.
Cathy Hoerst said one of her biggest milestones after surgery was giving up the walker, and Ron Hoerst getting rid of the cane. Even something as routine as a trip to the grocery store on her own is something she celebrated.
The couple said they look forward to traveling once they have fully recovered. Ron Hoerst is about 14 months post-operation, and Cathy Hoerst is about five months.
“He removed the truck off the hose, but the hose still has to fluff back up,” Ron Hoerst said.
Cathy Hoerst said that if someone is hesitant to seek care, they should just do it because the pain is not worth putting up with, though the couple both admit that deciding to undergo surgery was an easier decision while being retired.
“When I started driving, and my leg didn’t hurt, it was like, ‘Yeah, I should have done this a while ago,’” Cathy Hoerst said.
