Cathy & Ron's story

  Physical therapy, Surgical intervention

Different spine surgeries help Northern Kentucky couple get back on their feet

Mayfield surgeon Dr. Bailey performed the operations at St. Elizabeth

During their 47 years of marriage, Cathy and Ron have shared a lot. In the past two years, they have shared even more. Back pain. Weakness that extended down their legs. Physical therapy. Pain injections. Spine surgery – and now recovery.

"I wasn't too scared of surgery, because my Dad had done it," says Ron, whose surgery was about nine months before Cathy's. "My legs were starting to just give out on me. Where I was, I couldn't go on anymore. I was looking forward to it."

Only a few months after her operation in late 2025, Cathy is now walking nearly two miles at a time. She is working back to full activity, she says, but every day is better.

Ron and Cathy with their Mayfield Care Team

Both Ron and Cathy's surgeries were performed by Mayfield Brain & Spine neurosurgeon Dr. Steven Bailey at St. Elizabeth in Edgewood. Mayfield's Crestview Hills office is only 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.

Mayfield surgeons have operated at St. Elizabeth for more than 50 years, and the relationship between the two premier health care providers continues to grow. Four neurosurgeons, one interventional pain physician, two nurse practitioners and a full physical therapy team serve patients at the Northern Kentucky office, with additional providers to be added later this year.

The Mayfield physicians treat patients with spine disorders, brain tumors, Chiari malformation, facial pain and other conditions, as well as elective neurovascular procedures such as unruptured brain aneurysms and angiograms. St. Elizabeth has made substantial investments in equipment and infrastructure for neurosurgical patients. Mayfield providers work closely with St. Elizabeth neuroscience and critical care teams to personalize care for every patient.

Karen Tepe, director of Orthopaedics and Neurosciences at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, says the longstanding relationship with Mayfield continues to benefit Northern Kentucky patients by ensuring access to the leading neurosurgical care in the region.

"Our long-standing partnership with Mayfield Brain & Spine has expanded access to exceptional spine care in our community, Tepe says. "We're proud of this collaboration and excited for what the future holds."

For both Ron and Cathy, pain extending down the legs indicated a spine problem

Cathy's symptoms started several years ago, when she started losing feeling and strength in her right leg. She just tried to manage the pain and shift around to find a more comfortable spot.

Around Thanksgiving, she fell when a chair collapsed. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan showed spondylolisthesis, with one vertebra slipping over another. It also showed an ovarian cyst, and Cathy had surgery to remove it.

Ron's father had undergone surgery with a Mayfield physician, so Cathy trusted the care that the neurosurgery practice would provide for her spine. When she visited the office, she met nurse practitioner Brittany Riley, who helped navigate options and more conservative treatment before turning to surgery.

"That's the girl who changed my life," Cathy says of Riley. "She's just the most positive soul on Earth."

Riley says both Cathy and Ron were determined not to take shortcuts to get the relief they needed. When those didn't provide sustained relief, that led to Dr. Bailey's recommendation for surgery.

"We try to listen to each individual patients and let them tell us their symptoms and goals for treatment," Riley says. "Cathy and Ron both tried conservative treatments. When it became clear that the symptoms were persisting and even getting worse, they decided to try surgery. Even in recovery, they are taking every available step to get back to the life they want to live."

Cathy started sessions with physical therapist Jordan Earlywine and PT assistant Emily Begley. She underwent a pain injection with interventional pain physician Dr. Donald Carruthers. in the procedure suite located inside the Crestview Hills office. But eventually, the pain was shooting down her right leg into her foot. Even driving was painful.

Cathy didn't suffer much pain in her lower back itself, showing the importance of correctly diagnosing a spine problem based on symptoms in the extremities. Those symptoms can include shooting pain or numbness traveling down the arms or legs, so many patients often don't consider the spine as a possible source of the pain.

Ron says he had experienced discomfort in his feet for several years. He remembers washing dishes last Thanksgiving when he started to feel the weakness in his legs.

"I couldn't be on my feet for more than five minutes," he recalls. "There was one morning where I was making breakfast, and I ended up just lying on the floor. You just lose the ability to do things. It goes so gradually that you don't even know that you're losing it."

After the surgery with Dr. Bailey, Ron has seen the discomfort in his feet disappear. After surgery, he worked with physical therapist Jordan Earlywine and PT assistant Emily Begley, and he says the therapy has helped him regain full function. It still bothers him a little when he has to bend down or twist, but he's hoping he'll soon be able to cut firewood with his chainsaw.

"They just took such good care of us," Cathy says of all the Mayfield providers. "I can't say enough good things."

~ Cliff Peale

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