Cheryl Gillis-Smith had been living with pain for several years before she considered surgery. But when the pain got so bad that she couldn’t continue the job she loved — working as a nurse at BMC — she turned to orthopedic surgeon Chadi Tannoury, MD,
the medical director of Orthopedic Surgery Department, for help.
“I had been on long-term steroid treatment for a medical condition, and it caused my bones to weaken, so my lumbar spine deteriorated,” she says. “My back pain was quickly getting worse.”
Cheryl had been seeing Eduard Vaynberg, MD, director of the Chronic Pain Management Clinic, for steroid injections. But as her pain worsened in the spring of 2023, Vaynberg recommended she see Tannoury.
“He told me that Chadi was the best in the city,” she says. “I never thought I would have surgery. But the pain was getting so bad, I decided to meet with him.”
What she heard made her nervous. "Dr. Tannoury was very honest. He told me I would need an extensive and staged surgery over two days, where they would replace all the discs in my lower spine by going into my abdomen first, followed by placing screws and rods to correct my scoliosis. He told me “If you can live the way you are and you can still function, I would recommend that… But if you can not, then a complex surgery will help."
By September, Cheryl realized living in pain was no longer possible. "I had to take a medical leave from work because I couldn’t stand up. The pain was excruciating. I knew surgery was my only option to stay active."
She underwent a complex minimally invasive thoracic-lumbar-pelvis fusion surgery on December 26. "It was staged over two days period, but Dr. Tannoury was so kind and professional, and so humble."
Immediately after surgery, Cheryl recalls waking with no pain in her legs.
"The leg pain had been the most excruciating, and I was so relieved it was gone. When the physical therapist came in to walk me, I told her I didn’t need the walker."
Now, ten months after surgery, Cheryl feels great. "I can walk four miles and don’t have pain," she says. “I got absolutely great care, and I am so grateful and appreciative. Dr. Tannoury gave me my life back, and I feel like if I had surgery somewhere else, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”