From Wheelchair to Dance Floor: A Remarkable Recovery After Spinal Surgery

After a mystery ailment left Tanya Salinas in a wheelchair, specialists at Baptist Health Miami Neuroscience Institute were able to get her walking again, just in time to dance at her daughter’s wedding.
[Transcript]
[Tanya] Well, my name is Tanya Salinas. I'm married to my wife Maria Teresa, and we have two children, adult children. My daughter just recently got married. I was able to go see her get married this year 'cause we weren't sure for a while if I was going to be able to make it 'cause I couldn't walk. I was 15 when I was diagnosed with scoliosis, and they fixed that by putting some rods in my back and some pins. Then I had some herniated disc, both in cervical and lumbar, and I had to have those fixed. I recovered from that and managed to still play sports. I went to university with a scholarship for softball, and I've had a very active lifestyle since then. Never had any issues until recently. My first symptoms that I remember was actually my toe on my right foot getting numb, which was bothersome but not incredibly troublesome. But my foot started going numb about a couple months later. They could not figure out why I was losing feeling, and I could feel it slowly creeping up my legs. I was frustrated. I had tried physical therapy at that point with no success. It kept getting worse. Very frustrated, I spoke to my wife, and she said, "Let me call the Miami Neuroscience Institute and see if we can get in." And that's when I saw Dr. Morgan.
- [Richard] When Tanya first came to my office, she had a very comprehensive and thorough workup from various specialists outside of our facility because it was gradually progressive and it was getting worse very fast. So I knew there was something missing.
- [Tanya] He was pretty adamant that it has something to do with my spine. I had numerous MRIs that came back inconclusive.
- Because Tanya had a childhood history of scoliosis surgery and because the hardware was so old at this time, it had an incredible amount of surrounding metallic artifact, and therefore every time individuals would look at her spinal canal, you just couldn't see what was there.
- [Richard] I decided to take a different approach and I ordered a study that's not typically ordered.
- [Robert] Tanya had seen not only other doctors about this issue, but she had seen other neurosurgeons, and it wasn't until Dr. Morgan thought to obtain this study that we really found what the issue was.
- [Richard] I'm glad that we did because we were able to identify a very large tumor and we were able to remove it thanks to Dr. Rothrock.
- [Robert] A spinal meningoma is a type of mostly benign tumor that, in this case, would originate from the lining surrounding the spinal cord.
- Even though it was a bad diagnosis, at least I knew what it was.
- So everybody was on the same page within an hour of the study being done. So I think that really highlights the team approach that we have here, the interdisciplinary approach here, and I think that really separates the Miami Neuroscience Institute from other facilities.
- I was in Baptist Hospital for 30 days. They basically got me up and walking again.
- [Robert] If you let this diagnosis or this condition progress too much, you'll reach a point of likely irreversible spinal cord injury.
- At the Miami Neuroscience Institute, they did listen to me. They made sure that I got the treatment that I needed. That feeling when I went to see my daughter at her wedding when I was there with my entire family, it was pure joy. It was pure joy that I got the opportunity to see my daughter get married, and that was a miracle. I feel like I got a second chance at life.

[@mariasalinas1559]

8/31/24
I just finished watching this amazing video that brought teats to my eyes! That is my daughter Tanya's story. Her whole family was loosing hope that anything could be done while we saw her wither away. Doctor after doctor and no reason for her paralysis could be found. I cried so much during those months but I knew Tanya has a fighting spirit and would not give up. Surgery lasted 8 1/2 hours and recovery was brutal but she was standing on her feet 2 days later and walking when she went to inpatient physical therapy for weeks. Her wife Marite NEVER left her side and was her advocate while she was hospitalized. When Dr Rothrock said she could get in a plane to attend her daughter's wedding she was very excited. Now she's starting to do the things she could not do before like driving.
Thank you Dr. Norman, Dr Rothrock and the whole team of nurses and therapists thar got her where she is now.
Thank you for giving the old Tanya back!