Dee's Story

Dr. Samuel Schroerlucke Mazor Patient

Dee Minton has completed seven full marathons and twenty-five half marathons in her lifetime. She was a personal trainer in Indiana for eight years before moving to Memphis. She knows how to take care of her body and knows when to listen to it.

Dee was feeling extreme pain in what she thought was her hip. Her nurse practitioner sent her to orthopedic clinic when the pain didn’t go away and Dee learned the pain was originating in her back. The injury was a result of heavy lifting. “Due to the pain, I was totally removed from my daily routine,” she says. “It was so intense and I was always tired from fighting the pain.”

Her doctor referred her to Samuel Schroerlucke, M.D., orthopedic surgeon at Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis. Dr. Schroerlucke discovered that her L-4 lumbar disc had become dislodged and jumped over her L-5 lumbar disc. “I couldn’t believe it when Dr. Schroerlucke explained my back injury,” says Dee. “I have a pretty high tolerance for pain.” He recommended the Mazor spine procedure.

She had the surgery in March. “I was looking for relief and the surgery provided that for me,” Dee says. “I will continue to heal for a year but I already feel so much better than I did before the surgery. I am conscious about lifting and respecting what was done to my back due to repetitive heavy lifting. I am very thankful to have had the surgery and I’m so pleased with the results.”

Dee is ever grateful to Dr. Schroerlucke and the medical staff for delivering such a high quality of care and feels like it is her responsibility to share her story with others. “There has to be other people out there who are going through what I went through,” she says. “I want to share my remarkable experience with Dr. Schroerlucke and his team because there is hope for others too.”