After losing her mobility, Susan Thomas is thankful that HSC helped her return to an active, fulfilling life

After struggling with deteriorating mobility for nearly 18 months, Susan Thomas was diagnosed with a spinal meningioma tumour on her T6 and T7 vertebrae.
“Every morning, I’d wake up and notice something else wasn’t working the way it should,” explains long-time Winnipeg resident Susan Thomas*. “My balance was completely off. Even standing up to brush my teeth became a struggle.”
Thomas, a dedicated accountant, had always embraced an active lifestyle. But in April 2022, she began noticing changes in her balance and mobility.
Thomas continued to experience a slow decline in her ability to move over the course of a year. By June 2023, she was struggling to walk, couldn’t drive, and had difficulty getting to and from work.
“I had no control over my legs. It was almost like I had experienced a spinal cord injury,” she remembers.
She was also experiencing painful muscle spasms or tightness that increased in intensity. The tightness restricted her ability to bend certain areas of her legs or feet and when she tried to move or stretch the muscles, it would aggravate the nerves, causing further pain. Thomas’s world shrank to the confines of her home.
“I haven’t been able to go to work for the past five months, and I couldn’t navigate through my house,” she says. “I was afraid to walk the dogs on my own because if I fell, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back up.”
Determined to find answers, Thomas consulted her family doctor, a sports doctor, a physiotherapist, and a chiropractor. Despite her efforts, no one could diagnose the cause of her mobility issues.
In August, Thomas was referred for an MRI by a sports doctor, which revealed a tumour just outside her spinal cord at the T6 and T7 vertebrae. The MRI results were sent to Health Sciences Centre (HSC), where she met with Neurosurgeon, Dr. Neil Berrington.
Dr. Berrington diagnosed her tumour as spinal meningioma, a type of tumour that arises from the protective layers surrounding the spinal cord and brain. These tumours are generally benign (non-cancerous), but they can still cause significant problems. Spinal meningiomas can occur for a variety of reasons, including genetic factors, cellular origins, radiation exposure, and hormonal influence.
Dr. Berrington also identified her painful muscle spasms as muscle spasticity, which occurred as a result of the tumour compressing the spinal cord and nerves.
Forty-eight hours after her initial consultation appointment with Dr. Berrington, Thomas underwent a six-hour surgery at HSC. The successful surgery removed the entire tumour. Typical to most spinal meningioma tumours, hers was benign and had a zero-to-five per cent chance of reoccurring.
Thomas recounts the day of surgery, remembering being overwhelmed with anxiety.
“I was so scared and nervous, but I was treated with respect, with kindness, and on top of that I received great medical care,” she says. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
Post-op, Thomas spent six days recovering at HSC before beginning her rehabilitation journey.

Following spine surgery at HSC, Susan Thomas embraced rehab, physiotherapy, and walking-assistance tools to regain her ability to walk independently.
Once cleared for activity, she began walking with a walker, gradually transitioning to a cane and eventually regaining her ability to walk independently.
“My biggest fear was that my mobility was never going to come back,” she says. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am for HSC, for Dr. Berrington, and his entire team. Being able to move again…it’s almost like being set free.”
Today, Thomas is back to her regular routine of working, attending weekly fitness classes, and walking her dogs.
“To say that Dr. Berrington and his team changed my life is an understatement,” says Thomas.
Please support Operation Excellence—a community campaign for surgical innovation at HSC Winnipeg —to improve care for patients like Susan Thomas. To learn more about Operation Excellence and to make your donation, visit OperationExcellence.ca.
*Name and case details have been changed to maintain anonymity
By Jen Golletz