VALLEY STREAM, NY – An emergency spinal surgery at Franklin Hospital saved 73 year-old Concetta Zago, a resident of West Hempstead, from total paralysis. Ms. Zago who went from walking to paralyzed within 12 hours, praises Sebastian Lattuga, MD, and the orthopedic team at Franklin for saving her life and giving her the chance to fly to Sicily to see her family again.

 For months, Ms. Zago had been suffering from severe lower back pain that medications couldn’t seem to alleviate, causing lack of sleep, aggravation and loss of appetite. Her physician, Leonard Timpone, MD, of Franklin Square, referred her to Dr. Lattuga. One evening in June, Ms. Zago, who had never before been seriously ill, began to lose feeling in her limbs. She went to the hospital and by the next morning she could not move her arms or legs. “For an older person, paralysis of any kind is typically a precursor to death,” said Dr. Lattuga, chief of spine surgery at Franklin. “There was no time to wait—we had to operate.”

 After rushing in to the hospital, daughter Joanne Iacono and daughter-in-law Maria Zago signed the papers that authorized surgeons to perform two operations on Ms. Zago, lasting a total of six hours. It turns out that Ms. Zago’s lower back pain was due to an inflammation inside the bones in her neck, which required a laminectomy, a procedure that removes part of a vertebral bone and swollen tissue, to relieve the pressure on her spinal cord.

 Miraculously, within 48 hours of surgery Ms. Zago had regained 50 percent of her strength—after not being able to move. “In all the operations I have performed, I have never seen anything like this,” said Dr. Lattuga. “The ability to overcome complete paralysis is difficult in any case, and Ms. Zago was able to move her legs by the next morning. Our team acted swiftly and in a coordinated fashion to provide Ms. Zago with the care that she needed. I think the team at Franklin is second to none. Ms. Zago’s outcome is a testament to Franklin’s growing reputation for advanced orthopedic and spinal care in the region.”

Within six weeks, Ms. Zago had completed physical therapy and regained her independence with only one complaint—that she could not wear her high heels yet. “She already does everything by herself again and hasn’t experienced pain since the surgery,” said Ms. Iacono. “When we got her home, she told me ‘throw away all of my pills.’” Dr. Lattuga explained that thanks to more modern technologies, such as fusion to repair bones, that recovery from orthopedic spinal surgery is much faster than traditional surgery. “Franklin made her recovery process so easy from the swiftness of their decisions, to the amazing hotel-like unit, to Dr. Lattuga’s ability to speak Sicilain directly to my mom,” said Ms. Iacono. “Our whole, large, Italian family considers her recovery a miracle.” She will return to Sicily next year.

For a consultation with an orthopedic surgeon at Franklin Hospital, part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, call 516-256-ORTHO (6784).

Contact: Kristen Longo
516-465-2607
klongo@nshs.edu