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Patient Testimonials

If you are a patient who has been treated by Dr. Heffez and would like to share your experience with others, please e-mail us by clicking here.

Tamra P.
03/22/2004

"In June 2001, I had a ruptured brain aneurysm (subarachnoid hemorrhage) and was treated by Dr. Heffez after being air lifted to the Chicago hospital where Dr. Heffez worked; thanks to my internist, Dr. Phillip Branshaw. Today, no one can tell that I had such a life altering experience, and because of Dr. Heffez's skill I only spent five days in rehab. My life changed in many ways that day, but the most significant change (besides surviving the brain aneurysm) was meeting Dr. Heffez and his staff. It is because of chronic migraines that I knew something was wrong the day I had the aneurysm. I experienced a very bad headache and pain in my neck; the headache was unlike any migraine I had ever experienced.

Before the aneurysm, I had experienced migraine headaches, numbness and tingling in my arms and feet, pain in my neck, back, eyes, bottom of my feet, and other symptoms too numerous to mention for over twenty-six years. Before being treated by Dr. Heffez for the aneurysm, I had seen eight neurologists. Their standard response to my complaints was "that's normal for migraines suffers" and dismissed me. In 1997, I even lost my job because my boss told me, "to find a cure for my headaches." Dr. Heffez told me my complaints, "weren't normal" and performed a few simple tests, a MRI with my neck in a normal, flexed, and extended. He and his staff treated me with respect and courtesy and diagnosed me with cervical myelopathy in 2003.

Dr. Heffez performed a decompression and fusion of my spine. I have had many surgeries in my life, but none have had such life altering effects as this one. Almost every morning since approximately June 1977, I have woken with a headache of some degree. Migraines abounded in my life. It was impossible to plan my life, because I never knew if I would have a "normal" day. Migraines lasted three to four days at a time, and I had two to three a month. Occasionally, my migraines lasted up to ten days. Sometimes, the headaches would start on the right side of my head, stay for three days and then mosey over to left side and stay for three days. Since my cervical myelopathy surgery in September 2003, I no longer wake up with headaches. I rarely have headaches that last for three, six, or ten days. I still have an occasional headache, but I can now plan my days. I know that I can plan to do something with my son and know that a headache won't alter those plans. When Brandon was first born, I use to hire someone to come into my home and take care of him, because I was too sick. Food doesn't effect me. Weather doesn't effect me. Essentially the nerves aren't being crushed in my neck, and now I am in grad school. I am confident that I can meet the requirements set by the University to graduate.

Without Dr. Heffez, Nurse Practioner Robert Gottschalk, Megan, and Melissa, and the staff at Saint Joseph Hospital I wouldn't be able to experience life headache free. I wouldn't even know what life without headaches is like!"

Cheryl S.
01/15/2004

"It has been 26 months since my surgery for cervical spinal stenosis was performed by Dr. Heffez. My life has improved very much. I went from approximately 18 migraine headaches per month to 2-6 a month. I was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis for 22 years. I then viewed the 20/20 report Can Surgery Cure Chronic Fatigue. I sent my MRI scans to Dr. Heffez for evaluation. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. It has turned out to be on the best things I have done in my life. I was discouraged from seeking Dr. Heffez's opinion and was laughed at by other doctors who treated me. I can never thank Dr. Heffez enough. God truly works through his hands. He will never know the sense of calm and peace that filled my soul when he looked at me and said, "We're going to help you." I only wish I had contacted him earlier. But better late than never. I could have ended up paralyzed and it would have been blamed on the MS.

To anyone reading this with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, chronic migraines, or MS, an MRI scan is painless and will let the doctors know if your problem is actually cervical spinal stenosis. But the MRI scan is only as good as the medical facility that takes it and the doctor who reads it. Over 22 years, I had six MRI scans and not one doctor detected the stenosis of my cervical spine that was causing the problems I was having. My quality of life was poor and I don't know how I survived except to say the human spirit is strong and that you hope and pray things will get better somehow. I want to thank Dr. Heffez with all my heart for helping me to have a higher quality of life."

Karen S.
01/14/2004

"I am extremely grateful for the exceptional, reliable, sound medical advice and treatment I received from Dr. Heffez and the entire professional team at Heffez Neurosurgical Associates. They have been my singular beacon of hope through two very difficult years of pain and uncertainty. Thanks to the skills, patience, and attentiveness of the staff, my good health was restored.

I am a 45 year-old female with a history of systemic lupus erythematosus, dystonia, and antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. In June 2001, I sustained a "trivial" fall to my head and neck. When I first wrote to Dr. Heffez in July 2003, I was experiencing a wide variety of symptoms, including chronic daily headache, neck spasms, nausea, numbness in my face and extremities, bladder problems, insomnia, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties. My upper body strength had deteriorated to the point where I was dropping things out of my hands. I had difficulty maintaining balance and judging distances, and had fallen several times. I consulted many excellent physicians in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including doctors at Johns Hopkins University Hospital and the National Institutes of Health, but was unable to obtain a diagnosis. Despite numerous interventions including analgesics, antidepressants, muscle relaxants, nerve blocks, and botox injections, I became increasingly more symptomatic and began to develop signs of fibromyalgia.

In September 2003, at Dr. Heffez's request, I underwent neuroradiological imaging of my brain and spine. I also had a complete physical examination and psychological interview. I was examined with my neck in neutral, flexed, and extended positions. It was the most thorough and detailed neurological evaluation I have ever received. It revealed cervical spinal stenosis and myelopathy at the C5-6 and C6-7 levels. My MRI results, physical examination, and symptoms were consistent with compression of the cervical spinal cord. After immobilizing my neck for six weeks, Dr. Heffez performed a diskectomy and fusion on November 10, 2003.

My recovery over the past two months has been nothing short of remarkable. For the first time in two years, my hands and feet are warm. The headaches and numbness have subsided. The overall body aches are gone. The color has returned to my face! My upper body strength has increased three-fold and I've begun exercising again. I go to sleep rested and wake refreshed. My kids have their mom back.

Please express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed so patiently to my care, especially Drs. Heffez, Kohn, Kostas, Nurse Practitioner Robert Gottschalk, and the staff at Saint Joseph Hospital."

Tim M.
09/05/2003

"Dr Heffez did my surgery on March of 2000 just before my first son was born and without the surgery I would not have been able to participate in the birth. I just want to thank Dr. Heffez."