determined physician assistant finds solution for Barb’s

Debilitating Pain

Barb Erbstoesser was determined to find what was causing the debilitating pain in her left hip and leg. And so was the Essentia Health physician assistant she consulted.

Erbstoesser had slipped on ice while climbing into her sport utility vehicle and landed awkwardly with one leg in the vehicle and the other outside. She’d spent months visiting medical professionals and undergoing a battery of tests. The pain had forced her to use crutches, a cane and prescription medicines. Erbstoesser couldn’t sleep and was missing days from the job she loves, working as executive director of the West Fargo Park District.

A referral from Erbstoesser’s nurse practitioner brought her to Crystal Knutson, a physician assistant in the Neurosurgery Department at the Essentia Health 32nd Avenue Clinic in Fargo.

“I remember the first time I met with Crystal,” Erbstoesser says. “She looked me in the eye and said, ‘I’m going to get you feeling better’ and I felt I’d gotten to the right place. She gave me confidence that she would help me.”

Knutson listened closely to how Erbstoesser described her symptoms. “She was tearful and I knew her pain was completely legitimate,” the physician assistant recalls of the 54-year-old West Fargo woman. “She was missing days at work, and work was important to her. It wasn’t in her character.”

Knutson carefully reviewed Erbstoesser’s medical record, looking for clues. When standard treatments didn’t help, Knutson took a second look at Erbstoesser’s MRI and noticed an abnormal bulge very close to where a major nerve root left her spine. It was an atypical herniated disk, tucked away near the nerve that could be causing Erbstoesser’s symptoms.

Knutson consulted with a radiologist who concurred. She then ordered an injection to block the nerve, both to test her diagnosis and give Erbstoesser some relief. “It was an ‘aha! moment,’” Erbstoesser recalls of her pain disappearing. Her relief lasted until the medicine wore off a few weeks later.

That’s when Knutson teamed up with Dr. Jason Kelly, an Essentia Health spine surgeon. He reviewed Erbstoesser’s MRI and medical record and agreed she was a good candidate for herniated disk surgery.

“They came in together with a plan,” Erbstoesser recalls. “I wanted to go forward with the surgery because I truly believed I’d get better.”

After a successful outpatient surgery last January, Erbstoesser recovered at home for two weeks before returning to work. She followed her medical restrictions, which meant no downhill skiing this season with her husband, Mark, and daughter Paige. Now she’s eager to get back to enjoying all her daughter’s activities and the family’s active lifestyle.

“I felt better after a week and felt like myself again,” Erbstoesser says, recalling the toll that the pain and her inability to sleep had taken on her physical and emotional well-being. “The relentless aching down my leg was gone right away after surgery.”

Kelly says that’s one of the rewarding parts of his job: “Patients often say their deep pain is gone while they’re still in the recovery room.”

“I convinced myself that no one could help me and I’d have to deal with this pain forever,” Erbstoesser says. “I’m glad I didn’t cancel that appointment with Crystal.”

Kelly and Knutson praise Erbstoesser’s persistence. “Barb kept seeking out answers,” Kelly says. “Our team takes time with every patient so we can get to the bottom of a problem. Barb’s case really was solved because Crystal decided to take another look at the MRI.”

“Our neurosurgery team really listens to our patients and we dig deeper,” Knutson says.

TO

Make An Appointment

with Physician Assistant Crystal Knutson, Dr. Jason Kelly or another member of the Essentia Health neurosurgery team, call 701-364-4661.