When one emergency uncovered another, rapid spine care and coordinated cancer treatment helped turn a crisis into recovery.
For most of his life, Taurus Dean, 57, had been able to shrug off back tightness. Every now and then, something would flare up, feel stiff for a bit, and then fade. When that familiar tightness returned last May, he didn’t panic.
He went to his regular doctor, who told Taurus to stretch and exercise. When nothing improved, Taurus made another appointment, this time with a physician who ordered an X-ray and then scheduled an MRI to get a clearer picture of what might be going on.
But Taurus never made it to that MRI. Before the scan could happen, Taurus collapsed at home. “Suddenly, my legs just stopped working,” Taurus recalled.
“I couldn’t walk. I called a friend, and he called an ambulance to take me to MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center.
“They did the imaging, and that’s when we found it: a mass in my mid-back pressing on my spinal cord.”
When Taurus arrived at MedStar Southern Maryland, Matthew Cooper, MD, CRSP, the attending emergency department physician, reviewed the MRI and quickly called in David A. Weiner, MD, MS, an orthopaedic spine surgeon, to perform an emergency spinal laminectomy and fusion—surgery designed to relieve pressure on the spinal cord and protect function.
In Taurus’ case, the compression was caused by a mass in his mid-thoracic spine that was pressing on his spinal cord and causing a spinal cord injury. That pressure is what made his legs suddenly stop working. The emergency decompression and fusion procedure relieved that pressure by creating more space around the spinal cord and removing the mass causing the “pinch.” This gave the spinal cord a chance to recover before the damage became permanent.
The next day brought a moment Taurus describes with emotion: “I could move my foot. I could stand. And I could take a step. I was so grateful for Dr. Weiner’s skills, and so grateful to God. I knew I couldn’t get through this without both.”
With one emergency successfully de-escalated, there was still an additional shock to come: the mass removed from Taurus’ spine was malignant, a plasmacytoma caused by multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer.
Multiple myeloma can be hard to spot early; some people have no obvious symptoms and are diagnosed through routine bloodwork, while others may notice fatigue, bone pain, weakness, anemia, kidney problems, or frequent infections. Taurus also fit key risk considerations: he’s African American, approaching his 60s, and his mother had multiple myeloma.
“In hindsight, that back tightness I couldn’t shake wasn’t just a nuisance,” Taurus says. “It was my early warning sign.” According to Ankit Madan, MD, co-medical director of MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute and Taurus’ hematologist-oncologist at MedStar Southern Maryland, spinal cord compression is often already well underway by the time symptoms appear. The sooner it’s addressed, the better the chances of regaining neurological function.
During his spine surgery rehab, Taurus began radiation therapy and induction chemotherapy. He was then referred to Jennifer Kanakry, MD, medical director of our Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Immunotherapy program. Taurus began working with Dr. Kanakry to plan an autologous bone marrow (stem cell) transplant—an approach often used to help patients achieve a deeper remission and keep the cancer under control longer.
Now months out from Taurus’ initial collapse, Dr. Weiner credits his patient’s progress to his courage and to the team’s coordinated effort across specialties: “To see Taurus go from such an urgent crisis to being fully reengaged in his life— that’s why we do what we do. It’s what gets me up in the morning.”
For Taurus, that same turnaround also deepened the faith that has always anchored him. “Throughout everything, I kept coming back to the same things: gratitude and praise. Wherever God’s going to take me, that’s where I’m going to go. You just have to believe in your doctors—and I believe, for sure,” he says.
“I am truly grateful for Dr. Cooper, Dr. Weiner, Dr. Madan, Dr. Kanakry, Cara Trainor, ACNP MSN, and everyone else who has played a part in my recovery,” Taurus continues. “Their kindness, support, and unwavering professionalism made me feel safe and comfortable every step of the way. There wasn’t a single question they couldn’t answer, and they always helped keep me calm.
“I am still in awe of how far I’ve come, and each of my clinicians will always be an important part of my recovery and growth. Thank you so much for everything—you will never be forgotten.”
Today, Taurus is walking unassisted. His cancer is in complete remission. And he hopes his story lands as both a warning and a reassurance. Above all, Taurus says, “I want people to have optimism. Hearing that six-letter word, cancer, is heartbreaking. But we’re in a time now when cancer can be treated better than ever before. So have faith.”
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