When Sarah was a teenager, she began experiencing severe hip pain that seemed to radiate into her knee. For years, her symptoms were dismissed. Eventually, an MRI revealed the cause: a schwannoma tumor compressing nerves in her lumbar spine and occupying nearly 95% of her spinal canal. Sarah shares the fear, validation and relief that came with finally getting a diagnosis and undergoing specialized spine surgery with Ali Bydon, director of the Division of Spine Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Dr. Bydon removed the tumor, enabling Sarah to return to a normal, functioning life. #spineschwannoma #johnshopkinsmedicine #spinesurgery https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology-neurosurgery/specialty-areas/spine