Financial expert Suze Orman reveals the benign tumor she had surgically removed from her spine could have caused paralysis - as she says recovery was a 'journey to hell and back'
Suze Orman is warning people not to turn a blind eye to their health issues like she did as she recovers from a risky surgery to remove a benign tumor on her spine.
The 69-year-old financial expert admitted that she spent the better part of a year ignoring alarming symptoms, including loss of muscle control, because she was busy.
'I’ll never make that mistake again,' she told People of the surgery to remove the tumor, which could have caused paralysis if it continued to go untreated. 'That was a journey from hell and back.'
Words of advice: Suze Orman, 69, is warning people not to ignore their health issues after undergoing a risky 10-hour surgery to remove a benign tumor from her spine
Thumbs up: The financial expert admitted she had put off seeing a doctor the better part of a year. She had surgery two days after her diagnosis at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston
Orman first noticed something was off with her body when she was taping a PBS Special in Miami in late October. She had to walk up five steps to get to the stage, but couldn't get her right leg to lift her up.
The financial guru used the rail to pull herself up and shrugged off the incident after standing for about four to five hours straight while doing the show.
She later noticed that her right knee would sometimes buckle while on walks with her wife, Kathy 'KT' Travis, but she was distracted by her work.
Orman published her book The Ultimate Retirement Guide in February and was also focused on her new Women & Money app and podcast.
She knew how the coronavirus pandemic would affect the economy, and she feared not for her health, but for the people who were at risk of losing everything.
The author was quarantined in her home when her right arm started getting weaker. She had trouble holding her fork and difficult writing. Not only had she lost weight, but her wife noticed that her right leg was atrophying.
'She said, "Suze you lost all the muscle in your back of your leg,"' Orman recalled. 'Something was wrong. Something was obviously wrong.'
Scary symptoms: Orman suffered from loss of muscle control, and her wife of 10 years, Kathie 'KT' Travis noticed that her right leg was atrophying. They're pictured in 2016
The financier had X-rays done in early July, thinking she made need a hip or knee replacement, but they were fine. A few weeks later, she got an upper-body MRI and knew it was something serious when her doctor walked into the room.
The scans revealed that Orman's spinal cord was wrapped around a 3.2-centimeter schwannoma, a benign, slow-growing tumor that affects about one in a million people.
These tumors are rarely cancerous, according to the Mayo Clinic, but they can lead to nerve damage and loss of muscle control.
Orman's doctors think she made have had the rare tumor for 15 years or more without it ever being detected, and she is lucky it didn't lead to paralysis.
'One big jar and I would have been a quadriplegic,' she said. 'If I had twisted the wrong way, or I had been in a little car accident, or a little hit on the boat the wrong way, the spinal cord would have severed.'
Orman and Travis called Dr. Michael Groff, vice chairman of neurosurgery and the director of spinal neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
He begged her to let him remove the tumor, insisting that it wasn't a surgery that just anyone could do.
Nightmare: An MRI showed that her spinal cord was wrapped over a rare benign tumor that could have caused paralysis if it went untreated
Post-op: Two days after her surgery, Orman and Travis shared an update on her Facebook page
'Her surgery was more difficult than the typical case,' he told People. 'The spinal cord was draped over the back of the tumor, so we only had access to a very small part of the tumor.
'We can’t move the spinal cord out of the way, so we have to work around it,' he explained of the procedure.
A few days later, the entire tumor was removed during an extensive 10-hour surgery that was performed by Dr. Groff at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Travis said that while Orman was recovering in the hospital, she gave financial advice and lessons to the nurses and staff.
Two days after her surgery, Orman and Travis gave her fans a health update on her Facebook page.
'Everything that was unknown, has now become the known! After 12 hours of a very difficult and delicate surgery on Thursday, Suze came through with flying colors, even to the doctor's amazement,' the statement read.
'She is resting comfortably and now tackling her physical therapy homework!'
Orman, who had announced on her podcast that she was undergoing the surgery, has been recovering at her home in Florida.
The latest: Earlier this month, Orman spoke to her team member Sarah via FaceTime and gave her another update to share with fans
Earlier this month, her friend and team member Sarah posted another Facebook update for her fans.
'Suze and I just got off a FaceTime, and I can tell you, one week from her surgery she is getting better and stronger every day,' she wrote. 'I cannot express how much Suze and KT appreciate all of you sharing your love and prayers with them.'
Orman also couldn't resist having Sarah relay some financial advice to her fans as well as some words of wisdom.
'The best thing you can do in your entire life is to ground yourself in the healing energy of love for yourself, and your family and friends,' she said. 'This world needs positive energy more than we have ever needed it before.
'No one can count on anyone saving them, except for themselves. Don't be afraid, don't be angry, don't be ashamed. I am begging you all to be kind to each other, even with those that are not being kind and respectful to you.'
Orman, who is a New York Times bestselling author, became a household name after appearing as a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Larry King Live.
Her recent health scare has changed her outlook on life, and she has learned an important lesson about listening to her body.
'I’m making a lot of changes in my life and my money. I’m going to put it toward the women doctors that want to help women,' she told People. 'I have a whole different perspective on things.'
Financial expert Suze Orman reveals the benign tumor she had surgically removed from her spine could have caused paralysis - as she says recovery was a 'journey to hell and back'
![Financial expert Suze Orman reveals the benign tumor she had surgically removed from her spine could have caused paralysis - as she says recovery was a 'journey to hell and back']()
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August 21, 2020
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