Manitoba mother of two, Janis Ollson, was literally cut in two and put back together again, all in a bid to save her from potentially fatal bone cancer.
The surgery actually took place about three years ago, but the 31-year-old's story is just getting attention now, thanks in part to the power of the Internet.
Ollson, who lives in Balmoral, Man., was diagnosed with bone cancer shortly after delivering her second child. She had complained of pain in the hips and back during the pregnancy, which doctors ascribed to sciatica.
But doctors later found she had chondrosarcoma in her lower spine, pelvis and surrounding muscle tissue. They told her that chemotherapy and radiation wouldn't stop the cancer and that the only option would be to remove the diseased bone.
But the orthopedic surgeries Ollson consulted said that although they could remove the bones, they said they didn't know how to put her back together again.
Her doctors turned for help to surgeons at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. There, orthopedic surgeon Michael Yaszemski said he thought he could help.
He had been working on a method for removing the lower spine, splitting the pelvis in half and removing the left leg. His team would then take a part of the left leg, attach it to the smaller pelvis, shift the pelvis over and reattach it to her spine. Yaszemski said the procedure would leave Ollson relatively mobile.
The one catch was that the experimental "pogo stick" reconstruction had only been tried on cadavers, so Ollson would be the first living patient to attempt it. Faced with certain death, Ollson agreed and the 20-hour surgery that involved eight surgeons went ahead.
Now, three years later, Ollson is able to walk with a prosthetic hip and leg and a walker, although she prefers to use a wheelchair at home.
Meanwhile, the calls from media outlets who want to hear her story are coming in, thanks to a local newspaper reporter in Winnipeg. The reporter had noticed an ad for the Mayo Clinic featuring the Ollson family and called Janis to hear her story.
In the two weeks since the newspaper article appeared, Fox News, ABC News, NBC News, People magazine and media overseas have all picked up the story, suddenly making the Manitoba mother a celebrity for a surgery she had three years ago.
Since Olsson's surgery, three others have had it; just one young woman has survived.
