{"id":125093,"date":"2025-09-12T22:43:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T03:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=125093"},"modified":"2025-09-12T23:39:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T04:39:04","slug":"overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming the Odds: A Patient’s Journey from Chronic Pain to Thriving Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

For nearly 30 years, Karen Linnell lived with chronic back pain that started during her first pregnancy.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As a physical therapist, she tried everything she knew to ease the discomfort\u2014but nothing worked. By 2020, even sitting for a few minutes became unbearable, leaving her feeling hopeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Determined to find relief, Karen sought help from orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Chris Cornett<\/a>, who diagnosed severe arthritis in her lower spine. Initially hesitant about surgery, Karen explored every noninvasive option. But as her pain grew worse, she made the courageous decision to undergo an anterior lumbar fusion.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Karen Linnell with Dr. Chris Cornett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In July 2022, Dr. Cornett performed the procedure, stabilizing her spine without cutting muscle. Though recovery was difficult, Karen stayed committed to her rehabilitation plan. Eight weeks later, she began to feel real relief, and by October, she was back to work and enjoying life pain-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Karen is hiking, active, and living without limits. Her experience not only gave her a new lease on life but also reshaped how she approaches her work as a physical therapist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re struggling with back pain, don\u2019t give up,\u201d she encourages. \u201cIt\u2019s okay to feel scared, but trust in the process. Dr. Cornett\u2019s expertise and compassionate care changed my life, and I\u2019m forever grateful to him for helping me reclaim the life I love.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Chris Cornett helped a patient overcome chronic pain she had endured for nearly 30 years – bringing relief and renewed quality of life. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","author_override-unmc-department-of-orthopaedic-surgery-and-rehabilitation"],"yoast_head":"\nOvercoming the Odds: A Patient's Journey from Chronic Pain to Thriving Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Chris Cornett helped a patient overcome chronic pain she had endured for nearly 30 years - bringing relief and renewed quality of life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Overcoming the Odds: A Patient's Journey from Chronic Pain to Thriving Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Chris Cornett helped a patient overcome chronic pain she had endured for nearly 30 years - bringing relief and renewed quality of life.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-13T03:43:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-13T04:39:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Cornett_Web-Newsletter.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Faith Buso\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Faith Buso\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Faith Buso\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/661daf81bb5a607a7466d1bc80af80d9\"},\"headline\":\"Overcoming the Odds: A Patient’s Journey from Chronic Pain to Thriving Life\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-13T03:43:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-13T04:39:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":237,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/Cornett_Web-Newsletter.png\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\\\/\",\"name\":\"Overcoming the Odds: A Patient's Journey from Chronic Pain to Thriving Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/Cornett_Web-Newsletter.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-13T03:43:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-13T04:39:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"Dr. Chris Cornett helped a patient overcome chronic pain she had endured for nearly 30 years - bringing relief and renewed quality of life.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/Cornett_Web-Newsletter.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/Cornett_Web-Newsletter.png\",\"width\":900,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Overcoming the Odds: A Patient’s Journey from Chronic Pain to Thriving Life\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/overview-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/overview-1.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":153,\"caption\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/unmcedu\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/unmc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/instagram.com\\\/iamunmc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/UNMCEDU\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/661daf81bb5a607a7466d1bc80af80d9\",\"name\":\"Faith Buso\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/author\\\/a8f15eda80c50adb0e71943adc8015cf\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Overcoming the Odds: A Patient's Journey from Chronic Pain to Thriving Life","description":"Dr. Chris Cornett helped a patient overcome chronic pain she had endured for nearly 30 years - bringing relief and renewed quality of life.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Overcoming the Odds: A Patient's Journey from Chronic Pain to Thriving Life","og_description":"Dr. Chris Cornett helped a patient overcome chronic pain she had endured for nearly 30 years - bringing relief and renewed quality of life.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","article_published_time":"2025-09-13T03:43:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-13T04:39:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Cornett_Web-Newsletter.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Faith Buso","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@unmc","twitter_site":"@unmc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Faith Buso","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/"},"author":{"name":"Faith Buso","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/661daf81bb5a607a7466d1bc80af80d9"},"headline":"Overcoming the Odds: A Patient’s Journey from Chronic Pain to Thriving Life","datePublished":"2025-09-13T03:43:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-13T04:39:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/"},"wordCount":237,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Cornett_Web-Newsletter.png","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/","name":"Overcoming the Odds: A Patient's Journey from Chronic Pain to Thriving Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Cornett_Web-Newsletter.png","datePublished":"2025-09-13T03:43:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-13T04:39:04+00:00","description":"Dr. Chris Cornett helped a patient overcome chronic pain she had endured for nearly 30 years - bringing relief and renewed quality of life.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Cornett_Web-Newsletter.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Cornett_Web-Newsletter.png","width":900,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/overcoming-the-odds-a-patients-journey-from-chronic-pain-to-thriving-life\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Overcoming the Odds: A Patient’s Journey from Chronic Pain to Thriving Life"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization","name":"University of Nebraska Medical Center","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","width":500,"height":153,"caption":"University of Nebraska Medical Center"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","https:\/\/x.com\/unmc","https:\/\/instagram.com\/iamunmc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/UNMCEDU"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/661daf81bb5a607a7466d1bc80af80d9","name":"Faith Buso","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/a8f15eda80c50adb0e71943adc8015cf\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125093"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125738,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125093\/revisions\/125738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}