Amana family known for great service impressed by neurosurgeons’ dedication to excellent patient care
When Carol Zuber praises University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics for excellent service, she speaks from experience. High-quality service runs in her family.
For many years, Zuber’s family served the community—and visitors from near and far—by operating popular and successful businesses in the Amana colonies of eastern Iowa.
Carol’s father, Harold Schuerer, grew up in the Amanas and helped his family manage the Amana Meat Shop. In 1982, Harold began operating the Barn Restaurant, and together with his wife, Helen, and the rest of the family, they built their reputation as hardworking and welcoming hosts in a community renowned for its hospitality.
Carol, 61, of Amana, appreciates that UI Health Care has treated her family with the same kind of dedication to service that guided the way her family treated customers.
One example of that dedication, Carol says, is the extra attention that she, her mother, and her father have received from UI neurosurgeon Jeremy D. Greenlee, MD.
Removing a brain tumor
In 2009, Carol noticed that her mother, Helen, had dizzy spells and couldn’t keep her balance. During a trip to Colorado, Helen fell and hit her head.
“I was concerned about my mother because she wasn’t acting like her normal self,” Carol says. “She had always been very fit.”
An MRI revealed a brain tumor. When she returned home to Iowa, Helen was able to get an appointment almost immediately with Greenlee, who performed surgery to remove the tumor within weeks.
“She was in the hospital two nights and never had a headache,” Carol says.
Going the extra mile
At the same time, she says, Greenlee went the extra mile to help her father, Harold, overcome some pain that wouldn’t go away.
Greenlee suggested that Harold consider undergoing some tests to see if his condition could be treated. He was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spaces between the vertebrae that was putting pressure on nerves in his spine.
Greenlee performed surgery “with great results,” Carol says, and Harold was able to walk without pain again.
In 2018, after trying physical therapy, chiropractic care, and other methods to control her back pain, Carol finally turned to Greenlee for advice. He referred her to UI neurosurgeon Matthew A. Howard, MD, who diagnosed spondylitis, an inflammation of the spine.
Howard performed a laminectomy, cleaning out the affected area of her spine without having to resort to spinal fusion or screws.
“I was very happy with his diagnosis and what he did for me,” Carol says. “Just one to two nights there and I was home. It was wonderful.”
The best care ‘in our own backyard’
Harold passed away in 2015. Helen, 88, remains healthy. Carol is grateful for all of the expertise and compassion they’ve received over the years from specialized teams of physicians, nurses, and staff—not just in neurosurgery but also in urology, orthopedics, heart care, and more—so close to home.