Dr. Melissa Macias is a respected presence in the Milwaukee medical community and practices neurosurgery with Aurora Health Care. While a spine surgeon with the Swedish American Health System in Illinois in 2010, Dr. Melissa Macias handled a complex case involving Eliza, the victim of a car that sped into her lane and collided with her vehicle at a speed of 100 miles per hour. Eliza was the sole survivor of the wreck and received sedation at the hospital for five days, in order to address serious spinal and brain trauma. Dr. Macias subsequently performed an XLIF Corpectomy procedure that lasted eight hours and was the only viable way of avoiding permanent paralysis.The day following surgery, still sedated, Eliza was successful in walking with the assistance of hospital personnel and a walker. Following another 18 days in the hospital, she was released to a rehabilitation center where she began the laborious process of relearning how to walk. Despite minimal left quad strength due to nerve damage and partial paralysis, Eliza could achieve pull-ups and push-ups within a two month period and ultimately progressed to outpatient physical therapy. An avid runner before the accident, within a year of the trauma Eliza was able to recover enough to take part in a 5k fun run.
An experienced neurosurgeon, Dr. Melissa Macias has practiced with Aurora Health Care in Milwaukee, providing patients with quality treatment for issues of the nervous system. Community focused, Dr. Melissa Macias served as a volunteer with Medical, Eye, and Dental International Care Organization’s (MEDICO) mission to Honduras while in medical school. A humanitarian service organization that has focused on health care efforts in Central America over the past quarter century, MEDICO organizes short-term medical teams that provide comprehensive services to patients in vulnerable communities. MEDICO relies on the efforts of medical and non-medical volunteers and places program participants for seven to 10 days with local partnering organizations. Mission participants are not required to speak Spanish, as interpreters assist in ensuring that communication barriers do not pose a major issue. Accommodations vary widely and range from small basic hotels in town to tents in remote regions of Honduras and Nicaragua. In certain cases, volunteers may be put up in village schools or churches arranged by village leaders. One of the common comments of participants regards the way in which their perspectives are enriched through connecting with families and children and ensuring that they receive urgently needed care.
