Getting Her Life Back

When Nicole Sullivan describes herself, she keeps it simple: "I have four children, and I love life."

That makes what she went through—and where she is today—all the more meaningful.

A former gymnast and competitive springboard and platform diver, Nicole spent years living with progressively worsening neck and back pain. Several injuries from her younger athletic years, including some frightening diving accidents, eventually caught up with her.

For eight years, she relied on pain management, epidural injections, and other treatments that provided temporary relief but never truly solved the problem.

Nicole wanted her life back. She also wanted to avoid taking pain medication whenever possible.

That search eventually brought her to Physicians Regional Healthcare System and neurosurgeon Amanda Sacino, MD, PhD, an independent member of the medical staff.

Dr. Sacino initially treated Nicole for cervical stenosis, or narrowing in the neck, that was putting pressure on the spinal cord and nerves. That surgery, performed in 2025, was not robotic.

After Nicole recovered, attention turned to her lower back, where she had spondylolisthesis—instability caused by one vertebra slipping relative to another—as well as spinal stenosis, or nerve compression. According to Dr. Sacino, arthritic changes caused both instability and pressure on the nerves.

The solution was a spinal fusion to stabilize Nicole's lower back, combined with microsurgery to remove the tissue compressing the nerves.

This time, robotics played an important role.

Dr. Sacino has specialized training in robotic and minimally invasive spine surgery, including fellowship training at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She has extensive experience with the Globus ExcelsiusGPS robotic system and is among a very small number of surgeons internationally to have performed more than 1,500 procedures using this technology.

The robot does not replace the surgeon. Instead, it helps the surgeon plan and precisely execute the procedure while minimizing disruption to surrounding tissue. Smaller incisions and less muscle disruption can help patients get moving sooner and potentially reduce pain, medication use, and recovery time.

For Nicole, the difference was significant.

"I was in the hospital overnight," she told me. She acknowledged staying an additional night for pain management but was amazed by what happened afterward. She was walking, exercising, and participating in physical therapy. After four days, she was no longer taking medication, and within approximately four months, she felt she was back to normal. By nine months, she was golfing.

And then came the real test.

"I went water skiing last weekend and tubing with my niece and nephew," Nicole said, laughing. Today, Nicole says there are no activities she feels uncomfortable doing. She hikes, runs, swims, and plays the sports she loves.

But her story is about more than Physicians Regional's access to the most advanced technology.

Nicole repeatedly praised the people who cared for her. She described Dr. Sacino as personable, accessible, and extraordinarily thorough. She also spoke warmly about Dr. Sacino's husband and colleague, Dr. Gregory Cannarsa, who was there alongside his wife, helping explain the procedure and answer Nicole's questions.

And Nicole had equally high praise for the Physicians Regional team.

She described the nurses as "amazing" and even nominated them for a DAISY Award. This international recognition program honors and celebrates the extraordinary, compassionate care that nurses provide to patients and families.

"Physicians Regional-Collier Boulevard has a robotic program modeled after the one at Johns Hopkins," explained Dr. Sacino. "Each patient has a checklist in their chart detailing specific nursing care provided before, during, and after surgery to ensure positive patient outcomes. This makes Physicians Regional-Collier Boulevard unique because they didn't just buy the technology; they also established a program to take care of the patients."

Nicole added that the team paid attention not only to her medical needs, but also to the small details that made recovery easier—from monitoring her incision and blood pressure to helping with meals, mobility, and pain management.

Physicians Regional Healthcare System's three Naples hospitals provide quality care to the Naples and greater Southwest Florida community, with the objective of offering more options and improved access to healthcare for residents and visitors. More than 800 physicians provide advanced medical care across more than 45 specialties and subspecialties, including 24-hour emergency care, cardiology, vascular disease, digestive diseases, orthopedic care, spine care, neurosurgery, and women's services.

The surgical robot Dr. Sacino uses is part of a recent technology expansion at Physicians Regional-Collier Boulevard, giving patients an excellent option for spine and brain surgery right here in East Naples.

Technology matters. Expertise matters. But ultimately, healthcare is about people.

Nicole came to Physicians Regional looking for a way forward.

She found one—and, more importantly, she found her way back to the life she loves.