Longtime Mellencamp guitarist back on stage after Mayo Clinic team finds rare cause of mobility loss

ROCHESTER, Minn. — For nearly 50 years, guitarist and band leader Mike Wanchic has performed alongside John Mellencamp. But when progressive weakness and numbness in his legs left him using a wheelchair, Mike faced the possibility of losing not only his mobility but the music that has defined his life.

"Music is my destiny," Mike says. "It's what fulfills me."

Mike had initially been diagnosed with transverse myelitis and underwent treatment close to his home in Indiana, but his condition continued to worsen for months.

When he came to Mayo Clinic, Samantha Banks, M.D., a neurologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, took a fresh look at his case. His symptoms, the pace of his decline and his response to previous treatment raised questions about whether the original diagnosis explained what was happening.

"It was a bit of a red flag, given his age and how chronic his symptoms were," Dr. Banks says.

For patients with complex spine conditions, finding the right treatment starts with finding the true source of their symptoms. Dr. Banks suspected a vascular problem and recommended repeating a spinal angiogram, an advanced imaging test of the blood vessels supplying and draining the spinal cord.

The test revealed what previous evaluations had not: a rare arteriovenous fistula, an abnormal connection between an artery and vein near Mike's spine that was disrupting blood flow and damaging his spinal cord.

Giuseppe Lanzino, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neurosurgeon, and the care team developed a plan to close the fistula using a minimally invasive embolization procedure, stopping further damage to the spinal cord.

"Within 48 hours of being at Mayo, they had diagnosed it and fixed it," Mike says.

But treatment was only part of the plan. Mike then spent a month in intensive neurological rehabilitation, working to regain the strength and function he would need to return to his life — and the stage.

He measured his recovery simply: "One percent every day."

This summer, Mike joined Mellencamp for the band's "Dancing Words" tour. He didn't miss one show.

He continues to regain strength, but he's walking, working and playing again.

"I can't even imagine my life without my career and my music," Mike says. "Without Mayo, my career would be over — and to me, that's not living."

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