Dr. Joseph Thomas Cheatle, MD

Accolades like expert, skillful, compassionate and empathetic surgeon are not enough to describe Dr. Cheatle. Every aspect of the appointment is of importance. Dr. Cheatle will say "so tell how did that happen" which allows for open communication. Dr. Cheatle does not rush the appointment. If a referral is needed one is done immediately and you can schedule your appointment without needing to follow-up thanks to Ms. Amanda his office assistant. Ms. Amanda makes things happen. You could not ask for a better advocate on your behalf. Dr. Cheatle's clinical notes are very thorough. At your fingertips via his notes is a greater understanding of your overall medical journey and I can't imagine going through what I have gone through without Dr. Cheatle as my surgeon. I would highly recommend Dr. Cheatle. Thank you for everything you have done and in advance I thank you for your further assistance. Sandra McHugh

Had to wait 3 months for my appointment. My first visit. Staff was nice. Dr Cheatle was nice. He said that he would have to treat me as if he had no information about me. So he will have to start with all new test and took me across the hall and told his assistant to schedule me for a mri. I am in unbearable pain and don’t know if I want to live long enough to go through all the hoops to get his surgery. It’s already been 30 hours and no one has even called me. My pain was unbearable last night, the worst ever. I would rather die than live with this pain. My pain medication is barely touching the pain I am not asking for more pain medication but a speedy process to get me in to surgery.

Dr. Cheatle was so nice and took the time to explain everything to my 91 year old dad.

This is not just a review about his expertise but his Godly gift commanded into his life for saving lives. Surgery doesn't come lightly and neither does your recovery but when your specialized care is presented to you thoroughly you cannot doubt that you are always in the right hands. With this being my third surgery we knew and understood that Dr. Cheatle would be instrumental in my care as he has been in the past. There are not enough accolades to express our most sincere gratitude for yet another job well done.

Doctor Cheatle was very kind and patient with me and he was also concerned about getting me help awesome doctor

I couldn't be happier that Dr. Cheatle was recommended to me. I am an 18 year chronic pain patient from several failed back and neck surgeries. My eighth surgery was to have a spinal cord stimulator implanted by another doctor, which only made me worse, but he wouldn't remove it. I just knew that I was going to spend the rest of my life in unbearable pain because no pain medication took the pain level down. My first visit with Dr. Cheatle, he was so compassionate, caring and knew exactly what the issue was with the implant. As quickly as he could get me scheduled, he removed the stimulator and that evening after my surgery, that unbearable, definitive pain I had was gone. I still deal with major pain from my previous surgeries, done by three different neurosurgeons, but Dr. Cheatle has me on the right track to help me get some pain relief and some quality of life back. I know without a doubt that if he had been my first neurosurgeon, I wouldn't be in the shape I'm in today and I… wouldn't have been suffering for the last eighteen years. I also know that I will never be pain free, but with him on my care team, I feel sure that I will get some reduction in pain and be able to start doing some of the things in my life that I love to do. I just told my husband today that Dr. Cheatle truly was a Godsend to me and I'll never be able to thank him enough for the care, compassion, understanding and support he has given to me. I will never see another neurosurgeon but him again. I would highly recommend him to anyone that needs an amazing neurosurgeon.

I had a very bad fall in 2014 that damaged several discs in my neck & lumbar. I’d had 2 prior surgeries - 1 on L5,S1 & fusion of C3-C5. I met Dr. Cheatle before my surgery on L5,S1 in October 2022. It was the 2nd surgery for a re-herniated disc & scar tissue. I was refused an injection & surgery by surgeons here in Columbia, even though the re-herniation had caused foot drop inversion. The surgery helped, but unfortunately I had another re-herniation when I started physical therapy. Another MRI was ordered — actually 2 (1 by my orthopedic hand doctor for my cervical spine & lumbar). I had a few falls & well, another injury to my cervical spine. While I wasn’t there to discuss my cervical spine, Dr. Cheatle saw my cervical MRI & discussed both with me. He explained the dangers of the C2 herniation & it needed immediate attention. He took his time to explain the problem, compare both MRIs from the prior year to show me the differences & offer a temporary solution until my surgery of my… cervical spine. He reassured me that he was not being dismissive of my lumbar problem, but my neck took precedence bc it could paralyze me. I hv no complaints. He’s an excellent doctor that explained things in a simple way that was easy to understand. He also reassured me that I did well in my last surgery & I would do well in the next 1. I am quite appreciative of encouragement & support. Dr. Cheatle is upbeat, supportive & compassionate. I’d recommend him to anyone having back problems.

Dr. Cheatle was very thorough and helpful in explaining my husband’s condition. He said my husband is high risk for surgery and suggested more testing for alternative treatment. He seems like a very compassionate and caring doctor.

I have been a patient of Dr. Cheatle for the past two years since May 2021 when my old Neurosurgeon Dr. McClanahan retired. I usually LOVE Dr. Cheatle as he is very sweet and professional and usually listens to all of my concerns without making me feel rushed. However, during the past visit on August 30, 2022, I DID feel like he was patronizing me and not taking my concerns seriously regarding my shunt pain as he has refused to change my shunt setting without an updated CT scan, even though he ordered one (that I willingly completed back in June 2021) when he completed a shunt gram procedure on me because of my increasing headaches, nausea and dizzines. Overall, I feel like Dr. Cheatle is kind and very helpful

Dr. Cheatle was very kind, understanding and took the time to go into a lot of detail explaining everything to me that he needed to and even kept asking me if I had any other questions that I needed to ask him. You could tell that he didn’t want me to feel like I was being rushed in order for him to get to his next appointment or whatever else he may have had going on. I would definitely recommend him to anyone who might be in need of a surgeon in his field of expertise. Very professional!