WassenBenefit.com

John's Story

John suffered a serious fall on the morning of August 19 and was taken to Methodist Hospital. Once he arrived at the hospital, his spine was immobilized to prevent further injury to the cord and a “halo” was placed on his head to prevent the head from moving. Because traumatic injury to the spinal cord usually involves an injury to the bones and ligaments of the spine, surgery was performed to remove bone that was pressing on or into the spinal cord. John spent three weeks in the critical care neurology unit at Methodist Hospital and was then moved to the Specialty Select Hospital, a long-term acute care facility housed within Methodist. While in the Select Hospital, John worked on weaning off the trach. John worked hard, displayed a hopeful, positive attitude and achieved breathing on his own in nine weeks. He then moved to RHI where he spent eight weeks in physical, occupational and recreational therapy. Again John worked very hard and was happy to be able to leave the rehabilitation hospital. John will continue to work with his therapists on an out-patient basis and continues to work toward his goal of regaining some use of his arms. John, Tamie and the girls had a short stay with John’s sister during renovations to their own house.