Heal With Nicole

After weeks of debilitating pain and uncertainty, Nicole learned she had a spinal infection and an abscess on her spine. After having two surgeries, she is healing but currently unable to walk — and therefore unable to do her work as a massage therapist. Please consider donating to support her as she regains her mobility.

If you know Nicole, you know that she is a giver. I’m sure you have a story of a time when she’s done something extremely thoughtful — cooking you a special meal, creating a blend of essential oils to heal your ailment or soothing your aches with her delightfully warm hands in her work as a massage therapist.

As you may know, the past few months have been full of some incredible health challenges. After spending two weeks in the hospital with COVID-19, she started experiencing excruciating back pain that left her, again, unable to work. At first, doctors could not pinpoint what was wrong. The pain was so intense that she was unable to sit up or sleep through the night. Pain medication and physical therapy was not providing relief. A trip to the emergency room and an MRI finally revealed that Nicole had a spinal infection and a spinal abscess that was causing pain to radiate through her nerves.

The first step of treatment is antibiotics, but after a week, the infection was unresponsive. Nicole had to undergo a spinal surgery to drain the abscess. While it went smoothly and immediately relieved the nerve pain, the infection remained unresponsive to the antibiotics. Subsequent MRI revealed that the abscess returned and just ten days after the first spinal surgery, she had to undergo a second, more major one. To make sure that the infection was fully removed, part of her bone had to be shaved and screws/pins inserted into her back. Thankfully, this surgery did the job and the infection finally started to clear. But her mobility has been severely impacted by this and she’s not able to stand or walk on her own. (And if you know Nicole, you know walking is a huge part of her life.) After a month in the hospital, she is now recovering and relearning how to do basic movements in a rehab facility. She’s expected to spend one month there before she can be discharged and continue therapy at home.

She’s shown incredible strength and has stayed positive in the midst of so much pain and uncertainty. “So little and so much,” she said after a week of rigorous physical and occupation therapy sessions at the rehab facility. Meaning, even the few steps she’s taken have required so much effort. We are so thankful for the progress she’s making and we also know that there is a long road ahead.

Since her work as a massage therapist is so physical, we don’t know when she’ll be able to return. And since the work does not come with benefits like sick leave, she does not currently have an income. In this season of giving, we hope that you will consider giving what you can to support Nicole on this journey — to help supplement her income and pay her medical bills. She’s done so much to support her community and now it’s time to lift her up and #healwithNicole.

We will be sure to keep you posted about her progress.

With Gratitude,

The Neely Family