Help Fund Karen's Neuro-Rehab Sessions

Hi! I’m Karen!

Halloween week, 2022, I began to feel like I was coming down with the flu. A week later, while showering, I realized I had no control over my legs. Luckily there was a bar I could grab in the shower and a seat to lower myself onto. Trying to believe all was well, it quickly became obvious that it wasn’t. My husband and I spent over an hour trying to get me out of the shower and standing. Both of us were exhausted and my husband reluctantly called “911.”

Once an active volunteer in my community, musician, substitute teacher, retired sewing machine retail owner with my husband, vegetable gardener, foodie, yoga enthusiast and avid hiker, I was on my way to my first neurosurgery, after 8 hours of trying to increase my sodium levels with hourly blood draws. My anesthesiologist was reluctant for me to undergo surgery with levels so low. I was risking brain impairment or a stroke. I signed the papers for surgery and a staphylococcal abscess was discovered, removed with difficulty, and required another surgery 8 hours later to remove it all.

I was left with an incomplete spinal cord injury at the T6-8 levels; declared paralyzed from the “nipples” down; and with a neurogenic bladder and bowel. After 6 days in ICU, I was moved to rehab, I began to visualize wiggling my toes, and was eventually able to. From there, I started doing yoga as best I could in bed. After 5 weeks of intense rehab, I gained enough strength that when I was released, I did so without the use of a Hoyer, motorized chair, or hospital bed; just my manual wheelchair, slide board, my positivity, and a heck of a lot of determination to recover fully.

Since then, I have regained control of my bladder after 6 months of round the clock 4-hour intervals of self-catheterization. I am working on recovering my bowel, which with exercise and free walking I am convinced will become easier. I walk with the aid of a walker and crutches. Although needing a spotter with my crutches outdoors, I go out with my walker, unattended.

My journey has been one of determination and hard work. I am lucky to have the incredible support of my husband, family, friends, plus a huge network of medical personnel and adaptive exercise specialists.

Exercise is the biggest key to my healing!

I had several physical therapists, that were extraordinary, but a few months ago, I started going to NeuAbility, a neuro-rehab gym in Denver, which has equipment that none of the PT’s in my network had in their facilities. At NeuAbility I have regained more mobility than I ever imagined possible. These services are expensive, costing $85 per session, totaling $13,260 a year. Insurance doesn't cover these gym fees.

Please consider helping me pay for this adaptive exercise. My husband, who in addition to being my caregiver, is working part time fixing sewing machines to help pay for my gym sessions. I am trying to stay positive, but as I see the monthly gym fees mounting, I’m struggling a bit emotionally and maintaining my positivity is becoming harder.

Yet, I am determined, work incredibly hard, and will put your kind donation to good use. I know that once “free walking,” I will continue to volunteer and be a productive part of my community before I leave this planet.