#RoseRehab

On December 29th, my niece, Kelsey Rose, sustained a life-changing injury. She was going to grab the dog to bring him inside, and she tripped and fell. The fall caused a disk to slip and throughout the course of the day, her lower body started going numb. After 2 trips to the ER, she was diagnosed with cauda equina syndrome, which essentially means a seriously squished spinal cord that disrupts all functions. She had emergency surgery the next day to remove the parts of the slipped disc that was compressing her spinal cord. This surgery needs to be done with 24hrs of injury for a positive recovery. After the surgery, she was unable to move her legs or feet, so she couldn't walk or do much herself. They were either numb or felt like they were on fire. She basically has to relearn everything from the waist down... walking, get into bed, sitting in a chair, going to the bathroom, putting on socks... everything. She stayed in the hospital in Rockford from Saturday, which is an hour away from their house, until Thursday evening when she moved to an intensive therapy rehab hospital just down the road from the hospital. She's been working with Physical therapy and Occupational therapy learning how to modify things to perform daily tasks more independently (like using a reacher/grabber tool to take off socks).

She's doing fabulous. Taking everything in stride. She has feeling in her legs, can move her feet back and forth a little bit, can't wiggle her toes yet, can walk 23' with a walker, tried to go up 2 steps and did fantastic, can wheel a wheelchair in circles like a champ. The staff at the hospital were very optimistic about her prognosis, as sensations seem to be coming back at a faster pace than usual. They have even been bold enough to state they think she'll make a full, or close to full, recovery. Her years of weight lifting and knowledge of the body and how it works have been very helpful as she's been able to do mini exercises in-between therapy sessions to help re-learn those neuropathways. She'll likely be at the rehab facility for a couple weeks. Driving to work is prohibited for at least 4 weeks as she can't sit in one spot that long. We don't know what going back to teaching will look like yet.

Her husband Mike has been amazing and by her side the whole time, helping her exercise her feet, nagging the nurses when more pain medication is needed, and being there for her every need.

Many people have asked how they can help. The reality is that there are going to be many upcoming related expenses. Even with good insurance, there is still many costs that aren’t covered (hospital charges, rehab costs, in home care costs). In addition, as this recovery will be a journey, other day to day costs will come up, on top of lost time at work.

As this is all new, we anticipate there will be other expenses we haven’t even thought of.

As people have reached out, we thought it best to set up a GoFund me page.

Any support would be much appreciated, and it will be a spot to keep everyone updated in this challenging journey.