“God gave me a gift and woke me up. I’m so grateful for my life. I’m so grateful to go home.”
More than a month ago, Shelli Wood didn’t know she would be saying those words. The 49-year-old from Kansas City, Missouri, woke up one February morning and stretched like any other day. However, this time, Shelli heard a pop causing her C5, C6, and C7 vertebrae to break. Instantly, she felt numb and went to the hospital.
“I knew something was wrong immediately with the burning in my back,” Shelli remembers. “When it popped, it started burning in my shoulder blades and my right arm went numb.”
After being released, Shelli’s daughter found her on the floor two days later. This time, Shelli went to North Kansas City Hospital and was in surgery hours later. Doctors had to remove vertebrae which left a scar on Shelli’s throat. Depression and more questions soon followed.
“I was angry at the world because the accident happened over stretching and made me feel my age for sure,” Shelli said.
The grandmother of six came to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals’ Spinal Cord Injury Program, and she felt her attitude changing after her first therapy session.
“I went to my first day of therapy and that just changed [everything] because ‘woe is me became wow, this could have been much worse,’” Shelli said. “The drive my therapist showed me and the positive affirmation that I can do, it gave me the strength to go on. So every day since then, I’ve woken up with a smile on my face. I definitely would not be where I am without the staff here, they’ve been absolutely amazing.”
With Madonna’s physical and occupational therapists pushing her, Shelli began seeing improvement almost immediately. The motivated grandma went from having no strength in her right arm to being able to lift more than 20 pounds. Step by step, Shelli started rebuilding her confidence on Madonna’s Lokomat, a robotic treadmill training system that assists patients with basic walking functions.
“Encouragement is key in motivation,” Rhonda Steckelberg, one of Shelli’s physical therapist assistants at Madonna, said. “Once Shelli saw that we genuinely believed in her she really became self-motivated. We always try to challenge our patients and set them up for success so they do not get discouraged, and gradually progress towards their long-term goals.”
While momentum continued during therapy, so did Shelli’s relationship with her family. One of her granddaughters, Rosie, got to experience it during her visit.
“Rosie thinks I got my cut on my throat from Captain Hook, and this is a ‘magic fairy hospital,’” Shelli said. “Marwa (Sayah), one of Madonna’s nurse aids, put on fairy wings and brought in a gift for Rosie. When she walked in, they said ‘Welcome to the magic fairy hospital!’ so she wouldn’t be scared. Everyone here was in the fight to save Neverland against Captain Hook. It was a magical moment for her, and that wouldn’t have happened anywhere else.”
Just four weeks after surgery, Shelli walked out of Madonna’s front doors eager to get back to her family. She now hopes that her journey can inspire others, especially those in her own family.
“It’s a miracle, and I didn’t think that it was going to happen,” Shelli said with a smile on her face. “I kept telling myself that I was going to walk out of this place, but I was preparing to be here for months. I didn’t know where I was going to be. After walking out of Madonna, my grandkids will see me walk back home. I hope it shows them that they can do anything in life.”
Woman finds renewed strength, hope during Madonna recovery
