DENVER - Recovering from a spinal cord injury is an exercise
in hope.
How much spinal cord patients recover and regain control of
their lives greatly depends on the rehabilitation process. That's
why patients from across the country come here to Craig Hospital -
because its staff expects more from patients. And they have gotten
it.
Among patients have been such notables as shooting victims
Governor George Wallace and Steven McDonald, a plain-clothes New
York City policeman shot in 1986 while on duty, the late jockey
Bill Shoemaker and Detroit Lions right guard Mike Utley, paralyzed
during a 1992 football game. Like most other patients, Utley
returns for outpatient rehab sessions.
"We do challenge them," says Gail Gilinsky, the hospital's
occupational therapy director. "We're encouraging them and we're
providing them avenues for growth and independence. That makes
them want to work harder."
In the hospital's therapy gym, patients grimace and sweat,
relearning how to feed and lift themselves, and strengthen their
upper bodies after a long hospital stay. A sign in the therapy
rooms sums up the pervading attitude: "No whining. Just do it."
At one of the gym's several standing tables, an athletic-looking
woman, Stacie Louttit, 33, is letting her legs support her weight.
Though straps help hold her in a standing position, strain is
evident on her face as she talks to one of the eight staff
physicians. Many patients do this for short periods every day or so
to keep bones strong and prevent further atrophy of leg muscles.
Later, during a basketball clinic, Louttit, of Vancouver,
British Columbia, says she fell while skiing in April. After the
accident, she decided to come to Craig because it has so many
physical therapists. "If you want to work hard, you can. My
schedule's full."
The 80-bed hospital treats only spinal cord and brain injuries.
"On the civilian side, I'd say they're among the best," says Thomas
E. Strippling, a research consultant with Paralyzed Veterans of
America in Washington, D.C.
These injuries strike young people disproportionately, and that
shows in Craig's youthful population. Craig focuses on helping them
be as independent as possible since they have much of their lives
ahead of them, says hospital president Denny O'Malley.
That increases quality of life and it also saves money, he says.
Health care for a spinal cord patient can cost $2 million to $3
million over a lifetime. If patients can't do some things on their
own, that amount can be used up in a couple of years.
Craig's staff also challenges patients to broaden horizons.
Although most face some paralysis and lifelong reliance on
wheelchairs, they are urged to try new activities such as rafting,
hunting and taking cruises.
"When somebody gets as banged up as bad as some of these
folks do, they start making a list of things they can't do," says
therapeutic recreation director Sam Andrews. "Here, instead, we
start making a list of what is possible."
Recreation for spinal cord patients used to mean wheelchair
basketball. Here, recreation means sailing, horseback riding,
skiing and everyday outings at comedy clubs and restaurants.
Making activities easier are wheelchair skis, Hobie Cat sailboats
and hot-air balloons with special seats, and adaptive hunting, fishing,
gardening and photo equipment that Craig develops and uses.
Social outings prepare patients for leaving the hospital in a
way that stretching and strengthening cannot. "We want them to go
out into a restaurant and have people stare at them. They have to
get used to that. It happens in the real world," O'Malley says.
Lorie Rohrbaugh went to a rehab hospital near her York, Pa.,
home after the car accident that caused her neck injury. "I pushed
myself (there), but it wasn't enough. It is challenging here.
That's one of the reasons I came," says Rohrbaugh, 22 and hoping
to return to her job as a forklift operator. She's about to spend
three weeks in one of the hospital's 36 outpatient apartments to
prepare her for living at home.
She liked the camaraderie of the relatively young patients.
"Just talking and laughing about it I think makes it better,"
Rohrbaugh says. That bond breeds healthy competition, too. In
therapy, "when I see someone else doing something, I think I can
do it better."
At Craig, she has gone fishing and ridden in a hot-air balloon -
something she hadn't tried before the injury.
Next on her list: photography.
Sandy Culver of Kalamazoo, Mich., worried that the care her
21-year-old son Brian might get locally wouldn't match that
delivered at Craig. An Ann Arbor, Mich., rehab hospital would have
been close to home, but after she and her husband flew to Craig and
visited, the family opted for a long-distance rehab. So far they've
spent $9,000 in out-of-pocket travel expenses.
"It was a hard decision to bring him here. But if we hadn't
given him the best treatment possible, we'd never forgive
ourselves." says Sandy Culver, who's remaining during Brian's stay.
"It's a devastating injury because it affects not only his life,
but other people's lives, too."
A traumatic injury: Facts and figures
Summer is the season when spinal cord injuries are most likely
to occur because more Americans are on the road and involved in
recreational activities. Each year, 7,800 to 10,000 Americans
survive traumatic spinal cord injuries. The Craig Hospital in
Denver sees about 1,300 patients a year. Of those:
-- About 80% injured are men.
-- 67% are between the ages of 15 and 35.
-- 70% come from outside Colorado.
-- About 50% were hurt in a car accident.
-- 18% were hurt in a fall.
-- 14% were hurt in a recreational accident, such as diving.
-- 6% were shot or assaulted.
Falls and diving accidents can compress the spinal cord;
motor vehicle accidents may bend or twist it. That can cause
weakness, loss of sensation and paralysis below the damage site.
Sometimes, part of the upper body may be paralyzed.
After the accident, patients usually stay in the hospital two to
four months.
More than 90% return home, rather than stay in a long-term care
facility. Still, most require some home health care. Forty percent
go back to work.
The USA has about 200,000 living survivors of spinal cord
injuries.

Copyright 1994, USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co., Inc.

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