Posted By
Nanci Levy
| Jun 21, 2022
When Pam left her home at 7:30am on May 18th for a bike ride, she thought that she would be home by 9. She never imagined that she wouldn’t be returning home for nearly a month. Instead, she woke up in an ICU surrounded by concerned family; her three sons, husband and mom; not knowing where she was or how she got there. It was not until she had a visit from Heather, a woman whose face seemed vaguely familiar to her, did it all come back to her.
When Heather walked into her hospital room and hugged Pam’s son, Pam asked her who she was and how they knew each other. Heather paused before telling Pam that she had been a witness to an accident that Pam was involved in, which was hard for her to talk about. When she began to tell Pam what had happened to her, the memories came flooding back. Pam recalled being out for a bike ride, something that she had been doing for nearly 40 years. She was waiting on the right side of the left-hand turn lane to make a left turn when a van came barreling into her from seemingly nowhere. She remembers seeing it coming and knowing that there was nothing that she could do.
Luckily for Pam, Heather was not only a witness to her accident, but she is also a nurse. She was immediately able to provide Pam with medical care at the scene of the accident and to call for help. Pam was quickly taken to St Joseph’s Hospital, where she spent eight days in the ICU. She later learned that it was touch and go for a while because she had a collapsed lung and had developed pneumonia. One of her doctors even told her eldest son that they might want to think about getting some things in order in case she didn’t make it. Fortunately, this former University of Arizona Cross Country and Track athlete was strong and fit. She was able to recover from the pneumonia and have surgery to put in place three titanium rods to secure her broken bones; one into her left tibia, one into her right femur and through to her hip, and one into her right arm.
After another week of healing at St. Joes, Pam made her way to post hospital rehabilitation at Handmaker, where she says all of the staff “have been wonderful and helpful” and she feels fortunate to have continued her recovery. Since she still cannot put weight on her legs yet, she has been somewhat limited in what kind of therapy she can do. But she said that Handmaker therapists Gary, Lana, and Elisa gave her plenty of exercises that she could do seated or lying down, and she has been doing them regularly ever since. As she progressed, Gary showed her how to transfer into and out of her wheelchair without putting any weight on either leg, or her right, dominant arm, which gave her back some independence.
Her positive attitude and dedication to her exercise routine have inspired others around her. Both residents and staff have been affected by her friendly demeaner and her can-do attitude. She attributes some of it to a “coach mentality” that she likely developed from her years of coaching Cross Country at Sahuaro High School. She even “coached” Patty, a CNA, to restart her own exercise routine when she commented on how impressed she was with Pam’s hard work. The two continued to compare notes on their exercise routines throughout Pam’s weeks recovering at Handmaker.
Her hard work has really paid off. Pam progressed to the point where she was recently able to go home to recover, where she will continue on with the exercises that she has been given to keep up her strength and muscle tone, in addition to visits from home healthcare workers. In six weeks, when she expects to be able to begin some weight-bearing therapy, she hopes to work again with Handmaker therapists. She looks forward to walking through the door and seeing everyone here again.
Despite everything that she has been through, Pam is still able to look on the bright side, saying that she is thankful for and has learned so many things. She is thankful that she did not hurt her back, break any joints, or injure her head any worse than a concussion during the accident. She said that she has received so much love from all the healthcare staff who have taken such good care of her, and all the people who have come to visit her, that it has made her want to “love on” other people. She fortunately had never before had a need for medical care like this, and is both grateful to, and amazed by all the healthcare workers and what they do to care for other people.
Seeing how far she has come in these four weeks gives everyone hope that Pam will be back to swimming, tennis, biking, and running someday soon. And until then, we look forward to seeing her walk through the doors to visit with those of us whose lives she has touched here at Handmaker.