 Hometown:
Woburn, MA
Injury Date:
December 27, 2006
Diagnosis:
C7 Complete
Jerry's
Story:
Jerry was a tennis pro for 30 years, most recently
working at Westboro Tennis and Swim Club prior to
his injury. He loved his job and worked with everyone
from adults to juniors, competitive players to novice.
Around Christmas of 2006, Jerry began experiencing
excruciating neck pain that would only worsen through
his dealings with the medical establishment. Upon
his first doctor visit, he was told he had a pinched
nerve and was sent home. The next day he could barely
walk and so returned to the doctor's office, at
which point he asked for an MRI was denied. After
three doctor visits, an MRI was finally ordered
to find out the real cause of pain. No longer able
to walk, they performed the test which uncovered
an abscess at C6-C7.
But that wasn’t the end of his frustrations.
The doctors told Jerry and his wife that the only
course of action was immediate surgery to drain
the abscess and remove it. However, during his
first five days in the hospital the surgeon and
the neurologist had conflicting ideas of how Jerry
would recover. He was then told that what was
currently regaining function (his arms and shoulders)
would continue to improve, but that any function
in his legs would most likely not recover.
Jerry went to traditional therapy for 8 weeks
and then did some home-based therapy. He first
heard about intense exercise programs through
his daughter, and then researched the available
program on the Internet and found Journey Forward.
Hopefully, through Journey Forward’s unique
exercise-based approach to nervous system regeneration
those spasms will return and Jerry will at some
point again live to swing a tennis racket while
on his feet.
Return to
Clients Page
|
