National Rehab Week: 27-Year-Old Tetraplegic to Walk

Media Contact: Sandra Van or Roberta Nichols 800-396-1002, >[email protected]

HIGHLIGHTS: Since her last birthday, life has changed dramatically for Ana Aguilar, who will turn 28 this Labor Day. Her husband died of cancer in November, and in April, she was paralyzed from the neck down in an auto accident. Today, however, sheís on the road to recovery, having defied all medical odds. A little more than four months after her accident, the mother of two pre-schoolers is walking -- and even cooking -- again, thanks to her own determination and an inter-disciplinary team approach used by Cedars-Sinai Medical Centerís Rehabilitation Department. She hopes to one day return to Cedars-Sinai's Rehabilitation Department as a volunteer -- using her own experiences there to encourage other patients.

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NATIONAL REHAB WEEK: INTER-DISCIPLINARY REHAB TEAM APPROACH, DETERMINATION, ENABLE 27-YEAR-OLD TETRAPLEGIC TO WALK IN 3 MONTHS

LOS ANGELES (Sept. 3, 1998) --When Ana Aguilar (who will celebrate her 28th birthday this Labor Day), a widow of seven months and the mother of two pre-schoolers, woke up in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on April 25, 1998, she could not feed herself, swallow, move or even breathe on her own. Nor could she remember being hit broadside the night before by a delivery truck that had run a red light. She was, says Richard Riggs, M.D., a physical medicine physician in the Rehabilitation Department of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, totally dependent -- a tetraplegic (former terminology: quadriplegic).

In addition to a broken neck, Ana had a punctured lung, a fractured shoulder blade, several broken ribs, needed bone graft surgery, and was on a ventilator. As if that werenít enough, she soon developed pneumonia. However, Ana has defied all medical odds and exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. She has regained most of her motion, is walking and has returned home to care for her children, ages 5 and 2. According to Dr. Riggs, it would usually take years for a patient with injuries like Anaís to achieve the level of recovery that she has reached in just four months. ìIíve never seen anyone recover as quickly and as completely as she has,î he says.î

Dr. Riggs credits Anaís almost miraculous recovery to her own motivation and to the systematic, inter-disciplinary, problem-solving approach taken by the Cedars-Sinai rehabilitation team to identify and address the specific problems she faced. ìPain was a huge factor for her to deal with,î he says. ìBy using an inter-disciplinary team approach, each member of the team focused collaboratively on specific problems she was facing and helped develop ways to address them. This is truly a patient-centered process that involves the patient in setting goals,î he adds. Anaís long-term goal is to return to Cedars-Sinai one day, this time as a volunteer in the Rehab Department, to share her experience and encourage other patients.

Ana will be a featured speaker on Monday, Sept. 14, when Cedars-Sinai kicks off its National Rehabilitation Week celebration. National Rehab Week is Sept. 13-19.

ANAíS STORY ìI was coming home from dinner with a friend on April 24 when a delivery truck ran a red light and hit us broadside,î says Ana. ìPolice closed down the street and paramedics worked for 30 minutes to get me out of the car. They say I was talking to them the whole time, but I cannot remember anything.î

Following surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the doctors told Anaís brother and sister that she probably would not be able to walk again, but no one told her that. ìMy husband had died of cancer seven months earlier, and I have two little children, so I guess they thought it would be too much for me to handle if I were to hear that,î she says.

Ana was in intensive care for two weeks with a "halo" on her head. ìWhen I saw pictures of myself, I couldnít believe it was me,î she says. After two weeks, she was taken to Rehab on the hospitalís seventh floor. At that time, she couldnít move anything, not even her fingers, ìbut everyone there was great and helped me so much,î she says. ìSix people, three on each side, came every day to help me move my arms and body.î

That first week in rehab, Ana started on a physical therapy program, with sessions every morning and every afternoon. ìI tried and tried and tried -- even when I wasnít in a therapy session, I would try to move even a little bit,î she says.

ìAt first Ana was so incredibly dependent for everything,î says Dr. Riggs. ìGiven her initial levels of function, I would not have projected that she would be walking at the level she now is or that she would have regained her bowel and bladder function -- which she has.î However, Dr. Riggs adds, there was a little flicker of response in her legs, and she soon was able to move one arm, so thatís what we began to work with -- helping her to gain more arm movement.î

Anaís rehab team began teaching her to sit in and use an electric wheelchair. And thatís when reality began to sink in. ìEvery day I cried and prayed -- and worried -- about how I would be able to care of my kids,î she remembers. ìThen one day my son was visiting me and he said, ëMom, are you going to sleep like daddy?íî That was all it took to renew Anaís determination. ìI have to try!î she reminded herself over and over. So she began trying to do on her own the exercises she learned in the gym as part of therapy. To the amazement of her physicians, therapists and other rehab team members, Ana began to improve dramatically.

ìMommy, one day you will walk again,î her small son told her. And then, one day she did. ìMy family was laughing and crying and all excited the day they came to the hospital and saw me walking,î she says. They were even more excited the day she came home from the hospital. ìI get tired easily,î she says, ìand it takes a long time to do things, but Iím so happy to be with my kids.î

Ana is presently receiving outpatient rehabilitation at Cedars-Sinai, and hopes to one day return to the medical center as a volunteer. ìWhen I was in the hospital, I visited with other patients and they seemed to be encouraged when they heard my story,î she says. ìIf my experience can help others who are rehabilitating, then Iíd like to do that.î

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INTERVIEWS: Ana Aguilar is available for media interviews, as are Richard Riggs, M.D., and other members of her rehab team.

OTHER: Ana will be a featured speaker on Monday, Sept. 14, when Cedars-Sinai kicks off itís National Rehabilitation Week celebration. National Rehab Week is Sept. 13-19.

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To arrange a media interview with Ana, her physicians and members of her inter-disciplinary rehabilitation team, please call 1-800-396-1002.