Chelsee's Recovery Story  

In 2019, 22-year-old Chelsee was a recent graduate of California State University Channel Islands with a psychology degree. That June, she was a restrained passenger in a motor vehicle accident. Her friend was the driver of the vehicle and devastatingly passed away at the scene. Chelsee’s injuries were severe and she was flown to a Santa Barbara hospital Intensive Care Unit to manage her injuries which included a C4 complete spinal cord injury and injuries to her lungs and vertebral arteries. It was a very scary time for Chelsee and her family. Her spine was stabilized through surgery and she needed a tracheostomy to breathe and a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy feeding (PEG) tube to provide nutrition. Chelsee was completely aware of everything that was happening but was unable to move her arms or legs and could not breathe without the ventilator. She was so fearful that her ability to breathe independently would never return. She started working on capping her tracheostomy to learn to speak again. This was a very slow and challenging journey, but she worked vigorously every day to get stronger and stronger. She remembers being extremely excited to be able to try her first ice chips in the ICU. She went about a month and a half without hearing her own voice, and almost forgot what she sounded like. Even when she began to speak again everyone around her said she sounded different.

Once Chelsee was medically stable, her family worked with the case managers and physicians to plan her transfer to the Rehabilitation Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) to continue her path to recovery. When she arrived at the Rehabilitation Center, she was placed in the care of a multidisciplinary care team of doctors, nurses, physical, speech, and occupational therapists, a social worker, and a case manager on the Respiratory Rehabilitation Unit (RRU). Chelsee was still breathing with the help of a ventilator and being fed through a tube when she first arrived at the RRU. During her time on the RRU, she began to meet with a speech therapist, who taught her how to chew and swallow again. She started off with ice chips and then moved to ice cream. Once she was strong enough to swallow ice cream, she was able to eat finely mashed/chopped up food again. She distinctly remembers her first ‘outside of the hospital meal’ which was a chicken burrito bowl from Chipotle. It tasted so amazing. Despite her respiratory injuries, Chelsee’s lungs continued to heal and she eventually had her tracheostomy removed. When she was strong enough to sit up and start transferring out of bed, Chelsee moved to the Spinal Cord Acute Rehabilitation Unit just down the hall. She kept the same physician, therapy team and case manager which made the transition easy. She was so excited to increase her therapy participation and start more activities and outings.

On a daily basis, Chelsee remembers all of the amazing medical staff, family, and friends that supported her through her recovery journey. She remembers all of the love and the many books read to her. During her time at the Rehabilitation Center, she thoroughly enjoyed being read to because this gave her something else to focus on and distract her from the immense physical and emotional pain. Also, she would play some of her favorite songs throughout the day to improve her spirits and dance to the music. During physical therapy she learned how to do proper weight shifts, stretching, range of motion, sitting balance and how to advocate for herself and manage her care as well as educating her caregivers. She also learned about the secondary health conditions that come along with a high level spinal cord injury.

Before the car accident, Chelsee loved hiking, running, yoga, dancing and going to the beach. She loved being outdoors, exploring nature and traveling. Keeping these interests in mind, the team at the Rehabilitation Center at SCVMC helped Chelsee participate in adaptive yoga, painting, adaptive exercise classes and fun local outings. Some experiences that stood out to her were going outside to enjoy the sun as well as the fun trips she took with Heather, one of the recreational therapists and a couple other patients with spinal cord injuries. Another unforgettable experience was when she met Tammey, a local woman with a similar spinal cord injury. Tammey provides peer support to the newly injured including support and education about her experiences living with a spinal cord injury. She provided a tutorial on how she applies her makeup with no hand function! Tammey and Chelsee are now great friends who talk on a regular basis and meet up despite the distance between their homes. The pair recently met up in San Jose to explore the beautiful Municipal Rose Garden!

In addition to physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy, Chelsee remembers participating in the weekly peer support group gatherings. At first, Chelsee was very weary and anxious about herself, her spinal cord injury, and her self-image. She was nervous about meeting others with spinal cord injuries and felt very alone. As she became more confident about herself and her spinal cord injury, meeting up with the peer support group was her favorite thing to do and something she looked forward to. Nick, Franklin and many others gave Chelsee hope, comfort, support and a lot of love. Also, Chelsee is extremely grateful for her doctors, occupational therapists, physical therapists, recreational therapists, respiratory therapists, nurses and all medical staff. Chelsee explains that everyone was so knowledgeable, kind, caring, and very supportive throughout her stay at SCVMC. She said that the care she received was absolutely exceptional and she is forever grateful for everyone who helped her along her recovery journey.

After three and a half months in the hospital, Chelsee was able to go back to her hometown to her grandma’s house where they created space for her, her brother and mother in Santa Maria, California. The home the family had lived in for the last 15 years was not accessible and Chelsee would not be able to enter it in her power wheelchair. Fortunately, Chelsee’s grandma had enough room at her house to have them move in. So when Chelsee left the hospital, she wasn’t going back to the home that she knew and grew up in but had to adapt to an entirely new room/environment at her grandma's house. After about a year at her grandma's house, her mom found a house to rent in Orcutt, CA where Chelsee currently lives.

When Chelsee first got home, she was adapting and adjusting to not only the new home, but also to her new body. After a month of waiting, she began outpatient therapy at a neuro-outpatient clinic in Santa Barbara. She went to therapy twice a week for an hour, where she worked on sitting balance, range of motion, strength training, standing frame and Functional Electric Stimulation (FES) bike. She participated in outpatient therapy for 3 months. She then began to do her own therapy at home. Fortunately, the Santa Barbara Cottage Foundation covered the cost of a new standing frame for Chelsee which allowed her to stand at home for exercise and to put weight through her legs, which is important after a SCI. Chelsee continues to work hard with stretching and using the FES bike. She uses a power wheelchair to get around, which she operates with a joystick with her right hand. Throughout the day, she stretches and performs range of motion exercises. Each morning, she uses her FES bike for an hour. She also enjoys being outdoors, sitting in the sun, listening to music, listening to podcasts, working out and reading books. She took a couple of classes at her local community college to further her education and explore the options available to her as an individual paralyzed from the chest down. She was nervous at first, but very grateful for her experience, and the knowledge that she gained through going to school in person. Chelsee has also worked part-time at her local community college in their career center and just finished a part-time internship with a nonprofit organization known as BACKBONES. She helped with social media as well as communication and connection within the community to interview and showcase the incredible talent and experiences of individuals with spinal cord injuries every month. She is now researching and interested in a couple of different master’s degree programs. Chelsee wants to further her education and wants to become a licensed therapist to help guide and support others struggling with trauma, loss, anxiety and depression.

Chelsee is able to hike using her Freedom Trax® system that allows her to go on all kinds of different terrain. With the Freedom Trax she can go on the beach and on several different hiking trails. This has brought some freedom and independence back to Chelsee. She also enjoys going on strolls in her neighborhood and to the local park as well as attending concerts and other local events. One of Chelsee‘s most memorable experiences was when she went adaptive skiing in Big Bear with the Triumph Foundation. She was able to go on the ski lift, which allowed her to go on several different slopes. She recommends that everyone with a disability should give it a try! Chelsee continues to push through every single day to get stronger and more independent. She is extremely grateful for all of her friends and family that help her on a daily basis to live her best life. She explains “that life is not over after a spinal cord injury, it’s just different and we have to continue to adapt and learn how to maximize the function we do have.”