Darryl's Recovery Story

The key to my recovery is accepting the facts...you must do the therapy every day."
In the Spring of 2024, Darryl noticed his foot dragging while walking and changes in his sensation. Concerned, he was evaluated by a neurosurgeon who found stenosis in his lumbar spine and a cyst. His surgeon recommended surgery and a few months later Darryl underwent a laminectomy/ fusion and lumbar facet cyst removal in a local acute hospital. Unfortunately, he experienced a few complications from the surgery including a hematoma, and he returned to the operating room for additional surgery. Once medically stable, he was transferred to the Rehabilitation Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) for his ongoing recovery.
When Darryl arrived at the SCI Rehabilitation unit at SCVMC, he was not able to walk and needed to use a wheelchair to move from place to place. Getting dress and getting out of bed was a challenge as well. Given his surgery and the associated complications, Darryl was diagnosed with incomplete paraplegia and classified as a L1 AIS C spinal cord injury.
In rehab he was put through of rigorous three hour per day program of physical therapy and occupational therapy. With the many therapeutic interventions available from a FES bike to aquatic therapy, walking with the assistance of the exoskeleton was by far his favorite. As one could imagine, he had days that were hard both physically and emotionally but felt very motivated by the team and appreciated the knowledge and experience of the therapists, educating and encouraging him in his recovery. He also really loved the nursing care. He felt the care was very compassionate and noticed the extra time staff took to have conversations and check-in on him.
While Darryl didn’t want to leave acute rehabilitation, he knew it was time. After 4 weeks of intense physical and occupational therapy, he was discharged home with additional therapy in his home. In November, he graduated to outpatient OT and PT where he is working on balance, strength training and walking. He made tremendous progress with walking and now uses a cane or a walker and a special lower leg brace to get around! Darryl plans to return to work and driving in the future but for now he is focused on recovering as much strength and function as possible.
Darryl is very thankful to everyone that has helped him recover. His quote, “The key to recovery is accepting the facts…you must do the therapy every day and it will take time to heal properly”, guides his own daily routine, including his home exercise program and patience with the healing.