Lulu's Recovery Story  

In September of 2021, 21-year-old Lulu was involved in a car accident where she sustained C6 to C7 fractures and a C6 incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI). Lulu was initially treated at a  Trauma hospital in San Luis Obispo where she underwent an anterior cervical vertebrectomy of C7, fusion with a titanium cage and bone graft, and C4-T1 posterior cervical fusion. Lulu spent one month in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) there where she required a tracheostomy because she was not able to easily wean off of the ventilator.

Once Lulu was medically stable and able to move on from the ICU, her family worked with the case managers to 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). Lulu required a ventilator to breathe and was being fed through a tube in her stomach when she first arrived at the RRU.

During her time on the RRU, she worked with her therapy team. She started to get up and out of bed with the help of a Hoyer lift. Lulu needed to follow a unique respiratory treatment regimen in order to progress towards ventilator weaning, so she worked very closely with respiratory therapists during her time in RRU. This was a very scary time for Lulu and remembers being very discouraged. This is where the saying “happy healthy healing” came into play. Lulu would repeat this over and over again in her head to get her through the hardest parts of her hospital stay. Despite her respiratory impairment, Lulu was able to build up her respiratory strength, wean off of the ventilator, and even had her tracheostomy removed.

Dr. Stephen McKenna, Director of the Respiratory Rehabilitation Unit shared, "Lulu came to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center with severe injuries which required a ventilator around the clock to sustain her life. With the help of a team with more than 50 years of experience, Lulu was able to progress to be completely liberated from the ventilator.  SCVMC has published some of the highest success rates in the country for ventilator-dependent individuals like Lulu.”

When she was strong enough to sit up and start transferring out of bed more often, Lulu moved to the Spinal Cord Injury Acute Rehabilitation Unit just down the hall. Many of the same staff continued to treat her, which made the transition easy.  However, Lulu was nervous for the move. Going from 2 hours of daily therapy in RRU to around 5 hours in ARU, she was eager and ready to start her journey. Her inpatient occupational therapist and physical therapist, My and Jessica, helped Lulu immensely. Jessica helped Lulu move from Hoyer lift transfers to slide board transfers. They worked on techniques to help Lulu gain as much independence as possible. With occupational therapy, Lulu learn new adaptive ways to do things such as brush her teeth, brush her hair, and use her computer.

In addition to physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy, Lulu remembers the daily activities that paved her way to independence. She participated in Skills group where Lulu and other patients learned how to overcome obstacles a wheelchair-user faces, such as a curb or a crosswalk. She also enjoyed participating in the fun activities that recreation therapy put together like baking a pumpkin pie for the holiday season!

After 9 weeks at SCVMC, Lulu was able to return home. She was greeted by her friends and family. Not even a year after her injury, and using on a wheelchair to get around, she was back in college and working her old job at Lowes. Lulu also participated in SCVMC’s outpatient program. She worked with her physical therapist, Mabel, and her occupational therapist, Kat to learn things such as independent dressing, transfers, and personal care management.

Before the car accident, Lulu enjoyed spending time with friends, going on adventurous outings with her family and swimming. Due to her extensive injuries, Lulu was unsure if she would be able to swim again. When Sanjuana, one of her recreation therapists, helped her get back in the swimming pool during an outpatient therapy session Lulu was so happy. She had played water polo and been a competitive club swimmer prior to her injury and getting back to the water was  amazing because she was able to stand in the chest level water due to the buoyancy the water provided.

Today Lulu is attending Arizona State University’s online program. She will be graduating this December with a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech and Hearing Science. Lulu is currently working on her graduate school applications to obtain a Master of Science degree in Speech and Language Pathology. She hopes to one day work in hospitals, helping those who are recovering from traumatic injuries. She also hopes to one day write a book, helping young adults suffering from spinal cord injuries. Lulu is now involved in peer support and has mentored several young women going through similar injuries.