Michael's Story
Spinal cord injury
Michael Hernandez, a Marine Corps veteran and security director for Omni Hotels, has always been on the go. The 41-year-old enjoyed hiking, biking, working on cars with his father, traveling and spending time outdoors with his two teenagers and beloved dog.
But a freak car accident changed everything.
On his way home with breakfast for his family, Michael lost control of his vehicle, crashing into a tree. Rushed to Harris Methodist Hospital, scans revealed a spinal cord injury to his neck. He also had a tear in the wall of a vertebral artery—an artery that supplies blood to the spinal cord and brain.
Surgeons performed an emergency spinal fusion to stabilize his neck and repaired his artery, but Michael’s road to recovery ran into some serious obstacles. He developed an infection at the surgical site that required a follow-up stay in the hospital and ongoing wound care. He was treated with vacuum-assisted therapy which allowed his neck wound to fully heal and was discharged home.
“I felt day neuro was going to be the best spot for me,” said Michael. “I knew it’d be difficult and would challenge me.” It was exactly what he needed physically and emotionally.
He chose Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation (BSWIR) - Fort Worth Day Neuro Program. There, the care team would help him progress from relying on a wheelchair to returning to work without restriction.
Over the next seven months, however, Michael experience two medicine-related falls at home, each of which required additional surgeries to replace hardware and to further stabilize his spine. Each time, he had stop day neuro to focus on healing.
More than a year after the accident, Michael readmitted to the program. He couldn’t walk far without tiring and relied on extra support from a wheelchair or walker. In addition to fatigue, he lacked upper body strength to the point where he was unable to grip objects or type, which made everyday tasks difficult.
Michael’s goal was to regain his independence. He wanted to walk, hike, ride a bike and resume his career. To do that, his physician-led team developed a program to rebuild his strength and endurance.
Physical therapy sought to improve his balance and strength. Michael’s therapist started with exercises that would stretch, strengthen and improve range of motion in the muscles and joints in his legs. As he progressed, seated and sit-to-stand exercises were replaced with squats and lunges. At times, therapy was painful, but Michael persisted. He also participated in a functional endurance group, a program intended to improve a person’s ability to tolerate standing activities for a full 30 minutes without needing a rest. These activities included standing balance positions with added visual tasks, stance stability exercises, lower body strengthening and cognitive dual tasking.
To help relieve muscle tightness, which can be painful and make movement difficult, Michael’s therapist incorporated dry needling. During treatment, very thin, dry needles were inserted into areas of muscle tension to improve his blood flow and muscle movement.
Occupational therapy worked on Michael’s fine motor skills with various treatments and therapeutic exercises. Therapists utilized weight-bearing exercises and electrical stimulation to strengthen Michael’s upper body. Electrical stimulation sends mild electrical impulses to injured muscles and nerves improving blood flow, repairing and strengthening muscles and providing pain relief. The treatment boosted Michael’s ability to grasp and pinch his fingers along and helped with larger movements as well such as pulling and pushing. He made steady progress.
Michael also got a boost from a four-legged therapist who helped in treatment sessions. Grayson, the facility dog, helped improve Michael’s range of motion, strength and dexterity in his hands and fingers simply by petting the dog.
Michael also enjoyed seated and standing yoga. He felt particularly proud when he was able to do a downward dog pose (feet and palms flat on the floor with hips up and back like a dog stretching).
One of the most emotional moments of his journey came as he took his first unassisted steps. “I wanted to cry because I didn’t think that day would ever come,” Michael said. “I felt great and so happy.”
He logged other milestones as well. They came each time he used his hands to grasp, grip and type something. Now that he’s got his fine motor skills back, Michael said he’ll never take the small things for granted—buttoning his shirt, showering independently or driving a car.
At the beginning of his admission in the BSWIR Day Neuro Program, Michael could walk 571 with a walker in six minutes, but by discharge he was walking over 1,600 feet in the same amount of time with no assistive device.
Michael was grateful for the love and support he’s been shown. His family, church and colleagues rallied together to help him and his kids through the difficult time. His mom stayed with him while he recovered, his dad helped financially and his sister helped to care for the kids. His employer and raised thousands of dollars for his family and his church provided gift cards for necessities while he recovered.
“I think I’m as close to my previous life as I can be right now,” said Michael. “I’m back at work full time and I can walk independently.” He now walks about 8,000 steps a day and while not quite ready to hike off trail, he can tackle any paved path.
Now, with graduation from the Day Neuro Program in sight, Michael is eager to move forward, but confessed that he had mixed emotions. “It’ll be great to get back [to] normalcy, but I’m sad to leave everyone here,” he said. “Day neuro has been a huge support system to me.”