in 2017 I was an assistant golf professional at murnian valley country
club I enjoyed helping run the operation I spent time teaching women's clinics
kids clinics running the junior program I loved hiking I loved being outside
spending time with my family I had a very hectic lifestyle but I really enjoy
being busy and I was a healthy 28 year old just going through life it was
September and as a golf professional things start slowing down the season
kind of comes to an end and I remember thinking I just don't feel well maybe a
little rundown I woke up on the couch one night and I had some tingling
sensation in my feet and I went into the 24 Hour Urgent Care in the middle of the
night and they just ran a bunch of tests and couldn't identify a virus or
anything that was wrong with me and they encouraged me to just meet with my
primary and let just let them know if for some reason it got worse and that
night I couldn't even walk I couldn't get to the bathroom I started becoming
paralyzed from the ground up so when I went to the 24 Hour Urgent Care in
Tacoma they went ahead and did a lumbar puncture that's the only way to identify
what I did indeed have and that was Guillain-Barré Syndrome
my body started attacking the myelin which is the sheath that surrounds those
nerves and as that started happening from my feet up its thought it started
causing that paralysis I was admitted to the critical care unit at St. Joes and
unfortunately instead of getting better I continued to get worse after about a
week I was completely paralyzed and lost my ability to breathe at that point I
underwent a tracheotomy and was put on a ventilator
I had an amazing care team at St. Joes I spent 37 days in bed unable to move
and I was never even I never even got a bed sore what that tells you about the
staff and the ability to help me move and help me relieve that pain was pretty
spectacular so at St. Joes I built so many
relationships with the care team there were certain people that when they come
into your room they make you feel better it's just their presence it's their
attitude I felt like everyone there genuinely cared about me the girls you
know would brush my hair things that are just intangibles I remember I had one
nurse she just asked me what do you need today and I just you know we used the
whiteboard to communicate and I said I need I need to achieve something I need
to feel like I did something to get better and I remember she said we're
gonna get up and we're gonna get in the chair and I was like no no not the chair
and it's a lot of work and it's hard and she made me do it and I remember just
getting back to my bed that day and just being so grateful that she took the time
to understand what it was that I needed and helped me achieve something so that
I could go to sleep that night knowing I did something to get better I remember
every day I would just get a little bit better and I could move something that I
couldn't move the day before I was no longer in need of critical care so at
that point I was admitted to CHI's Regional Hospital in Burien where the
main objective was to hopefully get me off the ventilator I had dr. Roper
Cathleen my speech therapist my OTs my PT's everyone was phenomenal I felt
like they all were really a part of the journey with me and wanted me to get
better after 77 days I was able to walk out of my rehab facility using a walker
but I was able to go home and I'll never forget that day
hi Mary how are you good to see you so now here I am a year and a half later
doing all the things I used to do if we get here do you see how that affects
that club face atta girl I teach golf full-time I'm able to compete again I go
hiking I ski I snowboard I do all the things that I used to do I try to
maintain my perspective I try to remember what it was like to be
dependent on other people and I will never take that for granted as I
continued my recovery I went back and visited some of the staff at St. Joes
in Tacoma and at the Regional Hospital and I'm grateful that I was able to show
them that their care did indeed make me better they were in it with me beside me
they took care of me they cared about me as a person and I think that I wouldn't
be where I am without them and I'm so grateful for each and every one of them
I just want to say thank you I want to say thank you for everything that you've
done for me and for giving me my life back