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A World Without Barriers to Successful Aging
Vanessa Elliott
Mar, 2017
Physicians: Keith VanOosterhout, MD
Imagine waking each morning with pain, stiffness, swelling. So much so that you have difficulty walking or performing simple tasks such as feeding yourself. By only 62 years of age, this had slowly become a normal occurrence in Vanessa Elliott’s life.
She suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis which limited motion and function of many of her joints. Although she still lived independently, Vanessa relied heavily on her daughter in order to remain mobile in the Benton Harbor apartment they shared. With her daughter working full-time it only added to the stress the family was facing. It was then that they decided to seek the help of PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) of Southwest Michigan. That’s when Vanessa’s life changed drastically.
After evaluating her condition, now retired PACE Medical Director and gerontologist, Keith VanOosterhout, MD, recommend Vanessa see the team at Lakeland Neurosurgery. Her care team performed a series of tests that quickly revealed Vanessa was facing a much more serious diagnosis than she originally thought.
Vanessa's rheumatoid arthritis had affected the joints between the base of her skull and the top of her spine. This resulted in incorrect alignment which led to severe spinal cord compression and injury. She would need to undergo decompression of her spinal cord with fusion, or “welding”, of the upper spinal bones to the back of the skull to eliminate the risk of further alignment issues and instability. Without it, she ran a high risk of added injury and paralysis.
“My entire care team did a fantastic job explaining everything to me,” said Vanessa. “Some doctors can put fear in you when you get a diagnosis as serious as mine but mine never did – I was never afraid about going into surgery.”
After a successful surgery, Vanessa was fitted with a halo brace to help keep her neck and spine from moving while it healed. She spent the next two months at Pine Ridge: A Rehabilitation and Nursing Center working with physical and occupational therapists who helped her regain the strength she needed to return home.
But her recovery didn’t stop there. Even after returning home, Vanessa was still wheelchair bound and unable to walk on her own. She continued to visit PACE four times a week and worked with both physical therapist, Carrie Kutchie, PT, Sindy McCord, OT, and Meg Killips, Activities Coordinator.
In the three years since her surgery Vanessa is now able to walk using a walker with limited assistance. She has regained the use of her hands and arms which allows her to participate in the activities she once loved – jewelry making and arts and crafts. But she’s not stopping there. With the help of her physical therapy team her next goal is to be able to climb the stairs of the PACE bus which picks her up at her doorstep each afternoon.
“PACE is very helpful to me because I have everything I need right here in one place,” said Vanessa. “If I wasn’t coming here I would likely just be sitting at home by myself. Instead I know that people here care about me and I’ve made a lot of friends. This program is a real blessing to me – they more or less saved my life.”
PACE of Southwest Michigan is a community partnership founded in 2012 between Lakeland Health, Caring Circle, and Area Agency on Aging. The non-profit organization serves adults over 55 years of age who have long term medical conditions with the goal of providing the care individuals need to remain safely at home.