MS knocked her down; Northshore Rehab Hospital picked her up

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Friday, April 29, 2022

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MS knocked her down; Northshore Rehab Hospital picked her up

STHS Communication Department, commdept@stph.org

Northshore Rehabilitation Hospital is a 30-bed inpatient rehabilitation facility in Lacombe operated in partnership with St. Tammany Health System, Ochsner, Slidell Memorial Hospital and Select Medical. (File image)

In 2015, New Orleans native Chandra Hawkins was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), but the 35-year-old administrative assistant didn’t take the news seriously. Instead, she went on raising her three children, working and living her life.

But six years later, Chandra’s legs began to weaken and give out without notice. Her condition quickly progressed to the point where one day, while driving her son to school, her left hand began shaking so badly she had to steer with just one hand.

Soon, Chandra started walking with a limp that was significant enough for her co-workers to notice.

Still, she went about her work until a colleague expressed concern and suggested she sit down for a bit. She encouraged Chandra to call the doctor and get checked out.

Chandra appreciated the concern but believed the issue would resolve after a good night’s sleep. When the problems continued, her fiancé, Barnell, urged her to go to the emergency department at Ochsner Medical Center. Doctors there ordered an MRI. It confirmed Chandra was experiencing a flare-up of her MS, which is when there is an occurrence of new symptoms or the worsening of previous symptoms.

Chandra spent the next four days at Ochsner Medical Center, where she received physical therapy to address the weakness in her hand and legs. Chandra and her doctors decided that because she was not physically ready to return home, additional recovery time at Northshore Rehabilitation Hospital – a 30-bed inpatient rehabilitation facility in Lacombe operated in partnership with St. Tammany Health System, Ochsner, Slidell Memorial Hospital and Select Medical -- would be the best next step.

Upon admission to Northshore, Chandra’s goals were to regain her ability to walk, get feeling back in her hand and increase her strength and endurance so she could “just feel like herself again.”

Her physician-led team of physical and occupational therapists set Chandra up with a rehabilitation care plan to help her reach those goals.

Chandra’s physical therapists utilized the SCIFIT upper body exerciser and lower body recumbent bike to help her retrain her muscles and nerves. They also used an e-stim machine, which generates electric impulses that stimulate muscles to contract, on Chandra’s hands. This helped to improve movement, which Chandra said was “tremendously helpful.”

During those few rough times I had, the staff was right there to cheer me up and help me feel comfortable about myself again."

-- Chandra Hawkins

Physical therapists also worked with Chandra on the parallel bars, using an overhead body-weight support harness to practice her walking. Simultaneously, occupational therapists guided Chandra on different ways to complete her personal care tasks, including dressing and bathing, so she could be as independent as possible.

Chandra said her turning point was also her lowest point, as she did not feel her progress was happening fast enough.

“It almost felt like a punishment for ignoring my MS for so long,” she said.

Chandra remembers feeling defeated when she didn’t even have the dexterity to pick up dice. The next day, however, she was playing a game of Connect 4 as part of her occupational therapy and was finally able to grasp the game piece and place it the rack.

“That is when I realized that things were going to turn around for me,” she shared.

Chandra credits Barnell in playing a large role in her recovery process. The fact that he was able to “hold down the fort” and take care of the kids allowed Chandra to focus fully on her recovery and not spend too much time worrying about what was happening at home.

She describes her time at Northshore Rehabilitation as difficult because she wasn’t used to accepting help and had always been able to do things for herself. She added that the rehabilitation process was a “humbling and eye-opening experience” but that she learned to rely on others and accept help when she needs it.

After 13 days, Chandra made great progress.

She was still working on her balance, but she felt much more like herself and was grateful that she has use of her hand again.

While she couldn’t wait to return home to Barnell and the kids, Chandra said, “I might cry when I leave because everyone at Northshore has been so nice to me.”

She added: “During those few rough times I had, the staff was right there to cheer me up and help me feel comfortable about myself again.”

Her advice for anyone dealing with MS is to not ignore the little signs of a flare up, “because when it appears full-force, you will definitely not be able to ignore it. Listen to what your body is telling you.”

Northshore Rehabilitation Hospital provides a dynamic rehabilitation environment for patients suffering from stroke, amputation, neurologic diseases, orthopedic trauma, brain injury, spinal cord injury and other conditions. Learn more at https://www.northshore-rehab.com/.

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