Sharon's Story
Sharon Seidl – Nana to family and friends – was looking forward to her hair appointment and ventured out despite the falling snow and ice. She had just pulled into the parking lot when her car was rear-ended, pushing her into a snowbank. She still remembers the loud boom as her head flew backward and her glasses were knocked from her face.
Seeing the accident from the window, the salon receptionist called 911. When the fire crew arrived, they extracted Sharon, 80, from her car, now wedged between the snowbank and a metal sign. Aware that she needed medical attention but not wanting to call for an ambulance, she asked her husband Jim, who was called to the scene, and two bystanders to move her into his car.
Jim drove Sharon to Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. Once there, they admitted her to the intensive care unit (ICU). X-rays revealed she had 12 broken ribs, a broken neck and a broken sternum. A week later she moved to the hospital’s rehabilitation floor, but Sharon lost consciousness and the hospital called a code blue; Sharon had to be resuscitated. While her family rushed to the hospital, she was returned to the ICU, intubated and connected to a ventilator.
Several weeks later, Sharon developed pneumonia. Still unable to breathe on her own, doctors performed a tracheostomy, creating a slit in her windpipe with a tube that connected to her ventilator. As Sharon and Jim’s 60th wedding anniversary passed with her still in the ICU, Jim and his children made the decision to transfer her to Select Specialty Hospital – Oakland.
When Sharon arrived, she had severe facial swelling, was unable to walk, talk or swallow and had developed foot drop; the muscles in her feet were paralyzed. Her physician-led interdisciplinary team created a treatment plan focused on helping her to breathe independently again and regain her ability to communicate.
Understanding Sharon’s frustration with not being able to express herself effectively, the first thing Sharon’s speech-language pathologist did was give her a clipboard on which to write. This simple form of communication resolved much of her anxiety since she could write her questions and concerns for her family and caregivers.
Sharon’s pulmonologist and respiratory therapists began a regimen of breathing trials that included lowering the settings on her ventilator or giving her time off the machine and closely monitoring how her lungs performed. Sharon made slow but steady progress.
A turning point came following a daily visit by her doctor. He told Sharon she could have died from her injuries, but he believed the Lord had other plans for her. Following that visit, Sharon’s family noticed a chance in her outlook and attitude toward recovery.
Building on that motivation, her rehabilitation team provided regular reminders that she was strong enough to overcome any fear or anxiety. Gradually, she was able to do more of her own breathing until she no longer needed the ventilator.
Without the ventilator, her speech-language pathologist was able to slowly advance Sharon’s diet. Sharon clearly remembers the first time she was able to eat on her own again, nearly three months after the day she was resuscitated.
As her respiratory stability continued to improve, Sharon’s tracheostomy tube was removed, marking another key turning point in her recovery. For months, she feared she would never speak again and was ecstatic to hear the familiar sound of her own voice once again.
Slightly more than two months after admission to Select Specialty Hospital, Sharon had made significant progress and transferred to a skilled nursing facility for the next two months to continue her rehabilitation toward regaining strength and mobility.
Today, Sharon is home with Jim. She’s still working toward standing and walking again.
“The drop foot caused her feet to freeze in positions they shouldn’t have but she’s making good progress and we hope she’ll soon start walking again,” Jim said. “Everything else is good.”
Sharon credits her family’s daily visits as a big part of her success. A firm believer that everything happens for a reason, she felt the accident had brought them closer together.
Sharon also saw her journey as a valuable learning experience, offering this advice to other patients:
“Allow your friends and family to be your support system,” she said. “Fight, and don’t give up.”