I was at home spending time with my family when I started having severe back pain. I started to experience leg and arm weakness and tingling. I went to the hospital to get a MRI and was diagnosed with severe bulging discs. This diagnosis was comforting as I have had a very active lifestyle with lots of injuries. However, when I got home I was continuing to get weaker and ended up falling. My family had to call the paramedics due to being unable to get me off the floor and ended up being admitted to Banner Baywood. I started having difficulty breathing in the hospital. My son helped reposition me for 9 hours from sitting to laying down due to increasing pain and difficulty breathing in any position. I ended up needing an emergency intubation. I was eventually diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome on June 11, 2022. I was in an induced coma for over a week. When I woke up, I was a quadriplegic. I was dependent on a ventilator to help me breathe until July 30th. I am so thankful for my family advocating for me this entire process. They also are a major reason my recovery has been successful as they helped stretch/exercise me daily. I was transferred around to different Banner hospitals before I ended up being transferred to Montecito on August 1st. I initially had difficulty participating in therapy due to medication issues where I would sleep all day and stay up all night. Once my medications were adjusted and managed properly, I really started to make gains in my function. Additionally, once the communication between providers, myself and family improved, it became a team effort to get me to where I am today.

Brittney (COTA), Brad (PTA), Amendah (AIT), Bill (RT), Jay (AIT) and so many CNAs and nurses were a blessing. Montecito has been very welcoming and has very hard working employees. They sometimes are understaffed, like the majority of medical facilities in today’s world, but they continue to make their best effort to care for their patients. When I got here, my quadriplegia was improving but I was still unable to stand or walk. It has taken over 2 months to improve my function. I am now able to walk approximately 200 feet with a walker and doing a lot more for myself. I am being transferred to Encompass Rehab for continued therapy in order to become completely independent.

Thanks for your help, Montecito!