Nicholas' Story
Nicholas “Nick” Adamson, 39, was living the dream as a husband to Bryttani, father to daughter Emmy and owner of a landscape architecture and planning firm. A former track and football athlete, Nick spent 10 years coaching track at Mesa Community College. The New Mexico native lived an active life, regularly going hunting, fishing, camping and hiking.
It all started simply enough – Bryttani and Emmy returned from a weekend trip feeling ill. Bryttani was hit hard by the illness but was feeling better within a week. Initially, Nick felt fine but about a week later, he developed a stuffy nose, but it wasn’t bad enough to even take over-the-counter cold medicine.
A few days after the sinus pressure dissipated, Nick noticed that his toes were numb. Again, Nick thought nothing of it – he has a history of sciatic nerve pain and normally stretching could provide relief. By the third day, the numbness had made its way up his legs; a day later, his chest and arms. On the fifth day, Nick felt numb from his toes to his nose and was unable to feel the difference between hot and cold or wet and dry.
“I thought it was a pinched disc,” Nick recalls. So, despite the numbness, he kept going – preparing for Emmy’s first birthday party followed by a business trip to Germany. By the time Emmy’s party ended, however, it was becoming difficult for Nick to move, so Bryttani took him to the emergency room at Banner Gateway Medical Center.
There, Nick underwent a lumbar puncture, also known as a spinal tap, procedure where a needle is inserted into the lumbar region of the spine to collect cerebrospinal fluid, which is then analyzed to help diagnose various neurological conditions. Nick also had “more blood drawn than I’ve ever seen” to try to determine what was wrong. Because the hospital did not have a neurologist, a telemedicine appointment was arranged with a neurologist at a sister hospital. After the appointment, the neurologist suspected that Nick was suffering from Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), a rare disorder in which the body's immune system attacks the nerves. Arrangements were made for him to be transferred to Banner Baywood Medical Center (BBMC), which was better equipped to treat Nick’s condition.
Nick was admitted and immediately started on intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), a primary treatment for GBS that helps by neutralizing harmful antibodies and regulating the immune system to suppress nerve damage. After five days of IVIg, the hospital was getting ready to discharge Nick when his legs gave out. He would spend another week at BBMC stabilizing before transferring to Banner Rehabilitation Hospital East to begin his recovery and intensive inpatient rehabilitation.
Initially, Nick seemed to be improving. He was able to walk 150 feet with a walker and had regained some feeling in his extremities. But then things quickly turned. Within four days, Nick could no longer walk or feel his legs. “By the time the GBS was done, I could only move my right forearm and left hand,” Nick recalls. “I couldn’t sit or get out of bed. Someone had to feed me.”
Nick’s doctors became concerned with the decline and transferred him to another facility for further observation and a second opinion. After five days, it was determined there were no further treatments for Nick to pursue, and he returned to Banner Rehabilitation Hospital.
Due to the progression of his GBS, Nick was in worse shape at the beginning of his second admission. He required total assistance, unable to walk, eat or move on his own. Despite his circumstances and setbacks, Nick stayed optimistic that he would get better. “Every night I went through a mantra: be the person that surprised the medical industry,” he said.
While he remained realistic that he may need a wheelchair for a while, Nick says he “was just hell bent on walking out of the hospital.” Nick’s physician-led care team of nurses and physical, occupational and speech therapists devised a plan that would help him recover to the fullest level possible.
Physical therapists initially had Nick use a body weight-supported gait training device to help get him used to standing and walking again. The device includes a harness so patients can improve their walking ability by safely controlling weight bearing, posture and balance. Therapists also had Nick use a standing frame, a specialized piece of therapy equipment used to help patients stay in an upright, weight-bearing position to progress their standing tolerance.
Nick’s sessions also consisted of proprioceptive neuromuscular re-education (PNR), a therapeutic technique used to retrain the nervous system and muscles to work together in order to improve body awareness, coordination, balance and functional movement. At first, Nick and his therapists utilized PNR while he was laying on his back. Gradually, Nick was able to be positioned on his hands and knees while performing range of motion exercises in his legs and arms. Eventually, Nick was able to progress to using the parallel bars to improve standing and leg strength. He also used an exoskeleton, a wearable robotic device that helps patients stand and move their legs. It can be used to both regain the ability to walk independently or resume normal walking patterns. Over time, Nick was able to begin using a walker to walk with support from a therapist.
In occupational therapy, Nick and his team initially focused on improving his core strength while seated so he could re-learn to sit unassisted. Like in physical therapy, occupational therapists also utilized a standing frame to give Nick extra time to practice bearing weight while he did exercises like reaching while standing to help with range of motion. As he began to improve, therapists advanced Nick to do upper body exercises without weights before progressing to using the arm bike while seated and, eventually, while standing.
Nick also used a special piece of rehabilitation technology where a large touch screen digital display is programmed with exercises to improve reach, use of fingers and standing balance and tolerance. As Nick was able to better control his arms and legs, therapists incorporated weights and added modified pushups and core strengthening exercises.
Nick credits his therapist team for their creativity in his therapeutic activities. “Everyone did what they needed to help me meet my goals,” he said. “Even during the times where I couldn’t move, they still brought me to the gym. They talked to each other and compared notes to figure out how to make it work for me.” Nick’s family also played a crucial role in his recovery, helping to move his limbs when he was unable to do so and using a dry brush to stimulate his nerves. Bryttani was able to bring Emmy and the family dog to the hospital and incorporated both into his therapy as well.
After nearly two additional months at Banner Rehabilitation Hospital East, Nick was able to manage his personal care independently and could walk using a walker and specialized orthotics to support his ankles. Throughout his recovery, Nick lost 35 pounds of muscle mass, which he plans to work to increase with outpatient therapy as well as exercises at home. He is looking forward to being strong enough to go camping with his family again.
At discharge, Nick shared: “Everybody in this hospital was amazing. I can’t imagine getting better care.”