11/07/2025
This past May, crafter Kathy Hurst's life came to a complete standstill after neck and spine surgery. She was suddenly unable to do things on her own and fearful that her rambunctious grandsons could hurt her if they came over.
Kathy's surgery included a spinal fusion as well as having an old spinal fusion repaired. Post-surgery, she was in a significant amount of pain, prompting her surgeon to refer her to physical therapy. When she first started, she couldn't drive because she was unable to turn her head, and she couldn’t lift her arms to dress herself or wash her hair.
When Kathy first started coming to SSM Health Physical Therapy - Pacific, Emily Schuttenberg, physical therapist, and Emily Cain, physical therapist assistant, worked hard to get her range of motion back in her neck first. It was important to Kathy to be able to drive.
Kathy worked both in-center and at home on the exercises she was given by her physical therapy team and soon she was able to turn her head left and right well enough to drive and do it without pain. After that, her therapists worked on raising her arms and she was able to dress herself and wash her own hair.
A big milestone for Kathy was when she was finally able to give all three of her grandsons a "really good grandma hug," that's when she knew should could start to return to working on her crafts again.
"I feel so much better," Kathy said, "but there is still a lot of work for me to do. They have given me all the tools that I'll need once physical therapy is over."
