Spasticity - Shaun
In Shaun’s Own Words
“Dr. Brown’s advice to me was all these surgeries wouldn’t make me worse. It could either only stay the same or make it better. And after three surgeries, he has made me 100% better. I appreciate everything that he has done. I’ve set many goals and that’s what you have to do when you’ve suffered the catastrophic injuries that I’ve had…My advice to anyone looking for help is, “Don’t give up. Speak to Dr. Brown even if it’s just a consultation with him. Let him evaluate your individual case and go from there. Dr. Brown is an unbelievable doctor and I look forward to seeing him again in December.”
I have always been a very active man. I played a lot of softball all year round. I also played ice hockey and a little street hockey too. And of course, in the winter time here on the East Coast, we play indoors. I went to Baltimore in March of 2017. It was a Friday. We had games on Saturday, March 4.
So I was on the field playing during my third game for the day. It was a little bit after noontime. I didn’t feel right. I went into the dugout. I had hypertension and I was on medication but I did not take it like I was supposed to during the day. I had my medication with me. I knew something was wrong. I felt like I was talking out of the side of my mouth.
I grabbed my blood pressure medicine. I took the medicine and went outside of the dugout to get up to bat. As I stepped out onto the on-deck circle, the bat fell out of my left hand.
I bent down to pick it up and it fell out again. Luckily enough, I had a police officer on my team. I called him over and he looked at me. He sat me down. He knew the signs. He said I was having a stroke. I needed to relax and he got on the phone and got 911. Seven minutes later, I was loaded into an ambulance with a blood pressure of 250/175. Being in Baltimore, they took me to a hospital nearby, which was Baltimore MedStar Medical Center where I was diagnosed with having a stroke with a little brain bleed. So the reversal drug was going to be of no use to me. I spent four days there. I was then admitted into Massachusetts General Hospital. On March 27, while I was still being treated, I had a second stroke. So the second stroke basically landed me in the ICU where I had to be resuscitated.
I couldn't work. I was paralyzed on the left side of my body.
My arm was stuck to my chest and my left leg just didn't work. I developed some blood clots in my left leg because I wasn’t able to get it moving. I went in and they cleaned out the DVTs and I ended up back in rehab again. And that rehab was Spaulding Rehabilitation Center in Boston, MA.
So while there, I entered PT, OT, and speech therapy. My speech didn’t really get affected too much, but being paralyzed on the left side was really hard for me to adjust to. I was able to drop the speech therapy to add more time for OT and PT, where they were able to get me to at least get weight on my leg and walk with a quad cane.
I needed assistance. So I had to have two therapists with me at all times if I tried to get up. Well, during that, I started to receive Botox injections in my arm to try and get my left arm working. And the doctor that did the injections referred me to Dr. Brown at Mass General. She told me all about him, and I made an appointment to see him. I was still in a wheelchair.
Upon meeting with Dr. Brown, he made some suggestions about ‘getting my leg back’ first. He did the surgery behind my knee which has allowed my foot to free up, and gave me more balance so that I could at least start walking on my own with a single cane.
In the meantime, I was fitted for a carbon fiber brace that went around my calf with a footplate on it which allowed me to walk even better. So from that point on, and with meeting Dr. Brown, for the next six to seven months, I did more physical therapy and occupational therapy. With these therapies and with the Botox injections, they were able to free up most of my arm so it wasn’t stuck to my chest.
At my next visit with Dr. Brown, he discussed options and asked me which way I wanted to go. He makes you feel very comfortable when discussing things with you.
So he did surgery on the inside of my elbow, the inner part between the bicep and the forearm, where he was able to loosen up some of the tendons and everything that allowed me to lift my arm. I can get it up over my head. It also loosened up a lot of my fingers so that they weren’t making a fist all the time. He was able to free up my shoulder too, which gave me a lot of shoulder movement.
Some time after that, I had a third stroke and I woke up about five days later in the ICU and they had moved me into a regular room where I spent about three more days. So back to the rehab for one last time.
In May of this year, upon visiting with Dr. Brown, we decided we were going to go and try and get my toes from curling. So by now, I was walking with a walking stick, but every time I would stand up, my toes would try to grip the ground.
So we had a third surgery and he went into my ankle and did something with the toe extenders. Now my toes stay flat when I’m walking. So since then I will not use any cane, no walking stick. About three months ago, I stopped wearing the carbon fiber brace.
So I went from being told I would never walk again to, with the help of Dr. Brown, being able to walk again. I do make sure of my surroundings. So that’s where I stand and I’m going to meet with Dr. Brown again in December to discuss what else he can do for my hand.
Upon talking with Dr. Brown about the hand earlier, his advice was we can go on and do something because the nerves are reacting.
Dr Brown’s advice to me was all these surgeries wouldn’t make me worse. It could either only stay the same or make it better. And after three surgeries, he has made me 100% better. I appreciate everything that he has done. I’ve set many goals and that’s what you have to do when you’ve suffered the catastrophic injuries that I’ve had.
My advice to anyone looking for help is, “Don’t give up. Speak to Dr. Brown even if it’s just a consultation with him. Let him evaluate your individual case and go from there. Dr. Brown is an unbelievable doctor and I look forward to seeing him again in December.”
Book a consult with the Paralysis Center today (844) 930-1001