Alyssa Felt Her Toes Move for the First Time on Her Birthday
On April 11 2012 Alyssa Glick celebrated her eleventh birthday at PSEG Children’s Specialized Hospital. “I was in my second month there. I was hoping to be home by then,” says Alyssa, “but something even better happened that day, I could feel my toes again.”
The morning of April 11 was the first time since Alyssa lost the ability to walk two months earlier that she could feel a sensation in her toes.
By the time Alyssa reached her twelfth birthday a year later she was at home in Far Rockaway, N.Y. She was not only walking, she was dancing at her Bat Mitzvah, a celebration in the Jewish faith that pays tribute to a young person’s coming of age. At the party, Alyssa was surrounded by her family and friends, including the friends she made during her four-month rehabilitation stay at Children’s Specialized.
An irregular tangle of blood vessels on Alyssa’s spinal cord known as arteriovenous malformation (AVM), left Alyssa paralyzed from her toes to her chest. It was a gradual progression of paralysis that started with tingling toes, a lack of movement in her left leg, then immobility in her right leg, and eventually paralysis from her toes to her chest.
The blood vessels in Alyssa's spine were so tightly twisted into a ball and precariously positioned that the neurosurgical team treating her could only partially remove them. An angioplasty was performed to remove the blockage in Alyssa’s blood vessels.
Following the eight-hour surgery, doctors told Alyssa and her parents she probably would never regain her ability to walk. “We were sent to Children’s Specialized Hospital to help Alyssa prepare for life as a paraplegic. Instead, she came out walking ,” said Mrs. Glick.
Alyssa’s vigorous routine of daily physical, acquatic, occupational and recreational therapies included the use of a new ZeroG machine that helps patients regain the ability to walk independently. Patients are placed in a harness connected to a track in the ceiling. The harness helps keep patients balanced and prevents them from falling. The ZeroG machine also records the user’s sessions, making it convenient to document and track a patient’s progress.
Children’s Specialized is one of only two children’s rehabilitative hospitals in the country to use the ZeroG system – the most advanced body weight support system for walking and balance training, and one of 20 health care facilities in the world to have the equipment.
The modern facility and technology at Children Specialized are impressive, says Mrs. Glick, along with the compassionate, pleasant and detail-driven staff.
Mrs. Glick says she was impressed by Alyssa’s therapists arranging a visit to her school to meet with teachers, staff members and classmates to discuss Alyssa’s condition and needs to assist her with the transition back to school.
“They even measured the doorways, inspected the restrooms and made sure the facilities were compliant with Alyssa’s equipment needs,” says Mrs. Glick. At the time Alyssa was walking with the help of arm crutches and leg braces. Today Alyssa sometimes uses leg braces while in school.
In addition to being attentive to Alyssa’s clinical and health care requirements, says Mrs. Glick, Children’s Specialized also made accommodations for the needs of Alyssa and her family pertaining to their Orthodox Jewish faith during their four-month stay at Children’s.
“The day we arrived it was the evening of March 6, the night of Purim (a Jewish holiday). We hadn’t asked for any special consideration, but the next morning Children’s Specialized gave us a private room where we could host a feast with our entire family, which included four other families within our family,” says Mrs. Glick. “We also had the use of a kosher microwave oven and refrigerator throughout our stay.”
Mrs. Glick also recalls a day at Children’s Specialized when Alyssa mentioned she wanted to celebrate “Princess Day.” The staff, led by Alyssa’s child life specialist, came together and did just that.
Alyssa’s grandmother provided the costumes. Hospital staff decorated the facility, dressed the children in princess and prince attire, baked cupcakes and had games for the children. “Everyone wore crowns that day, including the staff and administrators,” says Mrs. Glick.
The crowning moment, though, came on April 7, 2012, says Mrs. Glick, at Alyssa’s Bat Mitzvah celebration. “Alyssa was dancing to the song “Barbie Girl” on her own. There were at least 125 people in the room. We were all crying. We were crying happy tears. I thanked God that Alyssa could stand again and I thought, ‘Look how far my princess has come.’”