Just call her 'The Comeback Kim'

Reprinted with permission from the Ashley Tribune of Ashley, North Dakota, June 1, 2005.

Just call her 'The Comeback Kim'

by Jane Haas

From an intensive care unit to the junior prom in nine months turned out to be a long journey for Kim Wolf. The journey has amazed her family, friends and people in her home communities of Ashley and Kulm. Kim is not so amazed. She always knew she could do it.

Kim Wolf gives her signature thumbs up to the notion that she is getting better and will continue to make strides toward regaining her speech and the ability to walk normally.

“(Attitude) will help me,” Kim says, using an alphabet card to make her spoken words easier to decipher. “I never doubted that.”

Kim gives another enthusastic thumbs up to her family for their support. She knows how important they have been and continue to be through the rehabilitation process.

Last Aug. 8 she sustained critical injuries to her head in a car accident and spent 10 days in an intensive care unit at St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck. From there she was transferred to the Specialized Complex Care Institute in Mandan where she spent 40 days. Kim’s mother, Monica, said that at SCCI patients with head injuries, stroke, anneurism and other debilitating conditions start over.

For Kim it was never a question of if but only when.

Monica said, “We saw in rehab some people who said ‘I don’t want to do it.’ Kim never (indicated) that. She always wanted to get better.”

For her parents the process has included some heart-wrenching situations.

“The hardest thing for me (and my husband Keith) was putting my daughter in a nursing home for 30 days,” Monica said.

Jeremy St. Aubin, the physical therapist at Ashley Medical Center made sure Kim left the AMC Nursing Home as quickly as possible.

“He helped her walk and got her ready to go back to rehab in a month,” Monica said. That was faster than anyone expected.

“At least in this nursing home everybody knew her,” Monica said, “but it was still good to go back to rehab.

“The 10 days in intensive care were really really hard,” she added.

Since Kim’s right side is affected the most from the accident, she is learning to write with that hand again and takes piano lessons once week to make those muscles work with her brain. She had taken lessons for nine years before the accident.

In her favor, Kim feels no pain when she does the physical and occupational therapy and, Monica said “has never had to deal with pneumonia” as often happens to patients whose activity is restricted.

Before she was taught how to walk, she had to learn to crawl at SCCI.

“Those who do that have better balance,” Monica said.

Kim, though, has a ways to go. The speech needs lots of work, but the walking has improved by leaps and bounds with the right side needing extra prods.

“When we consider what she was like nine months ago and now, she has made great progress,” her mother said.

Kim walks slowly with a cane and at home near furniture, she manages without the cane.

That progress allowed Kim to enroll at Ashley Public School Jan. 21. As yet she does not take regular classes, but she is determined to graduate with the class of 2006.

“I WILL be a senior this fall,” she said.

She studied at the junior high level and her paraprofessional Eva Becker, helped her with math, English and reading the second semester under direction of special services instructor, Lisa Eszlinger.

“She has not lost a lot of skills,” Monica said. “She forgets some things but in time she won’t forget the short term. Comprehension isn’t quite as good at this point, but she will get that back, too.”

In November, Monica says that Kim’s thinking process started to move forward, and she had more awareness of her surroundings. Each month it’s a different improvement.

St. Aubin and AMC occupational therapist Gwyn Schumacher, work with Kim three-five days a week. Speech therapist Cindy Kramer spent time with Kim two days a week and three days a week Kim had more speech therapy with a Bismarck speech pathologist via Telemedicine at AMC.

Mom and daughter don’t agree on the biggest challenge right now. Kim says it’s the walking. Mom says it’s the speech. Doctors are optimistic about both, Monica says.

The speech was partially affected by the feeding tube inserted in the trachea, Monica explained, and the walking became affected in intensive care when the large muscles took control over the smaller muscles. When the smaller muscles cannot respond, only gross movements can be performed. In the jaw, the large muscles want to push the bottom jaw out which impedes speech. A speech pathologist in Bismarck will help Kim work on that this summer.

Kim wore special boots to keep the Achilles tendon stretched in ICU, but the boots were often pushed off. Still it prevented the tendon from completely contracting.

The only surgeries Kim has had was a breathing tube and a feeding tube inserted.

Both communities have supported the family with concern, prayers and financial assistance. The whole family, Mom, Dad (Keith), Kris, younger sister and little brother Michael know the importance of community.

Monica says without everyone’s support and prayers and turning things over to the Lord, “we’d have never made it."