Special Needs, Special Horses: A Guide to the Benefits of Therapeutic Riding

Chapter 17: Barbara—Transverse Myelitis

121 Chapter Seventeen Barbara—Transverse Myelitis One฀of฀the฀purposes฀of฀this฀book฀is฀to฀inspire฀people฀to฀“be฀the฀best฀ that฀you฀can฀be,”฀to฀quote฀an฀old฀familiar฀phrase.฀Barbara฀Lamb฀is฀the฀ epitome฀of฀this฀sentiment. In฀high฀school,฀Barbara฀won฀awards฀for฀her฀art,฀helped฀kids฀as฀a฀volunteer ฀through฀an฀organization฀called฀PALS,฀(Peer฀Assistant฀Leadership฀ Service),฀worked฀as฀an฀usher฀at฀the฀local฀major฀league฀baseball฀field,฀ and฀typed฀sixty฀words฀per฀minute฀on฀her฀computer. A฀typical฀teenager?฀Yes.฀Except฀for฀one฀thing.฀She฀has฀been฀paralyzed ฀from฀the฀shoulders฀down฀since฀the฀age฀of฀two. Barbara฀began฀a฀hippotherapy฀program฀when฀she฀was฀sixteen.฀At฀first,฀ her฀sidewalkers฀supported฀her฀back฀with฀a฀hand฀behind฀each฀shoulder.฀ After฀several฀rides,฀she฀gradually฀began฀to฀sit฀up฀straight฀on฀her฀own,฀and฀ we฀only฀steadied฀her฀with฀gentle฀pressure฀on฀her฀hipbones.฀If฀she฀leaned฀ too฀far฀to฀one฀side,฀the฀therapist฀would฀ask฀the฀volunteer฀on฀the฀opposite฀ side฀to฀press฀down฀on฀her฀hip,฀which฀would฀restore฀her฀balance.฀ Barbara฀progressed฀to฀holding฀herself฀up฀well฀throughout฀her฀thirtyminute ฀rides,฀rarely฀mentioning฀she฀was฀getting฀tired.฀The฀pretty฀student฀ usually฀occupied฀her฀time฀chatting฀about฀school฀and฀all฀the฀fun฀things฀ she฀and฀her฀friends฀had฀done฀since฀her฀last฀ride,฀flipping฀her฀glossy฀pony฀ tail฀around฀as฀she฀looked฀from฀one฀of฀us฀to฀the฀other. As฀I฀watched฀the฀apparent฀improvement฀in฀her฀muscle฀strength,฀I฀ thought฀she฀would฀be฀an฀inspiring฀subject฀for฀this฀book฀and฀asked฀if฀I฀ might฀include฀her฀story.฀ horse2.indd฀฀฀121 3/11/05฀฀฀2:09:43฀PM PROFILES 122 “Sounds฀cool,”฀she฀said฀and฀invited฀me฀to฀her฀home฀for฀an฀interview .฀We฀made฀a฀date฀and฀a฀few฀days฀later฀I฀sat฀with฀her฀and฀her฀mother,฀ Janet฀Lamb,฀in฀their฀living฀room.฀ “Barbara฀had฀a฀virus฀shortly฀after฀she฀turned฀two,฀which฀attacked฀ her฀spinal฀cord,”฀Lamb฀said.฀“Transverse฀Myelitis,฀they฀called฀it.฀They฀ didn’t฀know฀what฀caused฀it,฀what฀to฀do฀about฀it,฀what฀it฀would฀do,฀how฀ far฀it฀would฀go.฀Only฀that฀she฀was฀paralyzed.” Lamb฀ paused,฀ biting฀ her฀ lip฀ and฀ squeezing฀ her฀ eyelids฀ together ฀ a฀ moment.฀ “It’s฀ very฀ rare.฀ At฀ the฀ time฀ only฀ seven฀ people฀ in฀ the฀ United฀States฀had฀it฀and฀I฀could฀find฀only฀two฀pages฀on฀it฀in฀medical฀ books.”1 It฀is฀still฀rare,฀but฀there฀is฀now฀more฀information฀available฀about฀it.฀ As฀of฀this฀writing,฀the฀exact฀cause฀is฀uncertain฀and฀there฀is฀no฀cure,฀only฀ therapy฀to฀treat฀the฀symptoms.฀ Transverse฀Myelitis฀is฀a฀neurological฀disorder฀caused฀by฀spinal฀in- flammation.฀It฀can฀damage฀or฀destroy฀myelin,฀the฀fatty฀substance฀that฀insulates ฀nerve฀fibers.฀Resulting฀scars฀interrupt฀communications฀between฀ the฀nerves฀in฀the฀spinal฀cord฀and฀the฀rest฀of฀the฀body,฀which฀causes฀ varying฀degrees฀of฀paralysis.฀Damage฀at฀one฀segment฀of฀the฀spinal฀cord฀ will฀affect฀function฀at฀that฀segment฀and฀segments฀below฀it.2 The฀damage฀to฀Barbara’s฀spinal฀cord฀affected฀her฀from฀the฀shoulders฀ down. By฀1994,฀she฀had฀developed฀scoliosis฀(curvature฀of฀the฀spine),฀due฀ to฀the฀lack฀of฀muscle฀tone,฀and฀a฀Harrington฀Rod฀was฀surgically฀attached฀ to฀her฀spine. I฀asked฀how฀she฀got฀into฀horse฀therapy. “My฀therapist฀told฀me฀about฀it,”฀Barbara฀replied.฀“She฀had฀a฀client฀ in฀it.฀At฀first฀they฀wouldn’t฀accept฀me฀because฀I฀didn’t฀fit฀into฀some฀ guidelines฀they฀had.฀Since฀I’m฀paralyzed฀and฀can’t฀feel฀pain,฀they฀said฀I฀ might฀do฀some฀damage฀to฀myself฀and฀not฀know฀it.฀I฀talked฀to฀my฀doctor,฀ got฀his฀okay,฀and,฀like,฀really฀kept฀after฀them฀at฀Rocky฀Top฀until฀they฀let฀ me฀in.”฀ Looking฀fondly฀at฀her฀daughter,฀Lamb฀said,฀“She’s฀pretty฀determined฀ when฀she฀wants฀something.฀She฀doesn’t฀take฀‘no’฀easily.”3 I฀asked฀Iris฀Melton,฀the฀physical฀therapist฀assistant/NARHA฀instruchorse2 .indd฀฀฀122 3/11/05฀฀฀2:09:43฀PM BARBARA 123 tor฀who฀worked฀with฀Barbara,฀for฀a฀clarification฀of฀why฀they฀initially฀ refused฀to฀accept฀her. Iris฀explained฀the฀guidelines฀were฀set฀by฀NARHA,฀to฀protect฀those฀ with฀conditions฀which฀might฀be฀aggravated฀by฀riding.฀Three฀of฀them฀ applied฀to฀Barbara,฀which฀were:฀structural฀scoliosis฀greater฀than฀thirty฀ degrees,฀ which฀ prohibits฀ a฀ client฀ from฀ riding;฀ hip฀ dislocation,฀ which฀ requires฀careful฀motion฀assessment฀prior฀to฀starting฀a฀riding฀program;฀ and฀the฀fact฀that...