Five years ago on Whiteface Mountain, Desiree Rosdahl experienced a horrific skiing accident.
While gliding down the slope in the Adirondacks, she left the trail and crashed, breaking 13 bones and hitting her head with such force that her helmet snapped. The impact left her with a traumatic brain injury.
She was later taken by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital, where her long recovery began.
“I was non-weight-bearing for three months after my accident because I broke both my legs,” Rosdahl said. “I had to learn how to speak normally, and reading was really hard for a while.”
Rosdahl spent days undergoing multiple surgeries and weeks afterward in Strong’s old rehabilitation unit. She remembered the first night she spent in the old rehabilitation unit. She shared a double room with an elderly couple.
“They were probably a little hearing impaired because they were shouting,” Rosdahl said with a chuckle. “I said, ‘Oh my God, I can’t do this.’”
Rosdahl’s brain injury made her sensitive to light and sound. It also left her fatigued and with some memory loss. Those symptoms are common among people who have brain injuries. She said solitude is essential to recovery.
“You're going to learn something new about your injury every day,” she said. “Having a quiet space to sort of calm down at the end of the day is going to be great.”
Strong plans to open a new Acute Brain Injury NeuroRehabilition Unit in January. Dr. Heather Ma, chief medical director for the department, said the new space was designed with a key goal in mind: helping the patients get back to whatever they were doing in life before they were injured.
The 11-room unit is located within the green corridors of Strong’s sixth floor. Ma said every detail of the new state-of-the-art space is centered around the patient. Even the clocks are all digital to eliminate the ticking sound of a traditional one.
“We're trying to weed out all the extraneous stimuli,” Ma said. “Being able to do some basic therapies in their rooms in a quieter environment helps them focus or gives them opportunities to excel.”
It took Wendy Stone five weeks to recover under the care of Dr. Ma and her team. The team considered Stone’s quick recovery an accomplishment.
“They know what they're doing,” Stone said about the staff.
Stone was rear-ended almost three years ago after leaving a doctor’s appointment. The collision resulted in a brain injury that triggered a grand mal seizure.
“Our injuries are not readily visible,” Stone said. “But they are serious injuries, and I was seriously injured.”
When Stone entered the new rehabilitation unit, she described it as beautiful, upbeat and cheerful. She underscored the family-friendly environment and the comradery that will be fostered.
“Being able to talk to other people that have the same situation, it's terrific,” she said. “It's phenomenal.”
