Sheila Crutcher knows how quickly life can change—because in April 2022, hers did.

The week before, the 62-year-old from Piperton, Tennessee, had played in a bouncy house with her grandchildren. 

That Monday, she worked out at the gym.

That Tuesday, she spent hours working in her yard.

She didn’t sleep well that night and felt bad all day Wednesday. By Sunday evening, she was in intense pain and could barely walk.

Sheila’s husband, Todd, drove her to the Emergency Room in nearby Collierville, Tennessee. There she was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord, and admitted for several days.

On Monday, after a week in the hospital and at the urging of their daughter, Lauren Abel of Tupelo, Sheila transferred to North Mississippi Medical Center’s Rehabilitation Institute to focus on getting stronger before going home. At that point, she was unable to even sit up by herself, much less walk or feed herself. Before long, even breathing was difficult. “We didn’t know she’d ever be able to function again,” Todd says. “As a therapist at NMMC, Lauren knew this would be best for Shelia.”

While reviewing the results from her initial tests in Collierville, NMMC neurology hospitalist Dr. Feras Jeradeh-Boursoulian noticed something the others had missed. He diagnosed Sheila with Guillain-Barrè syndrome, a disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the body itself.

With Guillain-Barrè syndrome, the immune system strips off the insulation on nerves, so the nerves can’t transmit signals efficiently. The muscles begin to lose their ability to respond to the brain’s commands. Because signals to and from extremities must travel the farthest, they are most vulnerable to interruption. Usually, muscle weakness and tingling sensations first appear in the hands and feet and progress upward.

Because of her new diagnosis, Sheila needed a different kind of treatment. She was moved from the Rehabilitation Institute to a medical floor to receive plasmapheresis, a procedure that removes the person’s blood, filters out the harmful antibodies that are attacking nerves and then returns the blood to the body.

Twelve days later, Sheila was well enough to transfer back to NMMC’s Rehabilitation Institute for several hours of daily physical, occupational and speech therapy. “Therapy was so important, because she still wasn’t able to sit up by herself or move from her chest down,” Todd says.

Sheila told Dr. Brian Condit, medical director of the Rehabilitation Institute, that she would do anything they asked her to do because she desperately wanted to get better and go home. The Crutchers had just learned that a fourth grandchild was on the way, and Sheila longed to be able to hold and play with him.

One Sunday while Sheila was doing physical therapy, her therapist ran to get Todd from the facility’s courtyard. “I was watching our church service online, and the therapist said, ‘you’ve got to come see this,’” Todd says. “Sheila was taking her first steps. I cried – everybody there cried.”

Over the next few weeks, Sheila continued to work hard with her therapists. Gradually, she was becoming stronger and more independent. When she was discharged home, she could walk 10-15 feet with a walker if someone assisted.

“I’m just not used to not being able to do things for myself and having people do it for me,” Sheila says. “They really worked me hard here, but it was worth every bit of it.”

After going home, Sheila chose NMMC’s Outpatient Rehabilitation Center for physical and occupational therapy, even though it meant driving more than an hour to Tupelo three days a week for three months. “The drive just didn’t matter. This hospital is large enough to have all the specialists I needed, but small enough to know my name and my story,” Sheila says. “They had taken such good care of me so far, there was no question that’s where I was coming for therapy.”

In between therapy sessions, Sheila was faithful to do her “homework.” From tossing a ball back and forth to walking laps around their neighborhood, “coach” Todd was with her every step of the way. By August, she was able to drive herself to therapy. In November, Sheila was able to hold her new grandson.

“Throughout this whole journey, when I’d get down, Todd would say, ‘Honey, we’re going to make it,’” Sheila says. “Then, when he’d get down about something, I’d tell him, ‘Honey, we’re going to make it.’”

The Crutchers are grateful for the care they received and the friends they made at NMMC. “You could feel God’s hand every step of the way. Sheila has been able to share her story and encourage other patients. She’s uniquely qualified to say, ‘there is hope,’” Todd says. “And you won’t meet many people who are more determined than my little sweetheart. She’s tough!”