Ready to rejoin the world

Published 9:00 am Tuesday, January 3, 2006

Darrel Goodwin is ready to rejoin the world.

Although the past two years have been more horrifying for him than any scriptwriter could imagine, his story has a happy ending.

Goodwin, 85, is battling the effects of a rare form of spinal stenosis – a narrowing of the spinal column that chokes the spinal nerves – which quickly left him paralyzed from the neck down in March 2003.

The year before, the retired Darigold milkman from Seattle was by his wife’s side as she battled breast cancer and other ailments. Prior to her becoming ill, the Goodwins traveled throughout the United States and had “a good life.”

After she died in September 2002, Darrel Goodwin took a road trip to Texas. But while staying with a niece there, he lost movement in his limbs. He called his granddaughter to come drive him home and, after a few days, they made it to Arizona, where his daughter lives. Her mother flew in, and they all drove to Seattle.

Goodwin saw several physicians, none of whom could diagnose the problem. A doctor at the University of Washington did a battery of tests and thought Goodwin had Lou Gehrig’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

“I took one more test and he came up with this stuff here – spinal stenosis in the upper cavity, third and fourth and fifth vertebra,” Goodwin recalled. “I said, ‘Thanks.’”

Goodwin underwent surgery to relieve pressure on the affected nerves, but remained a quadriplegic. His doctor told him he wouldn’t notice any difference, and that any progress he made in the next two years would be as good as it would get.

Goodwin asked to be released to Messenger House Care Center on Bainbridge Island, so he could be near his son, John, daughter-in-law Lilia and their two children.

“I was like a vegetable when I came over here,” he said. “I was told I had a fair chance of surviving. I had kidney failure, atrial fibrillation, a whole lot of things I can’t remember.

“I went through all of that, got through it. I had hallucinations for awhile. Then everything started straightening out a little bit.”

Any touch or movement of his limbs gave Goodwin excruciating pain. Seven times he rolled out of bed and fell flat on his nose because he couldn’t block his fall.

Meeting Saskia Postma, a physical therapist and certified strength and conditioning specialist, was Goodwin’s saving grace.

Through “perseverance, tough rehab and an indomitable spirit,” Postma said, Goodwin gradually experienced glimmers of movement, beginning with his thumb and fingers and moving to his toes and hips.

They started with bed exercises – lots of stretching – and progressed to arm and leg exercises after he could get out of bed.

Although every movement hurt, Goodwin was always pleasant and ready to work, Postma said.

“He started just trying to hold things,” she said. “Even though it was painful, he would try his hardest and never gave up. He was the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but by sheer repetition he regained the ability to stand.”

Postman and Goodwin have developed a deep, trusting friendship. She is, said Lilia Goodwin, “part of the family now. She will cheer him up.”

They have inspired one another. Thanks to her, he continues reach his physical goals and because of him, she has opened her own practice, which brings exercise programs and physical therapy to people’s homes, in addition to working as the rehabilitation coordinator at Messenger House.

Goodwin continues taking physical therapy to strengthen his arms, legs and back.

“I still need lots of exercise until I can walk unassisted and then to maintain (my progress),” he said.

Again, through sheer determination and hard work, Goodwin regained enough balance to begin walking with assistance. Last March, he was able to move into his son’s home, where family members and an in-home caregiver trained by Postma help him achieve his next set of goals.

At home, Goodwin takes care of his personal needs thanks to occupational therapy he received at Messenger House. He can slowly walk from his bedroom to the kitchen and living area.

His caregiver comes for physical therapy three times a week. With her by his side, Goodwin grasps his walker and, with a strap around him for balance, begins his exercises.

They include leg strengthening with a resistance band, posture training and going up and down aerobic steps.

He gets winded but completes his routine, standing almost at his full 6-foot-4-inch height.

He continues to monitor his progress with Postma, who works with him as Medicare restrictions allow.

Last week with Postma, Goodwin accomplished another major goal: walking out the back door of his home and down three steps to the yard.

How did he muster the strength to battle back from spinal stenosis?

“I don’t know. No telling,” he said, with a soft laugh. “You just go from one day to the next. You’re always thinking you’re stronger than you are.”

Goodwin is determined to regain full control of his life. Once his son builds a ramp at the back of the family home, Goodwin will tackle getting down the driveway and venturing into town.

Beyond that, he has a special goal to work toward.

“I’m looking forward to this year,” said Goodwin, who served in the Navy and Naval Reserve. “The old battleship I was on, the Tennessee, they have a reunion every year. It’s in Spokane in June, and I’m going to go.”