Extraordinary Dental Care Is Right Down the Street

Patient Quote of the Month:

“Dr. Slate and her staff are simply the best. No long waits, great attention to cleanliness, and compassionate care using the most up-to-date methods available. Our family trusts Dr. Slate completely.” — Rebecca Ozmun

In their strength and optimism, the Heitzenreders in turn have inspired others.

Dallasite Bill Dunham had never met Jim, but visited on behalf of a mutual friend who could not travel. He says his “chance encounter” with the couple “stunned and motivated” him in various ways.

“I was struck by Jim’s positive attitude, resiliency and his strong faith,” Dunham notes. “He didn’t show any signs of depression or bitterness towards the driver who hit him. I am so impressed and inspired by his determination, which he’ll need as he transitions to his new reality at home.”

Baylor released him in mid-January, and the couple was ecstatic to go home to a newly remodeled house. A new ramp provides Jim access to his front door. Four interior doorways have been widened to accommodate the wheelchair. The bathroom is redone, from the studs up, to make way for a specially designed tub and shower.

“And we had to get a van,” Alison says. A good thing, because before heading home, Jim wanted to collect his bicycle from the police station.

“We’ve had 10s of thousands of good miles together,” he says. “It’s a beautiful bike, a good girl, we went down hard together.”

He isn’t sure how he might replace his passion for cycling, he says. Along with everything else, that is a day-by-day discovery process. “Looking too far into the future would be overwhelming. The reality is, wallowing would be useless.”

If anything can be derived from his situation, he hopes it involves drivers thinking a little more about cyclists’ rights and safety, he says. Jim says and he doesn’t hold a grudge against the young driver, who is facing serious charges, though he does make a couple jokes about condemning the guy to be his caretaker for a period of time. Alison says she’s too busy to give the kid a second thought.

There are things the Heitzenreders could use (a $20,000 therapeutic cycle, for example, that would allow Jim to exercise his muscles) and things they hope (maybe he will use his arms again someday — every spinal cord injury is different, they point out, so you never know). But overwhelmingly they feel “wonderful,” Alison says.

A Godsend caregiver comes every morning, and, though it isn’t easy, Alison learned after three days how to get Jim to bed on her own, so they have time together alone. After spending months having people in and out of the room day and night, that is a blessing, she adds. “He still has the biggest smile,” she says of Jim. “And he keeps me happy, as we are getting to normal, the new normal.”