Patient Education

Meet Amanda Lyons

Listening to Your Body During the Rehab Process

Amanda Lyons and physical therapist, Andrew Stamatelos, prepare for a therapy session using the stim bike at Magee’s Riverfront outpatient facility.

“I Pushed Myself Too Hard.”

Among her friends, family, coworkers and students, Amanda Lyons is known for her thirst for life, big smile and determination. She loves teaching students at Thomas Jefferson University where she serves as an assistant professor of Occupational Therapy. She’s always led an active and social lifestyle. Her innate drive has helped Amanda make many strides in her recovery less than a year since her spinal cord injury. However, that drive also caused Amanda to suffer a setback early on and she hopes other newly injured individuals can learn from her experience.

“My goal is to get back to living the same life I was living before,” Amanda shared. “But I literally and figuratively pushed myself too hard.”

In May 2021, a stray bullet robbed Amanda of the use of her legs. The 35 year-old Philadelphia woman had been hanging out with friends after a recreational kickball game when they heard gunshots. Amanda tried to take cover, but within seconds realized she could no longer feel below her waist. The bullet had severed her spinal cord. It also meant the life that she had known was no longer going to be the same.

“It’s a physical and mental challenge that I am still navigating,” said Amanda.

Learning to Live in Her New Body

Doctors at an acute care hospital performed surgery to fuse her spine. Amanda came to Magee for six weeks of inpatient physical rehabilitation for the next phase in her healing journey. The weight of the ordeal was emotionally crushing. Amanda coped by funneling that energy into her daily physical and occupational therapy sessions, which helped build her strength in her trunk and upper body and maximize her mobility. Learning how to live in her new body meant she now relied on her trunk, shoulders, arms and hands to do much more work than ever before and in ways they were not naturally intended.

Amanda Lyons with her outpatient rehab care team at Magee Riverfront.

“I started to notice my hands were falling asleep at night,” recalled Amanda. “I thought it was the way I was holding the iPhone as I laid in my hospital bed. It slowly got worse but I just disregarded it and didn’t mention it to anyone.”

Amanda continued to press on. The inpatient rehabilitation treatment plan routinely included specific exercises to protect shoulder joint integrity, promote arm strength, and minimize shoulder pain. Power assist and power mobility options are even available for patients to trial if they expect to regularly propel their wheelchair over long distances or uneven terrain. Amanda’s inpatient care team viewed her as making great progress. Amanda’s conditioned body was primed for the daily PT and OT sessions and she was admired for her optimism and determination in the wake of such a traumatic situation.

Too Painful to Ignore

When she transitioned to Magee Riverfront’s intensive outpatient Day Rehab Program, the pain in her hands began to significantly impede her progress. Now made aware of the issues with Amanda’s hands, her outpatient care team pivoted with her rehab plan and implemented more specific pain management strategies.

“We used paraffin wax treatments to apply heat on the joints in the fingers and hands,” explained Cate Furman, MS, OTR/L, senior occupational therapist. “I also applied heat to her shoulders, because that’s where tissues and joints are most mobile and massaged the areas of muscle tension.”

How Much is Too Much?

Amanda’s care team decided that physical and occupational therapy sessions were not to involve the use of her arms and hands for the remaining few weeks in the Day Rehab program. She met with an orthopedic surgeon, specializing in the upper extremity, who diagnosed her with having trigger fingers and carpel tunnel in both hands. Amanda wasn’t sure if her wrists and fingers were already weakened prior to rehab, as that would have predisposed a patient to having develop a hand injury so quickly.

“I wish I had been more mindful in the beginning of the rehab process,” said Amanda. “When I was an inpatient, I kept asking to increase the weights we were using. We went on a community outing to City Hall one day and I pushed my wheelchair the entire time. I kept telling myself ‘one more block,’ as if I was trying to prove something to myself.”

Amanda was frustrated with the setback, but grateful that it was something that could be corrected with surgery.

“It shook my confidence for a little while. It felt like I had ten steps forward in my recovery and then I couldn’t even transfer myself in and out of my wheelchair,” she said.

“I would suggest to anyone who is newly injured to make sure you communicate with your care team about everything you are experiencing. Also consider using wheelchair gloves or other methods to protect your hands and their positioning,” Amanda added.

Motivated About Possibilities

Amanda underwent outpatient surgery on both of her hands, which meant she couldn’t use them for several weeks while they healed. Amanda has since continued with outpatient rehab at Magee working with custom orthotic braces on both legs. She is as motivated and determined as ever, but acutely aware of how quickly an injury can occur if she is not careful.

“I hope to eventually be able to stand by myself and maybe even walk again using a walker or crutches,” she shared.

Amanda undergoes electric stimulation in her legs during an outpatient rehab session with physical therapist, Andrew Stamaletos, and physical therapy aide Faye Yan.