Help Deanne Niedziela Gain Independence

Welcome to the next chapter of my life!

In case you don’t know, I was fortunate and thankful when Mission Hospital hired me in 1993 — 31 years ago. I started as a bedside nurse caring for critically ill patients and later became a nurse leader and administrator. I loved working as an RN and considered myself a passionate patient advocate. Never did I think I would one day be a spinal cord patient in Mission Hospital’s critical care unit.

Sunday, May 28, 2023, was a life-altering day for me and my family. That was when a tree limb suddenly fell and struck me during a sightseeing tour in Costa Rica, leaving me paralyzed from the chest down permanently. Thanks to generous and urgent donations to a GoFundMe account, I was medically evacuated a week later and welcomed by my second family in California — all the nurses, doctors, therapists, techs and staff at Mission Hospital.

After spending a month at Mission, I was stable enough to fly on another medical jet — this time to Craig Hospital in Colorado. Craig specializes in spinal cord injury rehabilitation. During the nearly 12 weeks I spent there, I learned about my new normal and the many accommodations I needed to adjust to daily life upon my release. My stay at Craig was taxing physically, mentally and socially, as I missed all my friends back home. My husband, Ken, flew back and forth to Denver to learn to care for me and to hear about the home renovations we needed to accommodate my wheelchairs and satisfy my other needs.

All the generous donations to the GoFundMe account set me up at home with a wheelchair-accessible van, an ADA-compliant bathroom and shower, a stair lift to carry me upstairs and downstairs, new flooring, and a front door wide enough to accommodate my battery-powered wheelchair.

My life at home remains challenging, unfortunately. I rely on Ken for almost everything, from getting me into and out of bed and bathing me to driving me to my doctors’ appointments and preparing my meals. We pay a caregiver to assist me four nights a week, but Ken handles most of the everyday responsibilities. His full-time job and his taking on all the household tasks leave him exhausted.

Before my paralysis, I was independent and physically strong. Besides working full-time at Mission Hospital, I jogged daily, did Pilates several times a week, cooked meals and entertained friends.

Many well-wishers have asked, “How are you doing?” “What do you need?” “How can we help?” My top goal is to avoid setbacks in my health and regain as much independence as possible. The desire for freedom is on my mind every day.

I wish my home was more functional, given my limitations, so that I could satisfy my basic needs without asking for assistance. For example, I need help getting a drink, finding a snack and accessing my backyard patio.

I would love to cook again and entertain friends in the backyard. Regrettably, I don’t have an ADA-compliant kitchen that can accommodate my wheelchair and permit me to operate appliances, open cupboards and prepare simple meals. I am encouraged and excited about all the technological innovations available in ADA kitchens and how they would help someone with limited mobility, slight hand dexterity and no finger movement, like me. Those kitchen improvements would help me regain some of my former independence.

Access to my backyard patio is problematic. However, after speaking with a building contractor, I learned that an ADA-compliant doorway could be constructed from my living room to the backyard, delivering more of the independence I dream about. Furthermore, a little-known fact is that people with spinal cord injuries have trouble controlling their body temperature. That is why a patio cover with a fan and heater would make the backyard even more inviting and comfortable for me.

Ken and I exhausted the previous GoFundMe account to renovate our home to this point and purchase the wheelchair-accessible van. Because many people still ask about my ongoing needs, we opened a new GoFundMe account so that we can make further improvements — the ADA kitchen, door and patio cover — and continue to live in our home of 30 years.

We are forever grateful to all the donors and thank them from the bottom of our hearts. Our lives would be much more challenging and stressful without their generosity.

Thank you to everyone in the Mission Hospital community for all your support and your texts, emails and well-wishes. They have meant the world to Ken and me.

Love, Deanne Niedziela

Ken and me just a few minutes before my life changed forever.