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Caulfield Hospital 2010 Annual Appeal 

"I came into Caulfield Hospital horizontally and left vertically. I was told Caulfield is the best place to be for rehabilitation and that is so right."

So says 60-year-old spinal patient Peter Johnson. Peter knows first-hand that Caulfield Hospital is the state specialist for providing rehabilitation services.

Please send a gift toward the hospital's Annual Appeal to help us care for patients like Peter.

Eighteen months ago, Peter said he was a bit "doddery" on his feet.

"I thought it was just old age. I'd had a couple of falls down the back steps and then on Labour Day last year I had a really big fall into the spa and hit my back as I fell. As I lay there, I couldn't feel my legs. I thought - this has to be temporary - and sure enough after 10 minutes, the feeling came back."

However, this was enough for Peter to investigate the cause and a MRI found a growth on his spinal column. A piece of cartilage had calcified into bone and as it grew, it was blocking the blood flow and damaging his spinal cord. This led to a ‘spastic walk', meaning Peter could only walk by dragging his feet and using crutches.

"I was told my condition was extremely rare and that as the growth was getting bigger, the spinal column was being squashed and the capillaries in that area were getting smaller. If left alone, I had a 100% chance of paraplegia. If the surgeons took it out, I had a 15% chance of decompression injury, where the spinal column swells to fill the space and the spinal cord stops working," Peter explained.

Peter, who is married with two adult children, went with the odds and had the operation but unfortunately was one of the 15% with complications.

"After the operation, I couldn't feel or move anything from the waist down. I was told I would need years of rehabilitation and that's when I came to Caulfield Hospital. I was told Caulfield is the place for you - with its terrific spinal unit and top rehab care."

When he arrived at our hospital, Peter could wriggle his toes but had a long journey in front of him. He spent 16 weeks as an inpatient in one of our Rehab wards having physiotherapy twice daily, as well as hydrotherapy and occupational therapy.

"They were getting me ready for life in a wheelchair," Peter remembered.

"I did a wheelchair cookery class, I went on a wheelchair excursion to Malvern Central and an architect drew up plans for a ramp in my house so I could get in and out of the door. But, with the help I was receiving, deep down I felt I could do better."

We want to do all we can to improve the lives of patients like Peter and generous supporters like you can help us do that.

Your gift will mean we can continue to improve the care we provide, with the most up to date equipment.

Peter is one of the lucky ones - after a great deal of therapy at Caulfield, he's well on the way to recovery but for a while there he considered that the best years of his life, of being able to walk and work, were over.

"The first day I stood up in the parallel bars during physiotherapy, I burst into tears," Peter remembers. I still get a bit emotional thinking about that."

Peter continued with Caulfield's Therapy in the Home program and by August last year he was walking with a heavy frame, though was still very unsteady and weak.

He has now decreased his outpatient therapy to weekly physiotherapy and hydrotherapy sessions and, miraculously, is walking with the aid of sticks.

"I still get tired and have a long way to go," Peter said. I missed almost a whole year of work but I'm back part time, working as a secondary school teacher and Caulfield's occupational therapists helped me get my driver's licence back - I now drive an automatic car.

 "Caulfield really turned things around for me. I couldn't have asked for more. I've been incredibly lucky."

Peter's goal now is to go on the overseas trip he and his wife had to cancel when he became ill.

Please show your support for Caulfield Hospital with a donation today. Any gift you can give will have a great impact in improving the equipment and facilities we can provide our patients.

Click here to view our wishlist.

Please give your donation today to help the hospital purchase much needed equipment from our wishlist.

Click here for a donation coupon

Coupons can be faxed to 9076 6434 or mailed to Fundraising/Caulfield Hospital, 260 Kooyong Rd, Caulfield VIC 3162

Donations over $2.00 are tax deductible.

Please direct any queries to Fundraising on: Ph: (03) 9076 6480.