Kayla Groeneweg’s life has always revolved around animals. Raised on a farm, she chose to pursue a career as a veterinary technician. When she’s not at work, she spends time with her three kids and her pets, including three dogs and three horses. In her spare time, she even picked up team roping events as a hobby.
Having five years of roping experience under her belt, Kayla never imagined she would be hurt doing what she loved.
“We were in a competition, and the steer made an unexpected move and cut my horse off,” Kayla remembers. “It spooked him, and he rolled over with me still on him.”
Miraculously, neither Kayla nor her horse broke any bones. But, she sustained serious brain trauma and was taken to the intensive care unit at Avera McKennon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She was placed in a medically-induced coma and required a ventilator to breathe. After a month, the mom of three came to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals’ specialized brain injury program to jumpstart her recovery.
“At first, Kayla was very shy and seemed somewhat unsure of the therapy process,” Claire Dowling, MS, CCC-SLP, CBIS, a Madonna speech-language pathologist, said. “We established early on that her ultimate goal was to get back home to her kids and her busy life as soon as possible.”
With independence in mind, Kayla’s physician-led care team crafted a plan centered on her goals and incorporated her hobbies and interests into therapy at every opportunity. In speech therapy, Kayla had to navigate an additional obstacle. Collaborating with an ear, nose and throat specialist, Dowling identified that Kayla had large growths on her vocal folds, as a result of damage from the ventilator, that were making it impossible for her to use her voice. She communicated through writing and whispering, focusing more on cognition in speech therapy.
“Kayla lights up when talking about her children, so we chose activities that would challenge her deficits, like upper extremity strength and coordination, dynamic balance and stamina while also relating to activities she would complete with or for her children,” Janousek said.
As a mom, Kayla is used to always being there and cheering on her children. She learned that from her mom, Betty, who was by her side every single day. Betty became an integral part of the care team, providing both motivation and carryover of skills learned in therapy.
“She was a great advocate for Kayla and was her voice when Kayla quite literally didn’t have one,” Dowling said. “She was also a great tool for us clinicians, as she was able to provide great insights and a glimpse into Kayla’s daily life that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
Family involvement also offered more opportunity for Kayla to practice activities of daily living safely.
“Betty being present from day one helped us to quickly get her involved in our caregiver training so that Kayla could practice transfers and self-cares throughout her day, even outside therapy,” Janousek said. “Every day, Betty would tell me after Kayla was finished with her up to four hours of therapy a day, she would go back to her room and ask to do extra ‘homework.’ We showed them exercises they could do and ways to practice what we were working on.”
Toward the end of her time at Madonna, recreation therapy took Kayla to a local farm where she could see and interact with horses again in a controlled environment. She said she was nervous at first, but being around the animal was actually calming for her. She practiced her standing balance and stamina while feeding and brushing the horse, and giving it good head scratches.
“I was glad to get outside the hospital for a bit and just do things that I used to do,” Kayla said.
After four intense weeks at Madonna, Kayla walked out of Madonna and returned home to Rock Valley, Iowa. She continues her recovery journey in Madonna’s Rehabilitation Day Program, where she’s steadily seeing more gains. Betty says Kayla’s attitude and determination have contributed to her improvements.
“It’s almost unbelievable, when I look back and see what she’s gained since being here,” Betty said. “She’s pretty incredible, and she works hard and does it with a positive attitude.”
Always humble, Kayla says the people who helped her are true heroes.
“My favorite thing has been everyone I met,” she said. “They inspired me to work hard. My therapists pushed me, but I’m also still pushing myself. I have to continue to push to keep getting better.
