Star 3 the lifeline when things fall apart

BY JANINE RANKIN

"Without Star 3, I'd be screwed," said tetraplegic Patrick Bronte.

Paralysed as a teenager after diving into a river and breaking his neck, the amateur historian who's recorded the oral war stories of more than 170 war veterans still needs 24-hour care at home and regular specialist help from the Star Centre.

He suffers severe spasticity – although his lower body is paralysed, he experiences painful muscle cramps and spasms that can be eased with medication.

Five years ago he returned to the Burwood spinal unit in Christchurch to have a small pump inserted under the skin to drip-feed muscle-relaxing medication into the spinal cord.

Every three months he goes to Star 3 for top-ups and adjustments, as do several others from around the region.

Without Star 3, he'd have to go to Wellington for the procedure – an outing that would take a great deal of caregiver help and co-ordination.

When things go wrong, Star 3 is his lifeline.

He sometimes gets dysreflexia, when his blood pressure rises, he gets a headache and he sweats profusely. It's his body's way of telling him something he can't feel is going wrong, and the nerve messages that should tell his blood vessels to calm down aren't working.

He dreads having to go to the emergency department, where busy staff don't immediately recognise the condition that could lead to a stroke if his blood pressure's not lowered.

He also dreads general hospital wards, where acute care nurses are not so aware of the need to protect him against pressure sores.

"Without the team at the Star Centre I don't know what would have happened to me. I need specialists who know what's going on.

"The loss of the Star Centre would be a huge blow to the community."Julene Kapao can't play the piano any more, she can't type or drive, and has trouble with co-ordination.

But in August last year, things were a lot worse.

The Longburn school teacher and mother of two couldn't walk, couldn't talk properly and was so ill she lost 10kg in three weeks.

The overnight onset of severe multiple sclerosis symptoms nearly crippled her and she needed seven weeks of hospital care, five of them in Star 3.

The mix of chemotherapy and rehabilitation has helped her get out of the wheelchair, return to the classroom two days a week and care for her two young children.

The wheelchair and walking frame are now parked in the garage.

"They gave me so many tips about moving about, how to make life easier. They helped my family understand what was happening to me when I couldn't communicate. They helped me through the shock and anger and depression.

"If not for the support I got at Star 3, I don't believe I would be where I am today."Palmerston North Hospital would be a radiologist short if not for Star 3.

In November 2008, Dr John Goulden suffered a stroke that nearly killed him. He spent nearly three months in the unit, unable to move his right side, walk or talk.

As his wife, Amanda, put it: "They turned John from a gibbering wreck to almost back to normal."

Within nine months, he'd passed Medical Council tests that cleared him to return to work part-time.Rachelle McIntyre believes she's still on her feet because of the help she got from Star 3.

Diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis in 2004, not long after the birth of her second child, the school teacher has had three stays in the unit while her medication regime has been worked out, and to learn personalised exercises to keep her mobile.

As an active person who loved walking, cycling, aerobics, hockey and gardening, it's the thought that MS could rob her of the use of her legs that alarms her most.

"Without that unit, I would not have the exercise programme I have to keep me moving. I would not be able to walk." Mrs McIntyre said the unit was a stimulating place to be.

As well as a busy timetable of sessions with physiotherapists, occupational therapists, a psychologist and recreation officer, there were the other patients.

"I have had contact with so many different people who have helped me with the life strategies they have learned."

Medication management has been a huge issue for the Eketahuna woman, and she said without the help and advice she got from Star 3, she would not feel confident about managing her own medication so far from Palmerston North.

"I was absolutely shocked when I heard they were even thinking of closing it down.

"It would be an absolutely tragic loss."Surgery in Australia in 2006 that stopped the lesion on Melanie Severinson's brain from causing fortnightly epileptic seizures was a success, but created some new problems.

The seizures stopped, but because the lesion was so close to the motor cortex, she had difficulty controlling movement on her left side.

It's the out-patient support she's received through Star 3 that has helped her walk and regain motor skills again.

Physiotherapists helped her with exercises to build up her strength, starting from low fitness levels developed over 20 years of living with the restrictions of epilepsy, virtually housebound.

She also suffered severe depression from not being able to do things.

"Without rehabilitation, I would not be working."

She says she's still working on improving fine motor skills, but is much better able to be a mum to her two children, and works with the Disabled Persons Assembly as the co-ordinator's support.After living with disability related to spina bifida all her life, Debbie Wood faced new challenges four years ago when she had both legs amputated.

She had arterial disease, which stopped a boil on her strong leg from healing, and the leg had to be taken off. Without her good leg, the paralysed leg was more hindrance than help, so it had to go as well.

"I had issues dealing with mobility and independence and what had been done.

"I had to learn about transferring from a wheelchair to the bed, to the shower, and toilet."

Highly motivated to get home by Christmas, she spent an intensive week in Star 3.

"There was not much lying around. I needed all-round intense support, and it certainly helped that the services are compacted in one place."

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