Zane's story

Zane Licare, a 25-year old student at Ranken Technical College, had overcome multiple herniated discs and spinal fusions in the past, so the pain he felt in his legs and back one morning wasn’t a new experience. But one day, the pain got progressively worse while Zane was in class. It was so bad that when it was time to go home, he needed two friends to help him get into his car.
Upon reaching his home driveway, the pain reached its climax.
“I was in the worst pain I had ever experienced,” Zane explained. “I was unable to walk and had no sensation in my legs.”
A neighbor heard Zane’s cries for help and called 911. He was taken by ambulance to SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital; from there, he transferred to SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital. Doctors diagnosed Zane with spinal stenosis, a compression of the spinal cord, and advised that he would need a laminectomy. A laminectomy is one of the most common types of surgery to treat spinal stenosis and relieves pressure on the nerves and spinal cord by creating more room in the spinal canal.
It took six days for Zane to stabilize after the surgery. Once he was ready, his physicians recommended a comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation program to help him regain mobility and independence. Zane chose SSM Health Rehabilitation Hospital – Lake Saint Louis for his next level of recovery.
“I had done physical therapy with SSM Health before, so I trusted SSM to take good care of me,” Zane explained.
Upon admission to inpatient rehabilitation, Zane was unable to move the lower half of his body and had little to no sensation in his lower extremities. His physician-led team of therapists developed an individualized plan of care, so he could achieve his goals of getting back his legs and returning to school.
Determined to meet his deficits head-on and build his strength, Zane was highly motivated and willing to learn new things.
“At first, everything was a challenge,” Zane said. “Sitting in a chair, balancing myself and even rolling in bed were hard for me to do. I lost feeling in both legs. I was using my arms to hold myself up, so it was difficult to do anything else.”
A crucial component of Zane’s therapy at Lake Saint Louis was finding a safe and effective way for him to transfer from his wheelchair to other locations to relieve burden of care and help him gain independence. For starters, his care team introduced Zane to an electric mobile floor lift, a hydraulic mechanical floor lift system to transfer a patient from the bed to a wheelchair. Zane also spent significant time using a specialized table called Barihab that provides back support when working on sitting balance and helped him to work on sit-to-stand transfers, as well as static standing balance.
“I enjoyed working on the Barihab table,” Zane remarked. “I would stand with the help and support of it. I didn’t realize there were things like that to help me.”
As his strength slowly returned during therapy, so did his motor function. “I imagined tapping my toes to music during a shower – then saw my toes tapping,” Zane exclaimed. “Later, in physical therapy, I moved my leg. Once I got back in bed, I could bring my knee to my chest.”
He soon progressed from a total assist slide board, which required three or four people to help him move, to moving himself on the transfer board under supervision.
Family was also a core motivator for Zane. His father was with him every day to provide support. His brother came to visit every weekend. “My dad is always asking questions and jumping in to help,” he said. “He even helped with a hoyer transfer before I was doing slide board transfers. Since my injury, I have talked to people I haven’t talked to in a while.”
A little more than a month after arriving at SSM Health Rehabilitation Hospital – Lake Saint Louis, Zane was discharged home with the plan to continue his rehabilitation at SSM Health Day Institute, a specialized outpatient rehabilitation program designed for individuals recovering from injury.
Zane’s physician-led team at SSM Health Rehabilitation Hospital – Lake Saint Louis was inspired by his hard work and dedication throughout his inpatient rehabilitation.
“Without my team here, I wouldn’t be able to do anything,” Zane said. “They are such go-getters. They are optimistic and make me feel motivated to continue. I want to keep going because I know they want me to keep going. This would have been impossible without them.”