Tanya-lee Holmes went to bed with neck pain and woke up paralysed on one side of her body – but the ordeal was preceded by weeks of “strange” symptoms.
The mother went through several traumatic months filled with hospital visits, scans and surgeries, eventually ending up as an incomplete quadriplegic who can no longer walk without assistance.
Tanya-lee’s symptoms result in two cervical spinal nerves spontaneously rupturing, changing her life forever.
In May 2016, the then-39-year-old woman spent six weeks with unexplained neck pain that her doctor believed was simply a neck strain.
“We treated him with painkillers, acupuncture, I changed my pillows… I tried absolutely everything,” Tanya-lee, from Bathurst, New South Wales, told FEMAIL. “We did X-rays and CT scans and everything.”
‘Then all of a sudden I started feeling tingling in my left hand.’
The mother went back to her doctor and had an MRI, but the result was negative once again and no visible damage was seen in the cervical spine.
“We assumed it was a pinched nerve, but there’s not much we can do about it. Just rest, use warm compresses and wait for it to calm down.”
Tanya-lee Holmes went to bed with neck pain and woke up paralysed on one side of her body, but the “shock” event was preceded by weeks of “strange” and unexplained symptoms.
Three days later, Tanya-lee woke up and felt a stab of pain run through her body.
“I woke up and it was like someone had plugged me into an electrical outlet,” she recalls. “I got an electric shock in my spine and started vomiting automatically.”
Despite her condition, Tanya-lee still had to take her children to school and fulfill her duties as a mother.
‘We lived out of town, so I had to drive my 17-year-old son 15 minutes to the bus stop. I had to drive across town with a bucket between my legs because he kept throwing up.’
Tanya-lee went through several traumatic months filled with hospital visits, scans and surgeries.
Tanya-lee’s youngest son was just nine and attended the nearest school, so when he returned home after drop-off, he had a “devastating” migraine.
The mother had a migraine that led to a small stroke in 2010, so she is always aware of the symptoms, which include neck pain and nausea.
‘I tried to sleep but thought it was a migraine so I took some Panadol and went to bed.
‘Two hours later, I woke up. The most unbearable pain I have ever felt in my life.The pain was so bad that I didn’t realize until I tried to get out of bed that I couldn’t move or feel half of my body.
‘I fell to the ground because youThe left side of my body just wasn’t working. I crawled down the hallway of our house and called an ambulance.
After several tests at the hospital, doctors discovered that Tanya-lee’s cervical spinal nerves, C4 and C5, had spontaneously ruptured.
“There was no particular reason, it just happened,” the mother said. “I had had some tests done a few days before that showed my cervical spine was intact, no bulging discs, so it was strange.”
Tanya-lee’s symptoms caused two cervical spinal nerves to spontaneously rupture, changing her life forever.
The mother had a migraine that led to a mini-stroke in 2010, so she is always aware of the symptoms, which include neck pain and nausea.
The hospital wanted to transfer Tanya-Lee by helicopter, but bad weather forced a seven-hour road trip to Sydney.
Tanya-lee recalled being “horrified” and “furious” when her doctors asked her family to say goodbye to her because they were unsure if she would make it through the night.
“I didn’t let my husband come with me because I wanted my kids to have a sense of normality at home. I did it all by myself,” she said.
‘I didn’t even let him tell my friends. It seems ridiculous to me now, because I really needed people. But I chose to do it on my own, because I didn’t want anyone else to go through that.
Her eldest son was in the middle of his HSC and Tanya-lee felt she shouldn’t have to worry about her mother being in the hospital on top of the stress.
“I think I went into fight or flight mode. Two of my kids have cerebral palsy and they suffer a lot from hospital-related PTSD. I felt like I needed to get over it and I didn’t need anyone’s help.
“I was very afraid of dying, but I didn’t want my last memory to be of me in the hospital.”
“I didn’t let my husband come with me because I wanted my kids to have a sense of normality at home. I did it all by myself,” she said.
Tanya-lee now has a titanium plate stabilizing her cervical spine and said the recovery time was a few weeks.
‘Two weeks after surgery I was able to walk unaided, but I still had weakness and numbness on the left side of my body.
“Three months later, I suddenly regressed and the paralysis on my left side worsened and eventually I was unable to stand on my own or walk without assistance. Doctors still have no idea why this happened.”
Tanya-lee now suffers constant pain due to nerve damage. The mother is unable to walk without using a wheelchair or a cane.
“It’s like my skin is on fire,” she explained. “I feel like I have green ants crawling on my skin all the time.”
‘The pain has become so intense that I sometimes scratch the skin off my thighs because it’s the only relief.’
The mother explained that her skin is sensitive to touch and feel, and if her husband accidentally brushes against it with his arm, it can “make her react” and feel like an “electric shock.”
Tanya-lee now has a titanium plate stabilizing her cervical spine and said the recovery time was a few weeks, but her condition regressed for mysterious reasons.
The mother has had a hard time finding work, with many potential employers calling her a “burden” to her face.
One of the most difficult aspects of Tanya-lee’s “new normal” is how people treat her.
“Acquiring a disability is much harder than being born with it, because you just don’t know. My children have never known more, this is how they were born and this is how they live.
‘On the other hand, when you get a disability, the first thing you think about is all the things you had planned for the future that will never happen.
‘My husband and I had our children when they were young because we wanted to grow up with them, we wanted to go out and have our own adventures afterwards. But now we’re wondering: will we be able to do that?’What will I be capable of?
The mother also shared how she has struggled to find work as many potential employers call her a “burden” to her face.
“I was always an independent person, I was the caregiver. I didn’t want anyone to take care of me. But now… I am a burden because I cannot stand for long periods of time nor can I sit for long periods of time.
“If I sit for too long, I get spinal migraines – it’s a build-up of pressure at the base of the skull. And then I’m unconscious for days. They’re quite debilitating. No one wanted to try them on me.”
Tanya-lee now runs a successful baking business where she also advocates for people with disabilities and helps other businesses with inclusive environments.
Despite everything, Tanya-lee found a ray of light amidst the dark times.
‘I’ve always used baking as a tool to deal with my anxiety, so I started doing it more for my sanity.
‘I now run a successful bakery business and am able to provide advocacy and inclusion for people with disabilities, and help other businesses with their inclusive environments for their employees with disabilities.’
“I really hated my life for the first few years because it wasn’t what I had planned,” Tanya-lee said.
‘If you had asked me eight years ago how I felt about having a spinal cord injury, I would have hurled a lot of expletives at you, because that was how I felt at the time.
“But now I can truly say that I am proud to have a disability and I am proud of the person I have become.”