Surgery offers hope after grim prognosis

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/02/2015 (3342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A trip across the Atlantic Ocean was pitched to Irma Poetker as the difference between walking and paralysis.

When it was discovered this year, a herniated disc in her neck pushing against her spinal cord, Poetker finally received an answer to an ailment that has harmed her quality of life for the past three years.

During that span, nobody could explain why what was presumed as a pelvic injury from a vehicle rollover has caused so much pain.

She has been so sore, in fact, it often hurt to walk or even sit.

The professionals in Germany who were going to conduct the surgery made no promises they couldn’t keep.

“Nobody can give me any guarantees that I’ll be walking. They’re just hoping that it’s going to correct everything,” she said.

The surgeon they saw about two weeks ago, upon their arrival in Germany, was blunt. He thought the surgery would not help because of the severity of her limited walking ability.

Her movement may improve, he admitted, but he didn’t think it would, nor so soon after the surgery.

The only certainty for the couple who reside south of Steinbach is that surgery must happen, even if the chance for success was less than 100 percent.

“They did know that if she doesn’t fix it, like now, permanent paralysis will happen,” said her husband Craig. “Her spinal cord has taken everything it can.”

But Irma Poetker, mother to Shelly, 21, and Nathan, 14, has kept her hopes up.

“Throughout the whole thing I’ve always been like, I will get better,” she said earlier this month, “no matter what because I was never going to accept this, that I would stay like this.”

It was early 2012 when Poetker’s agony began. Then working in health records at Vita Hospital, the vehicle she was driving caught a rut on a snowy road and rolled into a ditch. She has not been able to return to work since.

Poetker went to hospital, a few tests were taken and she was sent away. A pelvis injury, the doctors claimed.

“Nothing was broken or anything so then they decided that I guess I could just go home,” she said.

They said by two weeks the pain would subside, but it didn’t. The Poetker’s posed questions and went to different medical professionals from a chiropractor to a physiotherapist.

Nothing helped, and her condition just worsened.

At her lowest, Esther Reimer said her sister was essentially bed-ridden, lying on the couch. She would use her crutches or wheelchair to move short distances.

This distress lasted two and a half years.

Finally, a Winnipeg chiropractor told Poetker she had major nerve entrapment, which was causing her right leg to essentially clamp up. She was referred to Colorado and went in May 2014.

Five weeks of treatment and she could finally take seven steps by herself.

She went home, elated. Her therapy would continue in Winnipeg; however, two months later her condition deteriorated to the extent it was once at.

Back to Colorado for several more months. After 11 weeks she regained the ability to walk without an aid.

Again, she returned home. She was walking.

“I was walking good,” Poetker smiled as she recalled. “Thirty minute walks, three times a day. I was on top of the world; I was getting so close to my marathon,” she said laughing.

Somehow, by Christmas, the pain returned. She was devastated.

She rushed back to Colorado where the baffled medical experts realized she must have an underlying condition. A MRI revealed the herniated disc. Once those results were sent to Germany, they advised surgery as soon as possible.

It is not known for sure if that herniated disc caused the nerve entrapment, but that is what the medical specialists believe.

Weeks later, her Germany surgery was booked for Feb. 12. The total price tag would cost more than $40,000 but how can you put a price on walking, asked Poetker?

The day before the surgery was when the surgeon admitted he didn’t think it would work—a disappointing confession for Irma and Craig Poetker to hear, to be sure.

She had the surgery on Feb. 12 and by the 13th she was taking pain free-steps, Poetker wrote in a recent email to family that was relayed to The Carillon. She is now at the rehab facility, retraining her leg muscles. Over the last few days, she is up to walking 20 steps.

Her health, it appears, has defied even her surgeon’s best estimate.

“I am very excited about the progress that I’ve made and am looking forward to more improvements,” she wrote.

After years of false hopes, the Poetker’s are begging for a win.

The Poetker’s took out a line of credit to pay for the expensive trips to Germany and three trips to Denver. The estimated cost is close to $70,000.

Her family is planning a bud, spud and steak night for March, upon Irma and Craig’s return. Those details still to be determined.

An Irma Poetker Donation Fund has been established to help cover their costs. You can visit any local credit union if you’d like to contribute.

Irma’s sister, Esther Reimer, can be contacted at 204-371-9428 for more information.