{"id":76247,"date":"2024-05-31T08:56:27","date_gmt":"2024-05-31T14:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=76247"},"modified":"2024-06-13T12:40:31","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T18:40:31","slug":"after-complex-spine-surgery-everything-does-feel-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/after-complex-spine-surgery-everything-does-feel-better\/","title":{"rendered":"After complex spine surgery, ‘Everything does feel better’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"Felicia
Felicia Chargingelk takes a moment with her dog. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A bullet severed Felicia Chargingelk\u2019s spine when she was 3. She had been playing in the front yard of her home in North Platte, Nebraska. Mercifully, she does not remember the drive-by shooting that left her paralyzed from the chest down.<\/p>\n

Now 23, she lives in Colorado Springs with her husband, Caleb Gouge, who is about to honorably leave the Army. They love their three dogs and take them on daily walks through their neighborhood.<\/p>\n

A resilient woman, Chargingelk grew up in a family that valued education and hard work. She graduated from Pickens Technical College and works as a pharmacy tech at a national retailer.<\/p>\n

Some months back, she began to feel a weird sensation in her upper body when she reached for a pharmaceutical on a shelf, or when she had to twist in her wheelchair for some reason. At home, she could not comfortably lie on her back or right side. It made her miserable.<\/p>\n

\"Caleb
Felicia Chargingelk with her husband, Caleb Gouge. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t getting good sleep, and my breathing wasn\u2019t great either,\u2019\u2019 she said, noting that she felt sluggish all the time.<\/p>\n

Chargingelk could see that when she sat in her wheelchair, her body slumped to her right. She did some research, looking for a physician who may be able to help her, and made an appointment with Dr. Sergiu Botolin<\/a>, an orthopedic surgeon at UCHealth Memorial Hospital North<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The first time Botolin saw Chargingelk, he saw the imbalance right away.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could see the asymmetry with the right shoulder being lower and the left shoulder being higher,\u2019\u2019 Botolin said. \u201cTruly, when I saw her, her shoulders were completely off.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Born in Moldova, Botolin has spent 25 years in training to become a spine surgeon with expertise in complex spine surgery. In the next months that Botolin would care for Chargingelk, he would come to see her as remarkable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not met many people in my 49 years of life who are as strong as her,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

Scoliosis develops and needs fusion surgery<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After the drive-by shooting in Nebraska, Chargingelk lived in a children\u2019s hospital in South Dakota.\u00a0 By age 9, Chargingelk had developed scoliosis, curvature of the spine, and a surgeon placed titanium rods and screws along her spine to keep her body upright.<\/p>\n

Botolin said that \u201cpatients with neuromuscular diseases and paralyzed patients lose control over the muscles and that renders the spine unstable because the muscles are the main stabilizers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The muscles atrophy, and the spine starts curving. The muscles that are supposed to control and keep the spine steady don\u2019t receive electrical signals from the spinal cord, from the brain, because the spinal cord is injured. That\u2019s why scoliosis develops, Botolin said.<\/p>\n

\"Feclicia
With help from her husband, Feclicia Chargingelk maneuvers her wheelchair up a ramp and into a van. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2010, Chargingelk\u2019s doctor in South Dakota performed fusion surgery to correct her scoliosis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose of the fusion surgery is to correct the deformity to some extent, to the best extent possible and then to stabilize that correction with screws and rods. Within 6 to 12 months, usually a human body will build bone around and those vertebrae become fused forever.\u00a0 In her, that didn\u2019t happen. The vertebrae did not fuse in two places in the thoracic spine. So what happens if the fusion doesn\u2019t happen?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the bone doesn\u2019t fuse, the human body keeps moving those rods and eventually the rod develops fatigue, and it breaks. This is what happened to her,\u2019\u2019 Botolin said. \u201cMany are mistaken thinking that these rods and screws, although they are made of titanium, are so powerful and strong, they can last forever.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Chargingelk does not know when the rods in her back broke, but in the last several years, her posture deteriorated.<\/p>\n

In a person who is paralyzed, the lopsided posture could cause other medical problems, Botolin said.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Sergiu Botolin, an orthopedic surgeon at UCHealth Memorial Hospital, reviews x-rays of Felicia Chargingelk’s spine. Photo: UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFor people who are paralyzed and, in a wheelchair, it\u2019s extremely important to have a well-fitted wheelchair and have routine skin inspection, because people who are paralyzed don\u2019t have feeling on their skin. Because of that, they are at high risk to develop a pressure ulcer and skin breakdown with possible subsequent infection from a pressure creating irregularity in the wheelchair.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Since Chargingelk has no use of her lower body or legs, the movement of Chargingelk\u2019s upper body is essential to her quality of life. She immediately appreciated Botolin\u2019s expertise and affable nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first met him, he explained it perfectly to me. He is extremely passionate about what he does, and he was able to explain what he wanted to do for me,\u2019\u2019 Chargingelk said.<\/p>\n

She was able to have her surgery in December, 2023.<\/p>\n

Undergoing complex spine surgery<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After anesthesia, Botolin made a nearly two-foot-long incision in Chargingelk\u2019s back, from her neck to lower back, and began the surgery, which lasted 9 hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer rod was broken, so I had to cut them a little bit lower than where they broke, I had to add new connectors and then add new rods,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

\"Feleicia
Feleicia Chargingelk enjoys taking walks with her husband and their pups. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Because Chargingelk\u2019s neck had twisted, Botolin extended the rod, which had previously ended at thoracic 4, to thoracic 2. That meant the rod would now extend into a part of her neck that had not been paralyzed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first risk is always infection. This is almost a two-foot-long incision, so a wound like that, making it heal, that\u2019s No. 1. Second, I had to extend to above her level of paralysis, so you are working in the normal spinal cord area so there is always risk for paralysis. Other risks are non-union. The bones need to fuse but sometimes they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou also have a risk of adjacent-level disease. When you fuse a joint or two or 10, the joint above or below sometimes has to work a little harder to compensate and because of that, it has a higher chance to deteriorate in the future,\u2019\u2019 Botolin said. \u201cThere\u2019s also the organs. If you are not careful, you can plunge into the lung, into the chest cavity and things like that. Those are bad things, and you don\u2019t ever want to hear about that.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Thankfully, Chargingelk did not experience any of those more serious complications, and she was able to leave the hospital within several days.<\/p>\n

To allow healing, Chargingelk is restricted for six months from lifting more than 10 pounds or twisting in any way.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything does feel better,\u2019\u2019 Chargingelk said. \u201cThe whole sleep thing, I was tossing and turning and not getting good sleep and that affected me at work. Every day, I was sluggish through the day \u2013 just kind of making it through the day. But now I feel like I am actually living again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first got home, and I was actually able to lay in my bed and get some sleep, it felt amazing. I\u2019m still getting a little bit more mobility, so when we go and walk our pups, there\u2019s no pain and during my transfers (from the wheelchair to a car, for example), there\u2019s not any pain.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

‘My dad never limited me’<\/strong><\/h2>\n

During her childhood, Chargingelk spent six years living in the children\u2019s hospital in South Dakota. When the hospital transitioned from an orthopedic hospital to one that serves children with autism, Chargingelk needed a new place to live.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, a family that lived a few hours away learned of Chargingelk and adopted her. Her new parents had already completely adapted their home to accommodate a wheelchair because their son, Andy, is quadriplegic. After living in South Dakota for a while, Chargingelk and her parents moved to Colorado. Chargingelk attended public school and then enrolled in Pickens Technical College, where she earned certification as a pharmacy tech.<\/p>\n

Her strength, she says, comes from her father.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing in the chair and everything, people either look down on you or look at you like you\u2019re a turtle without a shell. But my dad, he never limited me. He never told me there was something I couldn\u2019t do.<\/p>\n

\"Felicia
Felicia Chargingelk. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHe was always like, \u2018you\u2019re going to work hard, you\u2019re going to get a job, you\u2019re going to do great things, you\u2019re going to go to school.\u2019 He never said that I couldn\u2019t do something because I was in a chair.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Chargingelk met her husband on Facebook, and they fell in love quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe doesn\u2019t see my chair,\u2019\u2019 Chargingelk said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil I run into it,\u2019\u2019 Gouge says, smirking.<\/p>\n

The two tied the knot Feb. 10 at the El Paso County Courthouse. But like any young woman, Chargingelk wants to wear a beautiful white gown and have a grand ceremony and celebration with family and friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I wear a wedding dress, I don\u2019t want to be crooked, so I\u2019ll definitely send Dr. Botolin pictures of me in the wedding dress.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat will definitely be a big day for me, and my shoulders will be straight.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A bullet severed Felicia Chargingelk\u2019s spine when she was 3. She had been playing in the front yard of her home in North Platte, Nebraska. Mercifully, she does not remember the drive-by shooting that left her paralyzed from the chest down. Now 23, she lives in Colorado Springs with her husband, Caleb Gouge, who is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":76249,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[67],"class_list":["post-76247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-innovative-care","tag-orthopedic-care"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAfter complex spine surgery, 'Everything does feel better' - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After titanium rods placed in her back to help correct scoliosis broke, a spine surgeon conducted a 9-hour surgery to fix the problem.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/after-complex-spine-surgery-everything-does-feel-better\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"After complex spine surgery, 'Everything does feel better'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After titanium rods placed in her back to help correct scoliosis broke, a spine surgeon conducted a 9-hour surgery to fix the problem.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/after-complex-spine-surgery-everything-does-feel-better\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UCHealth Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-31T14:56:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-13T18:40:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/05\/22125441\/24ChargingElk_013sized.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erin Emery, UCHealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Emery, UCHealth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/after-complex-spine-surgery-everything-does-feel-better\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/after-complex-spine-surgery-everything-does-feel-better\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Erin Emery, UCHealth\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f989ee92cb6da7cfb7f697db1c6771b3\"},\"headline\":\"After complex spine surgery, ‘Everything does feel better’\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-31T14:56:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-13T18:40:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/after-complex-spine-surgery-everything-does-feel-better\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1618,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/after-complex-spine-surgery-everything-does-feel-better\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/22125441\\\/24ChargingElk_013sized.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Orthopedic care\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Innovative care\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/after-complex-spine-surgery-everything-does-feel-better\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/after-complex-spine-surgery-everything-does-feel-better\\\/\",\"name\":\"After complex spine surgery, 'Everything does feel better' - 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