Overcoming Hurdles, the Positive Journey of One Onondaga Center Woman

When 62-year-old Cazenovia, New York resident Mary Cleere arrived at Onondaga Center in Minoa from SUNY Upstate Medical Center In Syracuse, she was about to go through a rehabilitation regimen that would improve her life. Ms. Cleere was dealt a bad hand, having to deal with myoneural disorders, which are conditions that affect the communication between her nerves or neurons and her muscles. This condition causes muscle weakness, paralysis, and other movement-related symptoms.

Mary has had these muscular disorders for years and is a big believer in massage and alternative therapy, not only to treat herself but for others who have certain muscular diseases stemming from cancer or even genetics, injury, infection, and autoimmune disorders. Her love of massage therapy goes back to when she was a student at SUNY Morrisville in Madison County. Ms. Cleere was originally from Chicago, and later, her father's job at Motorolla related the family to South Florida in the Fort Lauderdale region. However, in her mid-20s, Mary got married and moved to Waterloo, New York.

About seven years ago, when Mary was in her mid-50s, she began feeling run down, and, as she stated, "started feeling my age," she thought. Soon after, Mary woke up one morning and couldn't move her arms or legs. Her partner took Mary to SUNY Upstate Medical Center, where she remained for months. There, her blood test showed that she was diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma, a type of cancer that affects the B cells, which are white blood cells that play a critical role in the immune system. Doctors found it difficult to determine where exactly in her body the cancer was until it was finally discovered behind her spleen. She was walking with a cane and was also receiving chemotherapy, six hours a day therapy, three days a week, but was dealing with a lot of muscle pain and nerve damage. Mary had lost the ability to write and had lots of discomfort in her hands and feet. Thanks to her partner, she rediscovered massage therapy and deep tissue massage. Mary had gone from using a cane to a walker and then to a wheelchair where she couldn't walk anymore. She is all about being independent and lost that during that time.

Psychologically and socially, Mary is a very independent person and losing this made her feel powerless. Having someone care for her, she was never used to that so that alone changed her life. Mary always wanted to take the high road, thinking she was physically better than she actually was, so in August of 2024, she began falling every so often, leading to many trips to the hospital and a rehabilitation facility. Having cancer, where her immune system is compromised, plus taking these falls, her health status was not taken lightly. It was discovered that her back had a lot of nerve damage and had severe degenerative osteoarthritis, where her bones have begun to deteriorate, ultimately living with constant pain in her back. Surgery, according to Mary's physicians, would not be in her future and would do more harm than help. This is where physical and occupational therapy comes in, to where she would be at Onondaga Center in Minoa, New York.

"At Onondaga Center, the OT (occupational therapy) and PT (physical therapy) teams have been tremendous for me," said Cleere. "Brenda (Brenda Gawarecki, COTA) in OT knew how to work with me, and she had me working harder than I realized, and that's great because I had started to become independent again with all of those everyday tasks, from bed to bathroom items."

For Mary, therapy was the answer, and not only did her back pain ease, but she knew that when discharged, she could apply these exercises to her life back at home. At Onondaga Center, Mary had been doing so well that the time per day had been safely diminished as she headed towards graduating from short-term rehab and then with an aide, trusted by being alone for a more extended time.

"Through hard work, perseverance, and the dedicated care of our OT and PT teams at Onondaga Center, Mary made incredible strides in her recovery," said Gawarecki. "Arriving unable to care for herself, she embraced therapy with determination and left stronger, more independent, and capable of managing self-care and transfers with confidence. Mary's journey is a true testament to the power of rehabilitation and resilience!"

On December 16, 2024, Ms. Cleere had her discharge plan conference call meeting with personnel from Onondaga Center's therapy, social work, and her insurance. The facility laid out recommendations for Mary, creating the groundwork to align home care and meal services to be in place when Mary's safe discharge date comes around. While Mary thought at-home care would be arranged in several days, instead, due to insurance paperwork, it took several weeks for it all to come together. Finally, on January 30, 2025, Mary was discharged home, returning to her Cazenovia home. This transition for Mary turned out to be a smooth one.

"Mary is an independent person, so she will be doing all of her Activities of Daily Living therapy, basic home mobility tasks, and basic home care tasks independently," said Jocelyn Nackley, Director of Rehabilitation at Onondaga Center. "However, she does have a personal friend who is also a nurse who will assist with community Instrumental Activities of Daily Living tasks, such as grocery shopping or higher home care tasks like deeper cleaning."

From the facility, Mary Cleere went home with services such as Life Alert, plus a meal-delivery service, and she was also educated in an Occupational Therapy treatment session on utilizing online resources like Instacart for grocery delivery.

"This is the best I've been in a couple of years," said Ms. Cleere. "The psychosocial therapy part of the Onondaga Center therapy group is sensational also, and it's just as important as the physical rehabilitation. It all helped me to regain my independence."

"I'm very impressed with Mary's progress and abilities since I started caring for her two years ago," said close friend, caretaker, and homecare nurse Jason Whidden, Private Duty LPN. "Her whole attitude has changed for the better, mentally, physically, and emotionally. She's in a better place than I observed while caring for her, and we're slowly getting her into a daily routine. Just returning to a more normal life, it's rewarding to see a woman who was so unhealthy and so depressed come such a long way. She still has limitations, but she's learning her abilities and when to ask for assistance. This was a confidence builder that made her feel like she could be independent for the most part and have a feeling of normalcy."