Learn how Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation helped Thom Szymanski compete as a high-level athlete after multiple sclerosis made it seem out of reach.
At Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation, we know the most effective therapy is creative and nimble. Those qualities were essential when, deep into physical therapy and occupational therapy for multiple sclerosis, Thom Szymanski realized just how much he could achieve.
At first, Thom simply wanted to build manual dexterity so he could help dress his young daughter. His success showed him he could set his sights higher – on becoming an athlete again, like he’d been before the diagnosis. His therapists helped him get there by reorienting his treatment plan toward his new goal.
Life-Altering Change
In September 2023, Thom, a 37-year-old federal law enforcement officer from Adelphi, Maryland, developed terrifying symptoms.
“Over a 24-hour period, I lost the ability to use my legs,” he said. “I wasn’t able to walk or stand. I couldn’t use my left arm or hand either.”
Physicians at a local hospital diagnosed Thom with Guillain-Barré syndrome. He was hospitalized for a week before completing a week of inpatient rehabilitation at a separate facility. After discharge, a desire to continue his care close to home led Thom to see an Adventist HealthCare neurologist and start physical therapy and occupational therapy at Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation White Oak. Those decisions turned out to be turning points.
‘A Shift in Perspective’
In May 2024, months after starting rehabilitation at the White Oak location, Thom received a startling change in diagnosis. The condition he’d been dealing with wasn’t Guillain-Barré syndrome. It was multiple sclerosis. The news was jarring for Thom, but Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation provided the support he needed.
“The rehabilitation therapists I’d been working with took the change in diagnosis in stride,” Thom said. “That was helpful not just from a treatment perspective, but also because they listened to me share my thoughts and emotions. With Guillain-Barré syndrome, people may recover within a few years, but multiple sclerosis is a chronic condition with no cure. The new diagnosis forced a shift in perspective.”
Previously active in CrossFit – a high-intensity fitness regimen incorporating various functional movements – Thom wasn’t thinking about running or lifting weights. Instead, he worried whether he could be the type of husband and father he wanted to be. His daughter wasn’t even a year old yet. Initially, his goals for therapy revolved around being able to care for and play with his daughter.
“A lot of girls’ clothes have small buttons and straps, and I couldn’t manipulate them due to reduced grip strength and coordination in my fingers,” Thom said. “My occupational therapists worked with me on fine motor skills and strengthening using peg games, putty and rubber mesh.”
Physical therapists worked on helping Thom stand, kneel and sit safely, skills he could use to pick up his daughter or her toys from the floor. Steadily, as he worked on his exercises both in clinic and at home, Thom improved – and his goals began to shift.
“I started to realize I could get back into doing the things I loved, which were more physical,” Thom said. “So, we started replicating some of those activities in therapy.”
Building Physical Skills
Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation therapists follow the lead of the people we serve. We use evidence-based techniques, leading-edge technologies and innovative approaches to care to help people reach their goals, even when those goals shift. Once Thom developed the skills that allowed him to be the kind of dad he wanted to be, our staff began focusing on helping him recover his athletic form.
An enthusiastic runner before his diagnosis, Thom began using an anti-gravity treadmill during therapy to help train his body to run again. His therapists worked with him on walking lunges and box step-ups. They taught him a modified technique for jumping rope.
When Thom learned from a friend that CrossFit had an adaptive competition, he resolved to join. His goal: to compete in the 2024 Adaptive CrossFit Games in San Antonio in September. His path took him through qualifying and semifinal rounds in the spring in which he placed eighth and sixth in the world, respectively. Placing in the top 10 in the semifinals earned Thom a spot in San Antonio.
“Qualifying for the 2024 Adaptive CrossFit Games was incredibly validating,” he said. “When I learned I had multiple sclerosis, I was filled with doubt. Competing in CrossFit started to chip away at that. I showed myself that not only was I going to be physically capable of doing the things I loved, but I would also see progress come from hard work if I set my mind to something.”
New Sense of Achievement
At the Adaptive CrossFit Games, Thom put the skills he’d developed to the test during seven events over four days. One event included bench presses, rope climbs and tossing sandbags over a nine-foot bar.
“I won that event,” Thom said. “It was a particularly great experience because I had to climb a 15-foot rope. A year earlier, I couldn’t pick up a cell phone, let alone climb a rope. That event was an example of how working with the Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation team allowed me to succeed.”
Other events required Thom to sprint from point to point while carrying a sandbag and perform a handstand walk – actions that would have seemed all but impossible during his first multiple sclerosis flare-up. A year to the day after being discharged from inpatient rehabilitation, Thom placed second overall in the men’s neuromuscular minor division at the 2024 Adaptive CrossFit Games.
Still Pushing His Limits
Thom finished rehabilitation therapy shortly before competing in the Adaptive CrossFit Games, but not before asking his team for one last favor: more homework.
“I wanted to continue doing exercises that would challenge me,” he said. “I asked my therapists for a binder of physical work for people with multiple sclerosis, and they gave me one. I continue to dip into that binder for exercises to strengthen my lower body and improve my ability to stand on tiptoe on my right foot.”
Thom continues to work with his neurologist and lean on the skills he learned during rehabilitation to manage multiple sclerosis.
“I experience challenges some days for no apparent reason,” Thom said. “Sometimes, I have trouble walking or going up or down stairs, but I work hard at what I learned at Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation. I know as long as I show up and put in the work I can do today, tomorrow’s going to be great.”
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