On her 29th birthday, Catherine Martinez lost the ability to walk.
It started around 5:30 a.m. when Martinez woke up to use the restroom. She sat on her toilet and couldn’t go. That seemed weird. Then she noticed that it didn’t even feel like she was sitting, and her hip area was cold and numb. Nevertheless, the Vancouver resident continued to work at a Spectrum call center, and within about an hour of being there, the numbness had traveled down her legs.
“It was like quicksand. Everything started getting heavier, and I couldn’t feel (my legs),” Martinez said.
Scared by what was happening, Martinez left work and went to the PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver. She was shuttled into the emergency room quickly and given an MRI. After a couple hours of testing, Martinez’s legs had gone completely numb. This wasn’t how her birthday was supposed to go. Martinez had planned doing dinner and presents with family and friends, but instead found herself scrolling through birthday messages on her phone in the hospital, unable to feel her legs.
“I’m in the emergency room getting all these texts and Facebook notifications like, ‘Oh, happy birthday, enjoy your day,’ ” Martinez said. “And I’m just sitting there like, ‘Oh, thank you, I will.’ ”
Fast-forward nearly a month since that day, May 14, and Martinez is still in the hospital without concrete answers. Duncan Borland, a doctor with PeaceHealth Medical Group, who has knowledge of Martinez’s case, said that doctors know inflammation of the spinal cord has caused her problem, but that they don’t know yet what caused the inflammation. Borland said Martinez will recover some of her walking ability, but he can’t predict how much. She is slated for an evaluation later this week, which will give her a better idea of when she can go home.
She said the medical uncertainty is scary and that it’s difficult to not have answers. But instead of fighting her situation with anger, Martinez, who calls herself “annoyingly optimistic,” is in good spirits.
“I’ve already done life on legs,” Martinez remarked. “I can do life in a wheelchair if I need to.”
That outlook has given her a reputation at PeaceHealth.
Martinez said nurses and doctors have complimented her spirit, which Martinez attributed to the stream of friendly faces who have visited her. One registered nurse estimates that she’s had about 75 people visit, which the nurse said is the most he’s seen in his four years at PeaceHealth.
A few nurses have also started researching the late rapper Tupac Shakur, one of Martinez’s favorite artists. Martinez has received so many gifts (flowers, candy, balloons, pictures) that her boyfriend, Ahmed Albritton, had to make two trips in his Chrysler 300 to shuttle the goods back home.
At work, Martinez has developed a reputation for snagging red Jolly Ranchers out of a candy bowl, leaving every other color. A co-worker noticed the red Jolly Ranchers piling up, and figured out something must be amiss with Martinez.
“You don’t realize how many people you made an impression on,” Martinez said. “It’s a humbling experience.”
Her parents, Randy and Linda, are mainstays in her hospital room. Sometimes Randy will steal something from Martinez and joke: “It’s not like you can walk to me to get it.” Those jokes serve as a source of comfort humor in her shifting life.
Since she’s been in the hospital, Martinez’s days have been filled with responding to messages and reading. She’s a fan of actress Gabrielle Union’s memoir. She also received a prayer journal from a friend, and writes in it if she starts to feel down. Martinez naps about five times a day, exhausted from physical therapy, which she does daily along with occupational therapy. It takes her about a minute to walk 10 feet with a walker, whereas the average patient can do that in eight seconds, Martinez said.
Martinez also shot hoops recently while in her wheelchair. That was a reminder of just how much her life has changed. Martinez made All-League in softball and volleyball multiple years at La Center High School, and she likes to be active. She credits the “sports mentality” with helping her persevere. Her dad coaches at La Center High School, and she can hear his voice pushing her to go further in therapy workouts.
But this ordeal has given Martinez a fresh perspective on hard work. Last year, she was a workaholic, regularly putting in up to 20 hours of overtime per paycheck. She thinks that might change once she can work again.
“It was nice to pay stuff off,” Martinez mentioned, “but I spent so much time in the office and there were so many things I missed — like I have six nieces and a nephew. Games that I missed. There were so many opportunities to be around for different things.”
Albritton, who met Martinez in the call center, said it’s been difficult to observe her struggles. If missing a birthday wasn’t bad enough, they had to spend their four-year anniversary in the hospital.
“It’s hard being her boyfriend and not being able to fix it. What can I do? You feel helpless,” Albritton said. “For any partner in a relationship, that becomes the hardest part. You can hold their hand, and you can cry there with them, but at the end of the day, you want to help her walk.”
While Martinez is still mired in a medical mystery, that hasn’t stopped her from setting goals. She has her sights set on running a Spartan race in 2019. Maybe that’s ambitious. Or maybe that’s just who Martinez is.
“That’s my goal for next year,” Martinez said. “I want to learn to walk first. And then learn to run. And then learn to run obstacles. But I might be there in my walker, though. They’d have to wait for me. Everybody gets a participation award.”
