John Schurhammer remembers the day well. He’d been lifting heavy materials all day at work – heavier than what he should’ve been handling – when he decided to lift just one more load. It was one too many; it caused a sharp pain to rip through the right side of his body.
Subsequent months of pain medications, massage therapy and chiropractic appointments provided little relief, so John decided it was finally time to see his doctor. And that’s when he got the news he was least expecting: he had lung cancer.
“When I was getting chiropractic work done and getting massage therapy work done, it just dragged it out longer, so that by the time I got there, it was stage 3,” John says. “I was fortunate it wasn’t stage 4, which would’ve made it more difficult.”
'Everything was difficult'
Still, the 58-year-old Kellogg man had a lot that lay ahead of him. He spent weeks at Gundersen La Crosse Hospital going through chemotherapy and radiation treatments – an experience made easier, he says, because of the loving care he received there.
Eventually, John got to the point where he thought about going back to work, but symptoms like dizziness lingered, so his doctor recommended he start physical therapy. That eventually led to cardiopulmonary rehabilitation at Gundersen St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and Clinics. It was then that he realized how weak the cancer treatment had made him.
“Everything was difficult in the beginning,” John says. “I lost 10 or 15 pounds and I just could not seem to gain it back at all. It was impossible.”
But slowly, his strength returned, and as he’s neared the end of his rehab program, he’s been able to walk for 20 minutes on a treadmill, ride a stationary bike for 20 minutes, use an elliptical for five minutes, climb three flights of stairs and lift weights. He’s pushing hard to get back to work, which he’s been away from for 10 months.
The work he put in at the beginning was difficult, John says, especially being underweight. But the staff at Gundersen St. Elizabeth’s made sure that he was able to progress through the stages of his program.
“They’re just so supportive in pulmonary rehab to get you gradually working a little harder every day,” he says. “It makes all the difference in the world, starting out barely able to do these things, and the next thing you know, you’re able to do that and you want to try a little bit harder.”
Ongoing work to stay healthy
That’s exactly the kind of result Carla Theusch, Gundersen St. Elizabeth’s rehabilitation services manager, wants to see for John and everyone else in her department’s care.
“We want John to get back as close to 100% as possible, under his circumstances of what he’s been through,” Theusch says. “His ultimate goal is to return to work, so if we can help him accomplish our goal, he’ll reach his.”
Even after that happens, John plans to continue maintenance work in the cardio rehab department, in large part because he feels comfortable with the staff and the other patients who are working toward the same goals – ones he couldn’t have achieved without his care team.
“If you’re not doing anything like the treatment I’m getting, it’s going to take a person forever to rebound and get their full strength back,” John says. “Without it, it’s going to take forever to get back on your feet, or it’s not going to happen at all.”
Gundersen St. Elizabeth’s offers lung cancer screening Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Those with Medicare Part B coverage can get one screening each year if they meet certain qualifications. Contact your personal care provider to determine eligibility.