Ready to walk 500 miles
By Melanie Nelson, Public Affairs Officer
“It makes a difference when people are really trying to make you heal.”
December 15, at 7 a.m. Dennis Dzieweczynski, age 69, had an acute attack in his home in Little Falls, Minn.
“This is all a bad dream and I’m going to wake up,” said Dzieweczynski, recalling a conversation he had with his oldest brother Larry after it happened.
But he didn’t wake up, instead it began a month long stay in a St. Cloud area hospital before he transferred to the Minneapolis VA Spinal Cord Injury and Disorder Center (SCI/D). For two months at the Minneapolis VA he did intensive occupational and physical therapy.
When asked about how his two-month inpatient stay in the Minneapolis VA SCI/D was, he said simply, “nothing short of phenomenal.”
“The people are invested in you here,” he said. “There are one’s that you just kind of click with, and those were the ones that were assigned to me for physical and occupational therapy.”
Dzieweczynski has a rare spinal cord disorder. While an inpatient for two months he worked on eye-hand coordination, getting his muscles working again and, as he puts it, trying to get all the things stolen from him back in order.
“My progress has been a little bit every day. You take short wins and big wins, and keep winning,” he said.
Keep moving forward was something Dzieweczynski learned in the service. He enlisted into the Navy in 1975, following in Larry’s footsteps. A peacetime sailor from the Vietnam Era, he started his career as an electronics technician. He was assigned to the Presidential Yacht Sequoia, formerly the USS Sequoia (AG-23). But after President Jimmy Carter sold the vessel in May 1977 at a public auction, Dzieweczynski found himself with a new position on the presidential service. He worked for the White House Communications Agency until 1980 before leaving active duty for the Navy Reserves. He served Presidents Carter, Ford and several past presidents. So, he knows a thing or two about pomp and circumstance.
After 108 days of hard work to get back on his feet, he was ready to walk-out of SCI/D. A walk-out of the Minneapolis VA SCI/D door is a pretty significant moment in time. His knowledge of pageantry came in handy as he selected the song he would walk out of the VA to. He selected “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by the Proclaimers.
At 10:30 a.m. on April 2, Dzieweczynski positioned his wheelchair at the end of the hallway facing the entrance. His significant other Paula was by his side beaming, as his song selection rang from the speaker … “When I wake up, well, I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man who wakes up next to you.”
Tucker, a physical therapy student from the College of St. Scholastica, who was one of the therapists Dzieweczynski clicked with, assisted him with the gait belt on his 30-feet walk out. Over two dozen members of his care team lined the hall ringing cowbells and clapping.
He and Paula wasted no time climbing into the car and heading home.
“I’m really lucky. The timing was really right on everything for my progression and hopefully recovery to 100 percent,” he said.