Michelle Shedd joined the Mary Free Bed Weight Management Program to find the support and accountability she needed on her “journey to lasting wellness.” “My body was in protest,” Michelle said. “My joints were surrendering and screaming in pain with all the extra weight I was carrying around.” Michelle shares her experience here: Why did you…
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Pain management techniques help with flare ups
Guest blog: Courtney Husen is an occupational therapist in Mary Free Bed’s Pain Rehabilitation Program. As a member of the program’s team of experts, she works with patients to reduce their chronic pain and improve their ability to function. In this blog, Courtney offers strategies to ease painful flare ups. Chronic pain can impact our…
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Mary Free Bed registered dietitians spotlight healthy living for National Nutrition Month
Guest blog: March is National Nutrition Month, a time to spotlight healthy eating habits and nutrition education as well as the work registered dietitians do to help people enjoy healthy lives. Jessi Holden, a registered dietitian who leads the Mary Free Bed Weight Management Program, shares how the hospital’s team works to care for patients….
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Living with chronic pain: Pain rehabilitation and graded exposure to activity
Guest blog: Nicole DeHaan is a physical therapist and therapeutic pain specialist in Mary Free Bed’s Pain Rehabilitation Program. As a member of the program’s team of experts, she works with patients to reduce their chronic pain and improve their ability to function. In this blog, Nicole discusses the benefits of graded exposure to activity,…
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Travis on ‘road to a healthier life’ with help from Bronson, Mary Free Bed
Travis Laws was determined to get his life back and knew it wouldn’t be easy. Bedridden for several years, the 46-year-old from Allegan had significant health issues, including a large mass on his right leg. He weighed nearly 1,300 pounds. Specialists from Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo cared for Travis and developed a diet and…
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Divya’s journey from India for selective dorsal rhizotomy, rehabilitation highlights successful collaboration between Mary Free Bed, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital
Divya Harkema has a joy-filled smile that melts hearts and the power of love from a young mother intent on creating the best life for her daughter. Five-year-old Divya was born with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy, which affects her legs. She was living at Sarah’s Covenant Homes, an organization in Hyderabad, India, that provides group…
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Shorty first patient to graduate from Ventilator and Pulmonary Rehabilitation at Mary Free Bed
Herb “Shorty” Monroe was seriously injured in a July car crash just a mile from where he works. He was taken by ambulance to Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo, where doctors discovered Shorty had a spinal cord injury that required surgery, as well as spinal fractures, broken ribs and bruised lungs. He needed a ventilator…
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Lila’s recovery from internal decapitation called miraculous
An August car crash near her Cedar Springs home left Lila DeLine with a life-threatening spinal cord injury. Essentially, she was internally decapitated when the force of the impact separated her skull from her spine, an injury that most often proves fatal. But Lila defied the odds. She was an inpatient at Spectrum Health for…
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Matthew finds hope with Kalamazoo’s Pain Rehabilitation program: ‘Know pain, know gain’
It had been 18 months since truck driver Matthew Watson was seriously injured in a horrific crash in Ohio, miles from his Allegan, Michigan home. He sustained multiple injuries, including to his brain and spinal cord. Following surgery and a lengthy hospital stay in Toledo, Matthew returned home and began months of physical therapy. But…
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Manage holiday stress with these simple tips
The holiday season can be equal parts joyful and stressful. From long to-do lists to strained family relationships and the desire to create the “perfect” holiday, we often put too much pressure on ourselves. When we feel stress, we increase our risk for stress-induced eating. Jessi Boehme, a registered dietitian at Mary Free Bed, has…
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Recent Blog Posts 
- Faith, hope fuel ‘Miracle Malachi”s recovery from traumatic brain injury
- ‘Limit’ not in amputee Nathan Wolford’s vocabulary
- Mary Free Bed Guild awards scholarships to ‘inspiring and dedicated’ students
- Debbie credits Weight Management Program with new confidence, well-being
- Five reasons you should add asparagus to your plate
- Evelyn thrives in face of rare diagnosis of osteogenesis imperfecta
- UPDATE: Julie Scheving celebrates milestones after surviving massive stroke
- Mary Free Bed handcyclist Matthew Chaffee to compete in Boston Marathon
