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SAVING AND RESTORING LIVES
On Mother’s Day, Julie Papievis ran with Loyola neurosurgeon Peter Letarte, M.D., in a
5-kilometer race. Although neither took first place, it was a true victory. The race capped Julie’s six-year comeback from a brain stem injury that leaves most of its victims dead or permanently comatose.
When her car was struck broadside on May 10, 1993, Julie suffered a head injury and
was unable to open her eyes, make a sound, move or respond to touch. At the crash scene, paramedics stabilized Julie and transported her to Loyola’s Level I trauma center.
A CT scan and neurological evaluation determined that she had sustained a diffuse axonal injury — the lines that transport messages to her body were torn away from her brain’s nerve cells. To begin the healing process, John Shea, M.D., professor of neurological
surgery, inserted an intracranial device to measure the pressure inside Julie’s head.
Her odds of returning to any kind of quality of life were about 4 in 100.
During Julie’s hospitalization, Dr. Shea and the treatment team carefully monitored and controlled intracranial pressure by removing blood or fluid to help prevent further brain damage. After 11 days, although in a coma and assisted by a ventilator, Julie began to respond. Loyola occupational, physical and speech therapists began a long, difficult
rehabilitation program. When Julie came out of her coma, she was paralyzed on the left side and unable to walk, talk, swallow or write.
Over the next several years, Julie fought her way back, gradually regaining abilities, strength and independence. Today, she is a community relations coordinator for the Brain Injury Association of Illinois. She also co-facilitates a trauma support group at Loyola. Before her accident Julie was an avid runner. The Mother’s Day race was one more triumph from a woman with remarkable determination.
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