MIDLOTHIAN, Va. — From the very beginning, Abigail Rumbaugh has been overcoming hurdles.
“It was quite sad to say the least,” said Rumbaugh. “It definitely feels very long.”
The Midlothian woman was diagnosed with a painful tethered spine when she was just days old.
“Essentially, there is something at the base of the spine that is holding the spinal cord and pulling it down,” Rumbaugh said.
Her first surgery was at three months old. Annual checkups showed no real ill effects.
At age 15, life took a turn for the worse.
“I never thought something like that would happen till it happened,” Rumbaugh said. “There were several times I just broke down.”
Her tight and tethered spine started causing excruciating constant torment.
”That pain is like nerve pain. It is sharp pain. I can’t even touch my arm when it hurts like that. Not fun,” Rumbaugh described.
She endured several surgeries and long hospital stays.
“There have been so many that it is hard to keep track of it,” Rumbaugh said.
Her teen years were anything but normal.
”It was almost isolating because I missed so much school. I missed seriously almost half of high school,” Rumbaugh said.
Mom and dad Heather and Jeff Rumbaugh were crushed watching their first born suffer.
“Breaks your heart,” Heather Rumbaugh said. “I didn’t want her to go through any of it. I would have done it all for her but we couldn’t.”
”You just feel powerless. You want to do something to help,” Jeff Rumbaugh said.
But Abigail’s will to overcome and their strong faith gave them hope.
“She is a go-getter. She is not a quitter at all,” said Heather. “She can deal with things most people could not.”
JoAnn Tillett, a nurse in VCU’s Department of Neurosurgery, met Abigail when she was a three-month-old patient.
“She’s gone through a lot of surgeries, a lot of pain, a lot of discomfort. A lot of changes,” Tillett said. “She has kept a positive attitude about it. Doesn’t let it get her down.”
But recently, the pain grows so unbearable Rumbaugh is taking drastic action.
“February 20. That would be the spinal cord shortening surgery,” Rumbaugh said.
Surgeons removed vertebrae to relieve the tension in her spine. Rumbaugh said lost a full inch in height.
“I knew it was a lot. A lot to risk but I wanted to try it because it really was my last hope,” Rumbaugh said.
Until recently, the operation was considered experimental.
”They have to check but they are pretty sure I am the first patient to have this surgery for a tethered cord in Virginia,” Rumbaugh said.
Doctors said rehab would take at least six months to a year. But Rumbaugh was ready to return to work at her pharmacy job about five weeks later.
Nurse Tillett draws inspiration from her friend.
”It was very apparent she had a strength that I wish I had a very small part of,” Tillett said. “She just keeps moving forward and doesn’t let it get the best of her. It is amazing.”
The 21-year-old encourages anyone facing tall odds not to give in.
“Just keep telling yourself there is light at the end of the tunnel just over and over and over again it got me through some hard, hard areas,” Rumbaugh said.
Rumbaugh doesn’t mind losing height. She said things are looking up.
”You know if I go to reach for something on the shelf at work or stand next to one of my friends I can really tell. Oh wow! I am shorter,” Rumbaugh said.
Abbi Rumbaugh, enjoying her new perspective on life. One she hopes will be pain-free.
“Very happy,” Rumbaugh said. “Very, very happy because this could be the permanent solution I’ve been looking for for the last several years.”
Watch Greg McQuade's stories on CBS 6 and WTVR.com. If you know someone Greg should profile, email him at greg.mcquade@wtvr.com.
