Treatment to Restore Balance Disorders

Major Cathie Raaf, R.N., knows what it means to keep doing your job, no matter what. Not only does she come from a family of military personnel, Raaf has been a member of the Army Nurse Corp since 1989.

Recently, she returned from a one-year tour of duty in Afghanistan. There, she was second in command of a Civil Affairs Provincial Reconstruction Team responsible for overseeing projects in three provinces.

The paths Raaf traveled in Afghanistan, both on foot and in armored vehicles, were extremely rough. She sprained ankles on uneven ground and was slammed so hard she fractured teeth. And there were constant explosions.

“We were frequently coming upon weapons caches,” recalls Raaf. “We would inform others about their presence who would then blow them up.”

Day in and day out, though, she kept doing her job, which included being responsible for constructing schools, medical clinics, wells and police stations, as well as providing security during elections and humanitarian relief.

When Raaf returned to Oregon, she noticed that she would easily fall over, was disoriented and “didn’t know up from down.” Military exams identified compressed disks in her upper back and a vestibular disorder.

Raaf is receiving physical therapy for her vestibular disorder at Salem Hospital’s Regional Rehabilitation Center. Her treatment includes using a specialized machine at the center to help improve her condition and exercises to desensitize her vestibular system to quick movements. In addition to doing exercises with the physical therapists, each day Raaf performs many of the exercises several times on her own.

Raaf is very pleased with her treatment and how quickly she is progressing.

To improve Major Cathie Raaf’s, R.N., condition, Cathy Kosboth, P.T., teaches her exercises that can help desensitize her vestibular system to quick movements.