Nothing Is Going to Stop Her

At 81 years old, Joyce Golian has a lot of places to go. And losing her right leg after a February amputation is not going to stop her.

Joyce credits therapists at the Crichton Rehabilitation Center with helping her learn to navigate around furniture with her new prosthetic leg, climb stairs, clean her kitchen, move heavy pots from the stove, and get back to shopping in Richland Township.

And she doesn’t intend to slow down. 

Joyce is now walking the equivalent of 2 miles per day inside her Upper Yoder Township home and is determined to make it 3 as soon as possible.

“From Day One in rehab, I had the mindset that this wasn’t going to stop me,” Joyce said. “Every day, I wanted to accomplish something new. I was determined to push myself to get where I needed to go with this.”

Her therapist at Crichton spotted “a special fire” in Joyce.

“Joyce didn’t dwell on the negative — losing her leg,” said Abby Kolesar, occupational therapist and clinical coordinator at Crichton. “She was so optimistic, motivated and always ready to work hard in our therapy sessions. She never wanted to use a wheelchair and was constantly accomplishing rehabilitation goals and moving to the next level.

“Joyce was an inspiration to our staff as well as to the other patients. She applied everything we had to say and made great strides — very quickly.”

Abby and others on the Crichton team helped Joyce learn to move around safely with a walker and handle everyday tasks such as bathing, dressing, cooking and navigating around her home.

Before long, Joyce said, she was “scooting around like nobody’s business.”

Recently, Abby and Joyce unexpectedly crossed paths again while shopping at Walmart.

Joyce showed her prosthetic leg to Abby’s 5-year-old son. As Joyce walked away, he proudly turned to his mother and said, “Mommy, you helped her walk again.”

Now Joyce has another destination in mind: the driver’s seat.

She wants to drive again and is taking lessons to make it happen. Soon, she plans to have a left-foot accelerator installed in her car.

For Joyce, each milestone is another example of what determination – coupled with the right rehabilitation team – can accomplish.

She says maintaining a positive attitude has been key to her recovery.

“It’s a must,” Joyce said. “Look, either way, I don’t have a right leg, and I had to learn how to use a prosthetic. But it makes things a whole lot easier if you go at it with the right attitude.

“I want to do the things I need to do,” she said. “I had it in my mind that I was going to conquer it with the help of the great kiddos at Crichton Center. And I did.”