Even the happiest teachers can go through rough patches. During the 2024-25 school year, 10th and 11th grade English teacher KJ

Tully faced issues with her health, and more specifically, her femur.

In the middle of the third trimester of the 2024-25 school year, Tully had to take three weeks off from work. She left her students with a long-term substitute and organized work packets and virtual assignments to keep them busy while she was gone. 

Tully’s health complications began long before teaching. Tully suffers from an ongoing case of arthritis in all of her major joints.

Since beginning at Loy Norrix, Tully has used various tools to get around her classroom, including a wheelchair and a walker. She also has a rolling cart and a chair stationed at the front of her classroom, which she uses whenever she needs to teach from the front of the class.

Severe arthritis can cause people to experience significant pain and stiffness in their joints. According to the Cleveland Clinic, there are also side effects, including the swelling of joints, inflammation, reduced range of motion, joint pain, skin discoloration and trouble with day-to-day tasks. 

“I’m genetically predisposed to Osteoarthritis (OA), which means if my joints are positioned wrong, the cartilage wears off and the bone wears away, and it’s happening in all my joints,” said Tully.

Due to the cartilage in Tully’s joints actively wearing away, she is in constant pain and discomfort.

“I tried not to complain about it, but being in pain is exhausting, teaching is exhausting, and the combination was really exhausting. The pain was a ten out of ten,” said the exhausted Tully.

In April of that school year, Tully went in for a routine injection for her arthritis, but left with an infection due to improper medical treatment. This forced her to have an emergency surgery followed by one week of hospitalization. After she was discharged, she had to take three weeks off for bed rest. 

“I was off work for almost a month to recover from the surgery.  The pain went from ten to about a million,” said Tully. “When I was not at school teaching, I was in bed at home. That was brutal! There is no way I could have returned to teaching if they had not done something about it. By July, I was a complete mess. I could not walk at all without a device, and even sitting up in a chair was brutally painful and exhausting.”

Tully returned to school to finish off the school year, but no drastic improvements were made until Aug. 2025, when she met with a specialist in Chicago for another surgery. “I found a specialist in Chicago, it’s called a rapid recovery protocol, he has certain things that he does when he operates that make things way easier for the patient, and almost pain-free,” said Tully.

The rapid recovery protocol is a different approach to treating arthritis. It’s designed to accelerate recovery, minimize pain and improve patient outcomes. The recovery process is broken into three main phases: before, after and during. 

According to the Valley Health System, the first step of rapid recovery starts with a joint replacement camp, where the patient is given a rundown of the surgery procedures. In this step, patients are also encouraged to bring a family member or friend to be their “care coach”, who will help them before and after the surgery.

The next step is the surgery. Then, after surgery, specialists begin physical and occupational therapy shortly after the patient wakes up. This way, the patient will regain strength quickly and ensure their confidence in the procedure. 

Tully’s surgery had changed her life for the better.

“It was like someone turned off the pain with a switch!  It took me about three days just to get my head around the fact that my hip did not hurt anymore. Even after a major surgery, I could walk, I could go up and down a set of steps, and I could do things for myself in my home that I was previously unable to do, like cooking and laundry,” said Tully. “I could not wait to get back in the classroom, because finally, it didn’t hurt anymore! Unfortunately, my doctor would not allow me to return until the surgical incision was completely sealed, so I would not get another infection. So, my classes had subs for about three weeks until I could return.” 

Tully still uses her chair when teaching when she needs to, but every day she gets closer to living a life without it completely. 

“18 years of not walking properly, or at all, means that some of my muscles have atrophied, which means I have to build them back up. That takes time. That is why I am now using a lightweight, motorized wheelchair when I need to, and so I don’t get knocked over in the hallway,” said Tully. “Each day, I walk a little farther, and I am now up to 3,000 steps per day. I can walk around my classroom fine, but a trip from A-wing to the main office would not be possible yet. I’m hoping to be done with the chair by Christmas, I’ll get my knees fixed this summer, and then, look out!”