SOME 2 ½ MONTHS AGO, I boarded a roller coaster for the first time since I was a teenager screaming my lungs out while riding “The Legend,” a wooden roller coaster at Arnolds Park Amusement Park in Arnolds Park, Iowa. It’s not that I decided this would be a fun activity to try again in my late sixties. Rather, the choice was made for me, as part of my vestibular rehab therapy.
I warned my physical therapist that I don’t like amusement rides. But my comment didn’t deter Ryan. He determined that riding a virtual reality roller coaster on a June morning might be exactly what my brain needed to retrain itself. Since January, I’ve struggled with neurological-based issues resulting from a viral infection, suspected to be COVID, even though I twice self-tested negative for the virus. In early April, I started physical therapy and have been working hard ever since to manage my many debilitating symptoms.
Fast forward to today. I am in a much better place, even while on a VR roller coaster, a tool I’m using to build my visual, auditory and spatial tolerance. Early on I had doubts about my therapist’s plan. Initially, I couldn’t tolerate the VR roller coaster for long (less than a minute) before symptoms flared. After minimal exposure, my head hurt, my eyes hurt and I felt utterly exhausted. When I experienced a health setback mid-summer with vertigo returning, Ryan abandoned the amusement ride therapy for therapies less taxing on my brain.
ROCKS, RABBITS & A ROLLER COASTER
Slowly, surely, I started feeling better and Ryan decided it was time to pull out the VR headset again for another go on the roller coaster. I did not enthusiastically hop on board, only reluctantly agreeing to give it a try. I lasted 25 seconds on a roller coaster ride where boulders tumbled off rocky mountains toward me. Rabbits loping under the track proved the only redeeming feature. I hold a fondness for rabbits, my high school mascot being a White Rabbit.
That was two weeks ago. The following week I did better, albeit on a less visually-stimulating ride, this one under the sea in a darker environment. Still, I could manage only bursts of riding before needing to pause.
NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE ROLLER COASTERS
Five days later I was back at therapy, knowing full well that I would again be riding a roller coaster. Make that plural. Three roller coasters. I started therapy Wednesday morning with the least stimulating under-the-sea ride. And just to make that more challenging, Ryan asked me to stand, rather than sit. He allowed me to place my hands on the back of a chair to ground myself. I successfully finished the ride, then took a break before re-boarding, this time without touching the chair. Success again. Time to up the challenge.
Ryan pulled out the rabbit-loping, boulders-falling themed ride. This time I completed the ride, which was visually much more exciting with dynamite and fire and a whole lot more coming at me. Once again, I tolerated the roller coaster twice while standing and without needing to stop.
I felt my confidence grow as each roller coaster ride became more sensory challenging. I could do this. But when the next ride began with a garish parrot getting in my face, I questioned whether I could manage a tropical-themed roller coaster with worn vivid red and yellow rails. (Was it even safe to ride?) It was a lot—the bold hues, the squawking flapping seagulls, the palm trees, the steep climbs, the height, the sharp turns. But I made it. Twice on that roller coaster curving toward the ocean.
DOING GREAT, BUT I HAVE MY LIMITS
My brain was adjusting, learning, retraining itself to take in more visual, auditory and spatial input. Ryan praised my success, both of us somewhat surprised by how well I’d tolerated those roller coasters Wednesday morning.
But before I left therapy, I wanted Ryan to know one thing. If he planned a field trip to nearby Valley Fair Amusement Park next Wednesday for a ride on a real roller coaster, I wouldn’t be showing up for therapy.
© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Wow, thanks for sharing this story and thanks for being so brave!
It’s truly been a team effort to get me to where I am today, much-improved healthwise. I feel thankful for a loving and supportive family, prayerful and caring friends, and healthcare professionals who have cared for me (and encouraged me) on this journey. I intend to write more at some point so others can learn, and benefit, from my experience.
I can see the two of you working through this. You have a good one in working with Ryan. Keep on Keeping on my friend – let your inner strength shine through 🙂 Happy Day and NO Real Coasters for You – ENJOY!
Ryan is remarkable. He’s compassionate, kind, encouraging and knowledgeable. I would not be where I am today without him.
As a reader of your blog, I am surprised at this therapy. So, you must have been really surprised! Three VR rides. That’s quite an accomplishment. I wish you continued success!
Colleen, you’re right. How well I remember my doubt, my hesitancy, when Ryan told me back in June that I would be riding a VR rollercoaster. The stimuli from that VR amusement ride strengthened by brain. Ryan compares it to walking, to building your strength/muscles, if you haven’t walked in awhile. Makes sense to me. VR is working for me and I am grateful.
Fascinating to learn how VR can assist in therapy and you explain it so well. I’m glad you were successful. I never liked amusement park rides and still don’t. You won’t see me at Valley Fair either.
I’ve learned a lot about therapy practices during my six months in vestibular rehab therapy. I have a deep appreciation for these professionals and the ways in which they can help individuals like me.
Wow! Congratulations Audrey! That sounds like a big leap forward. The way you are making progress in your therapy is very interesting. I suspect the big advance you made was only possible because you stuck with it during all the difficult “little steps” that preceded it. I applaud your determination and the hard work you’ve put in to it.
Thank you. I have worked hard, both in therapy and at home, to manage and improve my health. I’m getting there, feeling so much better these days.
Goodness. You have really been on a roller coaster ride this whole year, haven’t you? I am so glad you have Ryan–he seems like he is just what you need to get back on track. Keep up the good work. I know it is difficult but you are doing so well!
You’re right that 2023 has been a roller coaster year. I feel deep gratitude to Ryan for all the ways he’s helped me. I’ll recap everything one of these days with an update on where I am now on this journey.
so glad to hear this, Audrey. I know how hard you’ve been working and this is huge progress. I loved your ending to this post/warning to Ryan.)
I am working hard, Beth.
That is fantastic news! I love how you keep pursuing health and healing, even after a roadblock and a short rest you went right back to ‘getting on the rollercoasters’!! ❤️Sending healing thoughts your way. I’ve been reaching a few successful milestones as well, after suffering a back injury last year. It’s encouraging that we can cheer each other on to be our best.
Yahoo, Rose! Onward. Glad to hear you, too, are improving.