Melanie Finds Healing through Dance and Determination

Three years ago, Melanie Milow was on her way to teach a dance class when something happened that changed her life. As she was heading into the building, she slipped on the icy stairs and fell. Melanie, a part-time professor of dance at the time, remembers thinking as she fell that she didn’t want to land on her legs or arms or she wouldn’t be able to teach her class. Unfortunately, the back of her head struck the stairs as she slipped down, causing a mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). After the injury, she wasn’t sure where to turn for help. “I didn’t have insurance, and I didn’t know what to do,” she said.

Getting the help she needed felt like a constant struggle until she started getting connected to doctors and services through Colorado Connections. “My care coordinator Alonda got the ball rolling. She’s been really good help,” Melanie noted. She describes her MTBI as a ‘silent injury’. “I look great, but I suffer from anxiety, depression and OCD tendencies and have trouble with decision-making.” She also had trouble controlling the left side of her body after her injury. It took a while for her to realize though, that she couldn’t recognize old friends or remember many of her past experiences, like childhood memories or earning her undergraduate degree and Master of Fine Arts degree.

Melanie had always been very social before her accident, but after her MTBI, she found it difficult to reconnect with people. “After my injury, I went into darkness. I felt very disassociated from myself and my friends,” she described. “Coming back socially has been hard.” Melanie likens her recovery process to rewiring a computer: “It’s been a life adjustment.” Just recently, Melanie developed new physical symptoms caused by her MTBI; she now experiences problems with stuttering and seizure-like episodes. Throughout all the challenges she’s faced though, her love of music and dance and her desire to share that passion has kept her centered. “Teaching and dance saved me,” she asserted. She finds dancing to be very therapeutic and has continued to perform professionally.

Still the same ambitious person she was before her MTBI, Melanie has taken control of her recovery. She’s focused on taking a holistic approach to rehabilitation and has put together what she describes as her healing team, consisting of an advocate, a nutritionist, a doctor and legal counsel. Because she’s not able to work right now, Melanie recently put on a benefit concert through her dance-focused production company, M*SHAKA*FUSION. Called the “Cracked Dome Benefit Concert”, the show featured a solo performance that Melanie wrote, choreographed and performed that chronicled her healing process. Alonda Martin, her care coordinator, spoke at the concert.

Alonda applauds Melanie’s strong spirit and determination to continue with her goals. “I think Melanie is an inspiration to all people with disabilities; she doesn’t let her brain injury get in the way of achieving her goals,” she expressed. “I feel honored to have been able to support her at the concert and with all her personal and community efforts.”

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Learn more about statewide traumatic brain injury services offered through Denver Options.
Learn more about Denver Options’ Colorado Connections program.