Success Stories
Kathy
On The Road To Recovery And Close To Going Home Again
Just two years ago, Kathy was independent and able to walk normally. She had previously worked as a pharmacy clerk and lived at home with her husband and family. Sadly, Kathy suffers from progressive disabling multiple sclerosis and began to have re-occurring falls that stemmed from a gradual loss of sensation in her hips and legs.
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Kathy also had endured abdominal surgery and had developed a complex pressure ulcer from prolonged bed rest due to her incapacity and loss of mobility. She came to Kindred Hospital Albuquerque after a hospitalization at another facility to receive physical and occupational therapy and advanced wound care.
Her care team worked diligently to help Kathy not only regain strength so she could participate more fully in her rehabilitation. Her nurses and therapists also helped Kathy develop a more positive outlook which fueled her desire to get better. “The staff here have motivated me to improve,” Kathy shared. “I not only can take more steps now than when I first arrived – I am now getting less and less tired when I do my walking therapy.”
Kathy also expressed gratitude for being able to attend a special event while still at Kindred: “I’m so glad I was able to attend my son’s wedding – this really is a great place to go for your healthcare.”
During her stay at Kindred, Kathy was able to make significant progress toward her recovery and was discharged to a skilled nursing facility to continue getting better before she can return home to her family. “I can’t wait to get back in the kitchen and cook my husband his favorite meal,” Kathy expressed.
John
Everyone Worked Together
John was working on his farm. He hopped off his tractor to shut a gate and his tractor kept moving.
“I tried to jump on it, like a dummy, and fell,” John said. “The tractor ran over me.”
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He was immobilized with broken bones, fractured ribs and a punctured lung.
“Somehow I was able to wiggle around and get the cell phone out of my pocket,” he said. He called his wife, and within an hour a medical helicopter was taking him to a short-term acute care hospital.
He stayed there in the Intensive Care Unit for seven weeks and was then admitted to Kindred Hospital.
“Really, by that point he was still in critical condition,” his wife said. “He was totally dependent on a ventilator to breathe. The people at the hospital had done everything they could – we just needed to go somewhere where they had expertise in caring for vent patients.”
Almost immediately, the caregivers at Kindred Hospital began rehabilitation therapy and the process of weaning John from the ventilator.
“He had been on his back for seven weeks, and gradually they kept having him do a little more at a time,” his wife said. “The walking helped him strengthen his lungs.”
“I felt like I was making progress, absolutely,” John said. “I’d heard of Kindred before, but I didn’t really know what they did.”
Six weeks later, John was released to home care to fully recover.
“By the time we left, he was walking, breathing, swallowing and eating,” his wife said. “And it was the teamwork that was great.”
“The care was excellent,” John said. “Everybody knew what they were doing and everybody worked together.”
“Just excellent.”