Success Stories

Fortunately Mireya’s condition was able to be stabilized and she regained consciousness. She was then transferred to Kindred Hospital La Mirada to receive respiratory therapy and rehabilitation. Her team of caregivers immediately began to apply themselves to her recovery, beginning with respiratory therapy in order to liberate her from dependence on the ventilator. Mireya made excellent progress and was able to start communicating at first with a speaking valve and soon after she was taken completely off the ventilator, requiring only supplemental oxygen. Her speech pathologist then helped Mireya regain the ability to swallow and speak using her own voice after the breathing tube was removed and she was able to begin drinking and eating once again. Mireya’s physical and occupational therapists were instrumental in helping her overcome her weakness and lack of mobility, encouraging her to push through the times when she experienced difficulty and to keep her spirits up. Gradually she progressed from being completely dependent on her caregivers for all her needs, to being able to get up from bed and stand and walk with the assistance of a walker. Mireya also reclaimed her independence over the activities of daily life and by the time she was discharged from Kindred to return home with her family she was eager to continue her recovery and get back to her routines and family life. “During my time at Kindred I felt happy and positive about myself,” Mireya shared. “I’m blessed because I know my situation is a miracle. I will miss the rehab staff and my nurses who always helped me – even when they had so much to do. Now my next goal is to walk without the walker and do all the things I used to do before I got sick.”

When you wake up from coma while you were in the bed, you don't know if you'll be able to do the things you used to do. I didn't know if I would be able to get back to work and speak. because I'm also a Sunday school teacher. I didn't know if I could teach the kids again. I didn't know if I could go back to school and try to finish my RN. I didn't know any of those things, but the reassurance, the feeling of the nurses coming, giving me the medications on time, the therapists were good. They reassured me that I'll get better. The therapists were really patient with me. Even though I had brain injury, perhaps I was forgetting a lot of things, they would always try to work with me. They really tried their best. That's why I'm better, much better. I'm working now and driving, everything.

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.”