Success Stories

At the beginning of his stay, Eric was still in a very delicate condition and remained in the ICU at Kindred under close supervision. His critical care team administered antibiotic treatments through his IV lines to treat his pneumonia and had to place tubes in his chest to drain excess fluid from his lungs. Not long after treatments were started and the medication started to have an effect, Eric’s condition began to improve rapidly. When Eric was able to be taken off the ventilator it was a major milestone and it enabled him to begin conversing with the help of a speaking valve. Shortly afterward he was able to have the breathing tube removed altogether and his speech pathologist helped Eric regain the ability to swallow safely and use his own voice once again. Now able to eat and drink a normal diet and no longer dependent on the feeding tube, Eric’s progress continued at a remarkable pace and he put all his effort into his physical and occupational therapy sessions, gaining more strength every day and getting back his independence over the activities of daily life. “Arlecia and I were delighted when I was discharged to return home and elated that we were going to be able to travel and be with our family over the thanksgiving holiday – thank you all for making this possible,” Eric shared when he and his wife dropped by the facility to say thank you one more time. When Eric’s team gathered together for a group photo there weren’t enough words to describe the amount of joy and pride everyone felt to have played a role in helping Eric’s recovery have such an amazing outcome.

Uncertain of what came next in Jessica’s recovery, or if her daughter would have to spend the rest of her life in an assisted living facility, Jessica’s mother chose Kindred Hospital Las Vegas - Sahara as the next level of care.

Jessica was no longer dependent on a ventilator when she first arrived at Kindred, but she still had a breathing tube in place. She also relied on a feeding tube and she was entirely unresponsive, requiring maximum care from her caregivers. With her mother and other family members at her side from the very beginning, Jessica slowly began to show signs of awareness. When she began to respond with more intention, her team of caregivers began to get Jessica up and out of bed daily and started a more aggressive program of physical and occupational therapy. Jessica was also aided by her speech pathologist to reconnect her speech and vocal pathways, allowing Jessica to begin using words to describe colors as well as to regain the ability to swallow and take food and drink by mouth again once the breathing tube was finally removed.

After spending nearly five months at Kindred, Jessica continued to amaze everyone at the facility with her progress. Her mother was overcome with gratitude when her daughter was able to be discharged to a facility that specializes in brain injury rehabilitation. Her entire team gathered to wish her well and celebrate this major milestone and wish her the best.

Just recently Jessica’s mother called to update the team at Kindred on her progress; “Jessica came back home in October, has continued to improve and now is back to living a normal life,” she said. “She loves doing her makeup and going out shopping with her friends. I can hardly find the words to describe my feelings and I’m very grateful for the care everyone at Kindred provided to help with Jessica’s recovery.”

Linda, was moved to a second hospital where a plastic surgeon performed reconstructive surgery to try and save her foot. She spent four days in recovery, and the resulting pain was excruciating.

A month later, after Linda’s husband heard about the benefits of hyperbaric therapy, Linda was admitted to Kindred Hospital – Sahara (NV) for a 20-day course. She showed remarkable improvement after only four sessions of hyperbaric therapy, and her surgery to implant artificial skin grafts was scheduled sooner than expected. A third surgery for an epidermal skin graft was completed shortly thereafter.

Linda continues to visit the Wound Care Outpatient Clinic and her foot looks almost normal again. She is now able to walk with crutches for extended distances, and the number of dressing changes and her pain level has decreased.

Linda praises the Hyperbaric Therapy and Wound Care Clinic staff at Kindred Hospital – Sahara and, of course, her doctor for making it possible for she and her husband to return to a normal life after this horrific accident.

“From the bottom of our hearts, we can never thank all of you enough,” - Linda.

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.”