Success Stories
Simyoulim
Told She Had Six Months To Live
Simyoulim came to Kindred Hospital Paramount about six months after being told she had only this amount of time to live due to the breast cancer that had metastasized throughout her body. Her primary oncologist who recommended that she come to Kindred had been treating her with chemotherapy, and after her long struggle Simyoulim was in a very delicate condition, depending on a ventilator to support her lungs, a feeding tube for nutrition and IV lines to administer medication and fluids.
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At the beginning of her stay at Kindred, Simyoulim was treated by her respiratory therapists, started a course of IV antibiotics and began receiving much-needed nutritional support. Her caregivers also managed the drainage tubes in her chest and closely monitored her heart as she was suffering from an irregular heartbeat. With her mother and brother at her side, and with abundant support and encouragement from her team of caregivers, Simyoulim slowly began to regain her strength and reached a major milestone when she was able to be successfully weaned from the ventilator.
Simyoulim’s speech pathologist ensured that she was able to swallow safely and use her voice again. This enabled Simyoulim to begin drinking and eating a modified diet at first, leading to a normal diet and being able to have the feeding tube and IV lines removed. Other major accomplishments included regaining the ability at first to sit up then get out of bed, and then walk and even climb stairs unassisted in the therapy gym. Her physical and occupational therapists were instrumental in helping Simyoulim regain her mobility and independence over the tasks of daily life and her positive attitude once again drew everyone to her side, helping her reach her next milestone.
By the time Simyoulim was discharged from Kindred to return home she was a different person and looked forward to some normalcy once again. “My mom and brother were my number one supporters,” Simyoulim expressed. “But everyone helped me fight my illness and my oncologist, Dr. Nandan, he found solutions and was there for me from day one. I was told I had six months to live – without him and all my caregivers I wouldn’t be here today.”
“There isn’t just one person that we can thank in particular because everyone was special and helped my daughter so much,” Simyoulim’s mother acknowledged. “Her doctors, therapists, nurses, CNAs and her speech therapist were incredibly helpful and I could tell that everyone loved my daughter.”
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.”
Vicenta
Recovery Despite Complications
Vicenta, 86, was admitted to a short-term acute care hospital on January 31 for abdominal pain. Prior to this, she was independent at home with her family. After a lap cholecystectomy, she could not be extubated. She suffered multiple complications of surgery including a small bowel obstruction, pleural effusion and atrial fibrillation, and an irregular heart rhythm. She was weaning from the ventilator for approximately two hours a day but was not progressing prior to admission to Kindred Hospital.
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She was admitted to Kindred on February 16 for ventilator weaning and management of conditions complicating her hospitalization including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, diverticulitis, deconditioning and a sacral decubitus ulcer.
On February 28, she was placed on the weaning protocol. The speech-language pathologist started her with a Passy Muir valve in-line with the ventilator on March 2.
The next day, she was started on TTAV (trans-tracheal augmented ventilation), per the weaning protocol, so she could speak during her weaning sessions. She progressed steadily and gained strength with the addition of aggressive physical and occupational therapy and speech-language pathology for the next two weeks.
On March 15, Vicenta was weaned from the ventilator. On March 18, she was decannulated and her tracheostomy tube was removed. She was discharged on March 23 to acute rehab with a plan for ultimately going home. By this time, she had made good functional gains in occupational therapy, was able to complete basic activities of daily living, was ambulating 60 feet, and was swallowing pureed foods.
We look forward to a visit from Vicenta and her family in the near future.