After falling ill with pneumonia, Mr. Harold came to Colonial Nursing Home to start him on the road to recovery. When our therapy team first saw him he was receiving all nutritional intake via tube feedings, and unable to roll from side to side or sit up without max assistance.
“Mr. Harold’s goal was to return home, able to walk and eat on his own again” says Linda, Speech Language Pathologist.
“He was beyond motivated to get better and was always waiting on us to get to work to open the therapy gym for him to start his therapy sessions. He made my job easy,” says Emily, Physical Therapy Assistant.
Once Mr. Harold’s medical condition became stable, he was able to start making improvements that were noticeable including transferring from his bed to his wheelchair with Certified Nursing Assistants.
“I had to increase resistance with gait tasks on even and uneven surfaces. This included him pulling a board of twenty pound weights behind him, and he proudly would tell other residents he was plowing,” says Emily.
“His overall attitude and disposition improved as we began trials of pureed food. The best feeling was seeing him receiving the host for communion. It brought tears to his eyes and everyone else in the therapy gym,” says Linda.
“I would tell others going through therapy to not give up!! Do everything the therapists tell you to do! Trust them,” says Mr. Harold.
“He was a very patient man. He had a good understanding of his diagnoses and was patient with all medical personnel involved in his care and with the process. He truly had faith in all of us involved in his care to make the best decisions and the ones that would get home again. A day never passed that he didn’t say thank you to each person. It’s difficult to achieve fully gaining a patient’s trust and being 100 % compliant. But we did with him and got him home,” says Greta, Occupational Therapist.
If you are interested in our therapy program at partner facilities, please visit our website www.therapyctr.com.
