Anderson’s Journey with 住院病人康复
With the beginning of each new year comes new challenges, opportunities and journeys. 法明顿的詹·安德森, MO, began 2022 embarking on a journey of healing, rehabilitation and defying many odds with her strength and positive spirit following a massive stroke.
1月4日, Anderson was around several people who had contracted COVID-19 and had a mild cough herself, 所以她去了沃尔格林医院做检查. The test triggered a coughing spell, leaving Anderson lightheaded and weak. Anderson called her husband to pick her up in fear of passing out. Her husband took her to the hospital where several tests and basic triage revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Anderson decided to go home, take Tylenol and lie down. 第二天早上, Anderson’s husband woke her up with breakfast and checked on her at lunch but came home in the evening to find her unresponsive. 一辆救护车把她送到了圣. Louis University Hospital, where they determined she had suffered a stroke. St的团队. Louis University Hospital performed an emergency craniectomy, 但是三天后, Anderson suffered another massive stroke on her left side, which led to her being put in a medically induced coma. The weeks that followed included multiple surgeries, infections and discovering her vocal cords were paralyzed, 使治疗过程更加复杂.
“When I had the stroke, the doctors at St. Louis University hospital did not think I would be able to utilize my right side, speak very clearly and told me I might have vision problems,安德森回忆道. “For some reason, I had this determination I would defy their odds.” The journey to defy their odds began in Saint Francis Medical Center’s 住院病人康复 3月1日.
“The thing about Saint Francis is each person I encountered always met me with kindness and grace,她回忆道。. “所有员工都很真诚, and it helped keep me motivated to follow through with my therapies and do my best.” Anderson would receive physical and occupational therapy, along with speech-language pathology under the direction of physiatrist, 海蒂·亨特，医学博士. Her treatment plan included intensive therapy in the morning and afternoon to keep pushing her forward. “即使我很累或感到虚弱, the staff would motivate me and accommodate the therapy to how I was feeling while keeping me moving forward.”
As an office manager for the Department of Corrections Eastern Agent Training Center, Anderson was determined to achieve goals in therapy which would allow her to return to work. “They asked me about early retirement, but I told them I was not finished yet,安德森回忆道. “My occupational therapist asked me one day what it is specifically I wanted to do, and I told her I wanted to be able to balance a checkbook, so we set little goals that allowed me to work towards achieving it.”
Anderson’s husband, Jim, praises the care for not only his wife, but their entire family. “We cannot say enough about Saint Francis,” he says. “They did very well taking care of everybody, giving us information and treating us with kindness and respect, which you do not find at some other facilities.”
在她离开医院时, the rehabilitation team worked diligently to make sure Anderson’s transition home was as smooth as possible. “They helped us get everything ready to leave the hospital and helped prepare for her return home. The way they handled everything was amazing,” Jim recalls.
It was a celebration on March 17 when Anderson was able to leave the Medical Center and return home. “We were in 住院病人康复 for almost three weeks; they did not expect me to leave so early,安德森回忆道. 当我离开的时候, they gave me a mini parade with most of the team so they could say goodbye and wish me well in my transition home.”
经过几个月的愈合, 治疗和超越她的目标, Anderson was able to return to work part-time on September 1 and has slowly transitioned to full-time. She is grateful to the 住院病人康复 team for their dedication to get her back to her family at home and her career. “I am so grateful to the team I worked with because they were all so gracious, 关心和真诚,安德森说. “Even though they were doing their job, it was how they did their job which made such an impact.”
As the leading 住院病人康复 facility in the region, Saint Francis Medical Center’s state-of-the-art, 23-bed unit offers comprehensive and coordinated programs in one convenient location for patients with cognitive, 身体和功能缺陷. 训练有素的物理治疗师, occupational therapists and speech language pathologists work with patients to improve health and achieve various levels of independence. 欲了解更多信息，请致电 573-331-5184.
