From Our Residents and Families
At Kindred Healthcare, our hard work and efforts are rewarded daily by the patients and residents we serve. Not only are we thanked in person on a regular basis, we receive countless letters, poems and artwork showing appreciation. This story is representative of many we receive. For more letters received by this center, contact the admissions director.
Great Stories Waiting to be Told...
Muncie Health and Rehab Helps Man Walk Again
Dear Therapy Department,
I don’t really know how to start this letter except to say
thank you. The many months of therapy you did with me
have been very productive for regaining my muscle strength,
balance, mobility and ability to swallow again. Your
commitment to your professions and to me during my
rehab was “beyond the call of duty!”
As you know we started working together in October 2005
when I was bedridden and could barely move a muscle. I
remember John moving my legs and Holly my arms for me
in bed. Oh, the pain was excruciating. I was thinking, why
are they doing this? Can they really think I’ll ever be able to
move my legs and arms again, let alone walk?
Dama was trying to get me to learn to swallow again so
I could get rid of the feeding tube. She had me making all
kinds of funny sounds trying to get me to exercise my throat
muscles. I thought to myself, what is she doing?
Then it wasn’t long until two aides started lifting me out of
bed using a sling and battery-powered lift and putting me in
a Geri-chair for a trip to the therapy room for OT and PT.
Again, John would move my legs and Holly my arms. Then
one day I started moving them a little by myself. Little by
little they worked my muscles – and my mind – into thinking
I could regain my strength. My thinking went from one of
doubt to one of will and determination that I could move my
arms and walk again, and that I would learn to swallow and
eat again.
As my legs and body got a little stronger, two aides would lift
me out of bed using a gate belt into a regular wheelchair and
then Holly or John would take me down to the therapy room
for more OT and PT.
John started using the standing frame to help me support my
weight. It was very painful as my leg muscles stretched. The
pain wasn’t a good thing, but the rewards were so great. We
progressed with longer periods of time in the standing frame
until one day John and another therapist would lift me out
of the wheelchair in the parallel bars using a gate belt and
help my legs support my body weight. My legs supporting my
body weight was a real accomplishment. And then the day
came when I did take the first step with John holding me up
in the parallel bars and my wife, Sheila, helping me move
my feet. And the rest is history! With your help, support
and dedication to your jobs and my rehabilitation – and your
believing in me – I went from taking a few steps using a
walker to walking over 600 feet while at your facility.
I went home from the facility in June 2006, deciding to
return as an outpatient for physical therapy three days per
week, and to continue working with you. My progress
advanced over the next eight months as I went from
wheelchair to walker to quad cane to single-point cane
and even to taking some steps without any aid. Some
milestones during this period were: walking (with a walker)
my daughter, Erin, down the aisle on her July 1 wedding
day, going down 23 steps and back up 23 steps in Purdue
University’s Ross Ade Stadium on September 2 to our
season football ticket seats using a handrail and quad cane,
driving my truck in October, walking up to communion at
our church unassisted with no cane in November, enjoying
Christmas at home with my family in December, walking
outdoors unassisted with a single-point cane in January,
walking out and checking Sheila’s job of cleaning our
driveway after the blizzard of 2007, and, as my progress
continues, a good chance of returning to work.
Now it’s 16 months from when you first started working
with me. I get out of bed by myself, eat what I want, walk
around the house, help my wife with some household chores,
drive myself around in my truck, and walk with a singlepoint
cane. My strength, mobility and swallowing have been
restored by “our” hard work, dedication and commitment to
achieving results not failure. Every morning when I get out
of bed, every evening when I say my prayers, every time I
drive my truck, go to church, stores, restaurants or sporting
events, I always remember the occupational therapists,
physical therapists and speech therapist that made it
all possible.
Through all the hundreds of hours of therapy, all the pain,
sweat, and doubt you and I have gone through together, we
have persevered to the point when it’s time to say thank you
for all your therapy skills and personal efforts one last time.
Best of luck in all your future endeavors!
Mike K
Muncie, IN
