Mary's story
Recently recovered from a fall, Mary Sosnicki was home when she lost her balance, fell and hit her head on the tile floor in her bathroom. Her husband, Joseph, quickly got her to Riverside Regional Medical Center.
Doctors there reviewed her medical history, including the diagnosis of a blood clot in her brain from the prior fall and hospitalization. Imaging of her brain showed the blood clot was still present. Doctors determined that the pressure from the clot may have caused her fall. After five days of acute care to monitor the blood clot and control her blood pressure, doctors decided surgery wasn’t necessary. They recommended inpatient rehabilitation to recover her skills. For that Mary’s family chose Riverside Rehabilitation Hospital.
At Riverside, the physician-led, multi-disciplinary team assessed Mary and tailored a treatment plan to her needs. Upon arrival, she required assistance getting out of bed, walking, and going up and down stairs. She also needed helping getting dressed and with other everyday tasks.
“My biggest issue was balance and walking, I needed help with everything,” Mary said. She was intent on reaching her goals of regaining her independence, returning home to her husband and resuming her favorite past time, bowling.
In physical therapy, the team worked on heel toe raises, upper arm strengthening with an arm bike, and hip flexibility exercises using therapy balls and bands. As her strength and flexibility increased, Mary was able to get in and out of bed and take a few steps with a rolling walker, called a rollator. In the ensuing days, her PT assisted while Mary relearned how to get in and out of a simulated car. She also began to use her rollator on varied surfaces, maneuvered directional changes and was able to move even with distractions. All of these activities improved Mary’s endurance, balance, safety awareness and independence.
Occupational therapy (OT), focused on improving Mary’s upper body strength and endurance to help her manage her personal care needs. She did various arm exercises – such as pedaling the arm bike and doing alternate arm raises, shoulder shrugs and arm circles – that increased her arm strength, hand and arm coordination and standing balance. Slowly, she advanced to practicing daily living activities such as toileting, brushing her hair and teeth, bathing and dressing.
Joseph was a constant source of support and encouragement to Mary.
“My husband was so involved in my care, he has been wonderful,” Mary shared. Joseph participated in the hospital’s Care Partner Program which educated him on how to best help his wife when she returned home.
After a little over a week of inpatient therapy, Mary could handle all of her self-care needs. She was also able to use her rollator to walk independently with an aide nearby.
Mary was ready to return home. She planned to continue building her strength with home health services so she can get back to the bowling alley.
In regard to anyone considering Riverside Rehabilitation Hospital, Mary said, “By all means, come here and take advantage of their expertise.”