Louise's Story
Louise Riggs enjoys driving and living independently at age 86. When her cardiologist discovered a heart murmur, a heart valve replacement was recommended. After discussing the surgical procedure with her family, Louise moved ahead with it and was home within four days.
Shortly thereafter, Louise experienced sharp pains in her right leg and tried reaching her doctor to discuss the issue and get some pain relief. Frustrated at not being able to reach her physician, Louise returned to the emergency room, where doctors identified the source of the pain -- a massive blood clot in her vein.
Doctors quickly ushered her into surgery and removed the clot before it caused further damage. After the operation, Louise was determined to rebuild her strength and return home to live independently. Before that, she would require inpatient rehabilitation and for that opted to transfer to Select Rehabilitation Hospital of Denton.
“I researched Select and they have five star ratings. There wasn’t any doubt where I was going to go for rehab,” Louise said.
Upon arriving at Select Rehabilitation Hospital of Denton, Louise met for an assessment with her physician-led multidisciplinary team which included physical and occupational therapy. The team tailored a rehabilitation plan to Louise which would build her physical strength and confidence to care for herself.
In physical therapy (PT), Louise worked on improving both balance and cardiac endurance, the latter being activities without getting winded. They did this by working on familiar tasks such as transferring from bed to bathroom multiple times to increase endurance. In a few days’ time they moved her to the Sci-Fit recumbent bike and walking longer distances with a rollator. PT also taught her about energy conservation such as slowing down her walking pace and encouraged taking rests during activity. At first, Louise required short rest breaks while walking short distances and eventually walked with less breaks.
Occupational therapy (OT) introduced Louise to a variety of helpful aids that made daily life activities easier to manage -- a reacher and sock and shoe devices, for instance. The reacher had a telescoping arm that allowed her to grab things from a distance like a coffee cup in a cabinet. The reacher prevented Louise from overextending and losing her balance.
She also used devices when dressing; a sock aid helped her pull up her socks and a long handled shoe horn helped her slip into her shoes. The tools helped Louise avoid loss of balance, overexertion or dizziness while bending over to don her socks and shoes.
Returning home also meant being able to prepare her own meals and occupational therapists ensured that Louise could manage that task by retraining her to plan, prepare and cook meals. They did this in a kitchen just off the therapy gym that mirrored a home setting.
While completing the three hours of daily therapy at Select Rehabilitation of Denton, Louise discovered a personal strength.
“I could have said I didn’t want to do therapy because I’m hurting, but I wanted to do it because I knew it would help me get stronger,” she said. “I found I could push myself further than I thought.”
The therapists worked to find the appropriate level of challenge to make the most of every day of therapy. While working on dynamic balance and stability, Louise also engaged in familiar tasks such as washing dishes and standing to play dominoes with other patients. This made therapy more enjoyable to Louise.
“I also appreciated that the staff helped educate me on ways to address my pain at home, like using a hot pad or a topical cooling agent,” Louise said. “The patience and dedication that this staff has towards their patients is amazing.”
After nine days, Louise was ready to go back to living on her own. During a six minute walk test, Louise was able to walk over 1000 feet using a rollator. She maintained good balance and endurance and felt confident in her progress.
As she prepared to leave, Louise shared this insight on her time at Select Rehabilitation Hospital of Denton: “If you have to be some place for rehab, this is the place to be. These are the hardest working people and they truly care.”