Martin's Story
When Martin Delgadillo called his wife, Monica, to tell her about his day of therapy at Select Medical Rehabilitation Hospital of Denton, she asked, “Why are you yelling at me?”
Martin felt like laughing. Finally, he could yell. For months, it was as if someone had turned down his volume button, and he couldn’t turn it up. Now, a solid week of hard work was paying off. For days, he’d been straining to raise his voice and spread his arms and legs out like wings.
Illness had been choking the 61-year-old’s voice to a whisper. Martin had worked as a maintenance technician at the University of North Texas for 17 years. Then one day he couldn’t seem to find words to convey his thoughts. Soon, whatever was choking his voice took the feeling his right and left hand, then his right foot. By the time he saw a neurologist, Martin could speak only softly and couldn’t move well anymore.
Parkinson’s disease, they told him.
The medicine the doctor prescribed made Martin feel faint. So, he scoured the internet for an alternative and came up with another neurologist on TikTok. This doctor’s website showed patients making miracle recoveries. Martin met the specialist via video conference, and the doctor mailed him a prescription.
But the directions for that drug were complicated, requiring Martin to take different size dosages at various times throughout the day. He became confused. Still, after a week, he was energized and was able to move his hands faster than before. Then, the hallucinations started.
He wound up in a hospital for two days, where the medical team suggested he book an appointment with the neurologist he’d seen before. Martin didn’t want to go back to the original medication he’d been taking – the pills that made him feel like he was going to pass out. So, he continued his search and tried a drug he’d gotten from Mexico. The hallucinations didn’t return, but now he was so weak his son eventually took him to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
In acute care, his voice was scarcely audible. He could only shuffle behind a walker for 170 feet and needed two people to help him stand. Before Parkinson’s, he’d been athletic. At the gym, he could run for six miles. He’d grown up in Aguascalientes, a tiny state in central Mexico. After moving to the U.S. in the mid-1980s, he’d taken up barbecuing. His tacos were a favorite among his friends and family.
After spending two days in acute care, Martin went to Select Medical Rehabilitation Hospital of Denton, the rehab Monica had researched. There, a physician-led team of nurses and physical, occupational and speech therapists could help Martin get to a better place.
“I want to be good for my family,” he listed as his goal when he first entered the rehab. “And be good.”
His physical and speech therapists tried Lee Silverman Voice Treatment Big and Loud. These therapies ask the patient to stretch their limbs with big movements and raise their voice. His speech therapist taught him to use a smart phone app to gauge his volume.
When he first started the exercises, he could scarcely move. But everyone was so positive, assuring him he could move bigger and be louder. His physical therapist helped him stretch to improve his movement. He also spent time in the gym lifting weights to improve his upper arm strength and on a stepping machine to build strength in his legs.
Slowly, he began to increase his distance. The Big and Loud therapy also improved his balance, and soon he was stepping behind a wheeled walker over steeper terrain. By the end of his eight days at the inpatient rehab, he’d increased his distance to 1,000 feet.
His volume had also improved. The smart phone app listed his decibel level at 60 – which is about the average level for an adult.
At home, Martin continued to exercise and improve his ability to walk and talk. His occupational therapists also provided him with literature to help him understand his Parkinson’s better, so he didn’t have to rely on the internet.
As it turned out, Select Rehabilitation Hospital of Denton was worth trusting.
The experience was “very beautiful,” he said. “Everyone helped me. Therapists here are good people.”