Connie's Story
Retired couple Connie Hulbert and her husband Mark were relaxing in their recliners at home.
Suddenly, Connie experienced difficulty sitting up and speaking. Mark also observed the right side of her face was drooping. Alarmed, he immediately called 911.
Emergency medical services arrived on the scene, stabilized Connie and took her to the nearest hospital, Slidell Memorial. There, doctors confirmed a bleeding stroke on the left side of her brain. Connie was airlifted to Ochsner Main Campus for surgery to stop the bleeding in her brain. Over the next week, her acute hospital care team worked to stabilize Connie.
The medical team recommended inpatient rehabilitation, and Connie and Mark chose Northshore Rehabilitation Hospital. When she arrived, the physician-led multi-disciplinary team assessed Connie. Facing significant weakness in her right arm and leg, she could not stand or walk on her own and required assistance to get out of bed, dress and take care of her personal needs.
Connie understood the challenges ahead, but her determination was resolute. “Sometimes things happen and you have to deal with them,” she said. She instantly set a goal to regain her independence by rebuilding her strength and skills. A custom, hands-on treatment plan was put into place requiring physical, occupational and speech therapy.
Her physical therapy (PT) team got to work. Two therapists helped Connie out of bed and got her standing in the parallel bars. Thus supported, she started building strength in her arms and legs as they guided her through exercises within both the parallel bars and while on a mat.
With newfound strength and confidence, Connie progressed to walking with a hemiwalker—a special one-sided walker often used to support patients after a stroke on their weak side—and close support and supervision by her physical therapists. She was soon ready for the exoskeleton. A wearable advanced robotic device, the exoskeleton both supports the patient to stand and delivers electrical stimulation to the nerves in the legs, bringing blood flow to the muscles to help retrain them on the process of walking.
As she continued to make gains, Connie also used the Bioness electrical stimulation device to retrain her leg muscles while wearing a leg brace on her right foot to help ensure she was lifting it high enough off the ground when walking. In three weeks’ time, these therapies combined helped Connie achieve walking up to 19 feet using the hemiwalker and the assistance of one staff member providing light hands-on assistance.
In occupational therapy, Connie’s therapist worked with her daily on her self-care tasks. Her occupational therapist demonstrated modifications using energy-saving methods to get dressed, get in and out of bed, get on and off the toilet and safely take a shower. To build her endurance for these activities, her care team guided her in range of motion exercises with her right arm, which helped alleviate muscle spasms, and utilized electrical stimulation to her right arm to help stimulate the muscles, retraining them to work in concert with her brain for coordinated movement. Twenty-two days into her rehabilitative stay, Connie mastered getting dressed and performing all of her daily self-care tasks such as grooming and brushing her teeth, with only occasional assistance.
Since the stroke affected her cognitive functioning, Connie worked with speech therapy on tasks targeting word finding and writing. She also honed skills important to regaining independence such as organizing lists and managing time and money.
Throughout her rehabilitation, Connie’s family was influential in her recovery, providing support and motivation every step of the way. Her husband Mark was by her side daily, her daughter visited regularly, and her son - who lives more distantly – called frequently to check in.
In preparation for Connie’s return home, Mark participated in family training sessions through the hospital’s Care Partner Program, learning how to best support Connie and ensure their home was clear of tripping and safety hazards.
After a month at Northshore Rehabilitation Hospital, Connie shared with everyone that she discovered an inner strength during recovery. She looked forward to returning home with Mark to their life of retirement.
In additional to returning to relaxed evenings, they anticipated playing more golf and working on arts and crafts projects together. She planned to continue rebuilding strength with outpatient therapy.
Grateful for her positive experience at Northshore, Connie exclaimed: “Everyone has been very nice and treated me well.”