Kim's Story
The walk was one of the most momentous of Kim Ortego’s life.
The track was a hallway that cut across Northshore Rehabilitation Hospital. The distance wasn’t a marathon, but for Kim it might well have been. For weeks, she’d been struggling just to stand and groom herself. Now she was able to take actual steps using a walker – a feat that once exceeded her reach.
Weeks earlier, Kim had been working when a strange feeling washed over her. The 64-year-old from Ponchatoula, Louisiana, is a greeter at a Walmart. As luck would have it, one of the store’s patrons that day happened to be an off-duty emergency medical technician. He recognized Kim was seriously ill and dialed 911.
An ambulance rushed Kim to Ochsner Medical Center in Baton Rouge. Doctors examining her determined the funny feeling she had was indeed serious and that she’d need a neurologist. They transferred her to St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington, Louisiana.
Doctors diagnosed Kim with a non-traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage in her cerebellum. In short, high blood pressure caused some of the tiny vessels in the back of her brain to rupture, spilling fluid into an area of Kim’s mind that controls her ability to move and balance.
She stayed at St. Tammany Parish for 11 days, where the staff suggested she might benefit from therapy. Her doctor recommended Northshore Rehabilitation Hospital, where a physician-led team of physical, occupational and speech therapists could join with nurses and pharmacists to help her learn strategies for returning to her old life.
At first, Kim was afraid. She’d lost so many abilities she once took for granted. She could no longer stand, let alone walk. She could barely speak well enough to be understood, use the bathroom by herself or get dressed. She longed to go home and relax in her favorite recliner or work in her garden, but her doctor assured her Northshore Rehabilitation Hospital was the best for her, and she trusted him.
At Northshore Rehab, a physical therapist helped Kim overcome the strength and balance limitations she faced. At first, she simply sat on a mat, which required her to control her trunk – an essential ingredient for walking again. Kim also gripped parallel bars and practiced balancing and moving her legs. Sometimes, she hefted weights and exercise bands her therapists attached to her ankles.
As she began to walk with a rolling walker, Kim’s physical therapist used an overhead weight support system, which took off some of the mass of her own body, which made balancing upright easier.
As she slowly grew stronger, Kim’s occupational therapist helped her prepare for independence. Kim pedaled a stationary bicycle patients use to increase their upper body strength. She also lifted free weights and played games hitting balls and balloons while standing to improve both her balance and motor control.
The occupational therapist helped her get in and out of bed and move around the bathroom – from toilet to shower – using a specialized bench. She learned to use a long sponge, which eliminated some of her need for mobility and bending, for bathing. The therapist taught her to use a reaching device to pull up her socks.
The hemorrhage had given Kim dysarthria, a disorder that caused to slur her words and kept her volume so low she was hard to hear. As a result, people could only understand what she was trying to say about 25% of the time. Kim’s speech therapist asked her to practice reading aloud, reminding her to articulate better and make her voice louder.
Kim wasn’t alone. On days both bad and good, her family was there. Her husband Randy was nearby practically the entire time, cheering her on as she notched milestone after milestone. He learned techniques that would help Kim when it was time for her to go home. Those educational techniques were part of the hospital’s Care Partner Program, which involves family members in patients’ recoveries. Kim’s daughter and son visited. So did her sister from Texas, who came to stay with her during her 35-day stay at the hospital.
Slowly, Kim grew stronger. Her biggest moment was that walk from one end of the hallway to the other. Someone stood nearby as she took each step, and she pushed her walker in front of her, but it was Kim who made the moves happen. Over and over. By herself. She was thrilled.
“I can do a lot more than I thought I could,” she said. “I’m tougher than I thought.”
By the time Kim was ready to go home, she could walk about 50 feet like that – supported by her rolling walker and with someone lightly touching her in case she lost her footing. She could dress herself again using the tools and techniques the occupational therapist had given her. And her voice was back. Once again, people could understand everything Kim had to say.
After returning home, Kim continued to improve through an outpatient program.
“My experience at NSR was excellent,” she said. “They go above and beyond their job here.”