Larry's Story
Larry Stubbs, 67, lives year in Picayune MS, and was working part-time laying concrete. While at home one morning, he developed an intense headache and felt weak. His family called an ambulance and he was taken to a local hospital. After multiple tests including a CT scan and an MRI, it was confirmed that he had suffered a stroke. After stabilizing, Larry participated in four days of physical and occupational therapy at the acute care hospital, at which point his medical team and family decided that it would be best to continue his therapy at Northshore Rehabilitation Hospital.
When Larry arrived, he was unable to perform basic self-care tasks such as bathing, dressing and using the bathroom without assistance. He also had difficulty walking due to poor balance, weakness of his left arm and leg and poor visualization on his left side.
Larry’s primary goal was regaining strength on his left side. Occupational therapy worked with him on weight training using resistance bands and an arm bike. Larry also performed standing balance activities and fine motor tasks in addition to learning how to use adaptive dressing equipment to improve the skills he needed for independence. Occupational therapy group sessions were also helpful as they gave him the opportunity to interact with other patients socially and further refine his body movement and control.
Larry’s physical therapists initially worked with him to improve his standing ability and he then progressed to walking in the parallel bars and eventually walking with a walker. They also worked on improving his leg strength with leg exercises, resistance bands and a stair stepper machine.
In speech therapy, Larry worked on reading and writing skills and problem solving deficits resulting from the stroke. His sessions focused on money management, reading and math calculations.
After two weeks, Larry was physically ready and mentally looking forward to returning home to his family, who had supported him throughout his recovery process.
Upon discharge from Northshore Rehabilitation Hospital, Larry was walking with the aid of a walker and able to independently perform all self-care tasks. He planned to follow up with neurology and continue to get stronger with outpatient physical and occupational therapies.
When asked what advice he has for others on their own health journeys, Larry said, “Take your time and let your therapists guide you.”