Former Adena patient 'back on track' after suffering stroke
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Hillsboro resident Mary Grooms always had a healthy life. At 59, she was enjoying life, especially her two sons and grandchildren, and during the Christmas season, was looking forward to time spent with family, reliving traditions and exhausting all energy in shopping, baking and enjoying the sounds and sights of the season.
But while driving her car on Dec. 22, Mary knew that something wasn’t right. She was numb, paralyzed and couldn’t feel her right side. Trying to brake the car, she realized her right foot wasn’t functional, requiring her to use her left foot to brake. On top of this, she began to feel the right side of her face draw and began to feel very warm. She knew something wasn’t right and recalling these telling symptoms, she realized she was experiencing a stroke.
Strokes happen when blood flow to the brain is disrupted. The signs of stroke are sudden and include numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg, confusion, trouble speaking or understanding, trouble seeing in one or both eyes, difficulty walking and dizziness.
After calling the emergency squad, Mary was taken to the University of Cincinnati where it was discovered that she suffered a brain hemorrhage – a serious stroke – and she was now paralyzed on her right side. As with all patients, the physician ordered rehab and Mary was transferred to Adena Greenfield Medical Center (AGMC) in Greenfield.
Upon her arrival, Mary was feeling depressed. With everything that just happened to her and what her body was going through, she was somewhat overwhelmed…she couldn’t stand at all, was confined to a wheelchair, and couldn’t utilize her right hand much. “I wasn’t sure where to begin,” Mary recalls. “You have a perfectly healthy and mobile body one day and the next day you are learning everything all over again…it was quite an unreal situation for me and my family.”
As with all stroke patients, Greenfield’s Inpatient Rehab facility develops an individual plan to help their patients gain independence, something that is so important and needed. Daily rehab for Mary consisted of physical, occupational, speech and recreational therapy three hours a day with a focus on balance, endurance and strength. The results she achieved were more than she could have ever expected and by the time she had her follow-up appointment with her neurosurgeon in Cincinnati on Feb. 6, six weeks after her stroke, she didn’t need the use of a wheelchair.
“My neurosurgeon asked how I arrived to the office and I told him I walked,” Mary said. “He was completely shocked and told me that after two weeks of rehab and the seriousness of my stroke that I should not have been able to walk. It’s the therapists and staff at Adena Greenfield Medical Center who helped me throughout my whole recuperation and rehab experience. Their encouragement and focus on me and my success kept me going.”
According to Kris Donley with the Adena Greenfield Medical Center Inpatient Rehab Program, a positive outcome is the goal for each patient. In fact, when compared to regional and national averages AGMC’s rehab patients are discharged to home in a shorter length of time with greater improvement. Specifically for stroke, AGMC patients experience an average length of stay of 16.7 days, compared to the national average of 23 days. The numbers represent a true commitment from staff to help their patients back on the road to recovery.
Adena Greenfield Medical Center’s Inpatient Rehab Program recently received designation as a stroke specialty rehab program from CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities), which marked AGMC as only the 11th provider in the state to achieve this impressive standard. The GAMC Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit was established in 1984. For more information, call 937-981-9237.[[In-content Ad]]
But while driving her car on Dec. 22, Mary knew that something wasn’t right. She was numb, paralyzed and couldn’t feel her right side. Trying to brake the car, she realized her right foot wasn’t functional, requiring her to use her left foot to brake. On top of this, she began to feel the right side of her face draw and began to feel very warm. She knew something wasn’t right and recalling these telling symptoms, she realized she was experiencing a stroke.
Strokes happen when blood flow to the brain is disrupted. The signs of stroke are sudden and include numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg, confusion, trouble speaking or understanding, trouble seeing in one or both eyes, difficulty walking and dizziness.
After calling the emergency squad, Mary was taken to the University of Cincinnati where it was discovered that she suffered a brain hemorrhage – a serious stroke – and she was now paralyzed on her right side. As with all patients, the physician ordered rehab and Mary was transferred to Adena Greenfield Medical Center (AGMC) in Greenfield.
Upon her arrival, Mary was feeling depressed. With everything that just happened to her and what her body was going through, she was somewhat overwhelmed…she couldn’t stand at all, was confined to a wheelchair, and couldn’t utilize her right hand much. “I wasn’t sure where to begin,” Mary recalls. “You have a perfectly healthy and mobile body one day and the next day you are learning everything all over again…it was quite an unreal situation for me and my family.”
As with all stroke patients, Greenfield’s Inpatient Rehab facility develops an individual plan to help their patients gain independence, something that is so important and needed. Daily rehab for Mary consisted of physical, occupational, speech and recreational therapy three hours a day with a focus on balance, endurance and strength. The results she achieved were more than she could have ever expected and by the time she had her follow-up appointment with her neurosurgeon in Cincinnati on Feb. 6, six weeks after her stroke, she didn’t need the use of a wheelchair.
“My neurosurgeon asked how I arrived to the office and I told him I walked,” Mary said. “He was completely shocked and told me that after two weeks of rehab and the seriousness of my stroke that I should not have been able to walk. It’s the therapists and staff at Adena Greenfield Medical Center who helped me throughout my whole recuperation and rehab experience. Their encouragement and focus on me and my success kept me going.”
According to Kris Donley with the Adena Greenfield Medical Center Inpatient Rehab Program, a positive outcome is the goal for each patient. In fact, when compared to regional and national averages AGMC’s rehab patients are discharged to home in a shorter length of time with greater improvement. Specifically for stroke, AGMC patients experience an average length of stay of 16.7 days, compared to the national average of 23 days. The numbers represent a true commitment from staff to help their patients back on the road to recovery.
Adena Greenfield Medical Center’s Inpatient Rehab Program recently received designation as a stroke specialty rehab program from CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities), which marked AGMC as only the 11th provider in the state to achieve this impressive standard. The GAMC Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit was established in 1984. For more information, call 937-981-9237.[[In-content Ad]]