Nancy’s Battle for Recovery

Nancy lived happily at an independent assisted living residence where she loved attending activities, grocery shopping, taking monthly trips to the casinos and spending time with friends. When Nancy began experiencing difficulty breathing, paramedics were called and found her unresponsive. She was intubated in the field and rushed to a short-term acute care hospital.

Nancy was not only battling exacerbation of COPD, but also cardiac and infection related issues. She was extubated and trialed Bipap to avoid prolonged mechanical ventilation. Despite all efforts, Nancy was eventually extubated and reintubated three times before a tracheostomy was placed. After failing several weaning attempts, the decision was made to transfer her to Kindred Hospital Arizona – Phoenix for continued care and ventilator weaning.

On May 26 Nancy was admitted to Kindred Hospital. The respiratory team began daily weaning trials on the ventilator, and 28 days later Nancy was successfully weaned from mechanical ventilation.

The rehabilitation team began a treatment plan of physical, speech and occupational therapies and Nancy progressed from being a total assist to modified independence in self-care and bed mobility. She regained her ability to sit upright and communicate via her upper airway and advanced from being able to eat nothing by mouth to a pureed diet with thin liquid. 

The Kindred interdisciplinary team continued to work closely with Nancy to accomplish their goals of decannulation, diet advancement and conditioning. After 30 days at Kindred Hospital, Nancy was no longer required high intensity medical care and was discharged to a skilled nursing center for continued physical therapy.

Upon discharge, Nancy was happy with what she had achieved at Kindred Hospital Arizona – Phoenix and thanked the staff for their hard work in helping her to reach her goal of enjoying life again.