Julia: Thankful for a Second Chance
Julia, a healthy 39-year-old, enjoyed an active life that included day trips to the beach, biking, gardening, going to church, and watching movies at home with her husband.
One day without warning, Julia experienced severe back pain and started to get progressively weaker with shortness of breath and tingling in her hands and face. She was taken to the emergency room of a short-term acute care hospital. She went into respiratory failure, requiring a tracheostomy and ventilator support as well as a feeding tube for nutrition. She was unable to move or speak, and could not even show facial expressions. Julia was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a serious disorder that occurs when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks part of its own nervous system.
Due to her acute medically complex condition, Julia was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit at Kindred Hospital Santa Ana.
The interdisciplinary team at Kindred met regularly to set specific goals and ensure that Julia was progressing. The team also met with her family, keeping them well informed about her progress so they could participate in decisions about her care.
With the support of her family and the diligent care of Kindred’s team of physicians including a neurologist, pulmonologist, and infectious disease specialist, Julia began to show improvement.
The respiratory therapists began to work on weaning her from the ventilator, and eventually her tracheostomy was capped and she began to speak and breathe on her own. She received pain management therapy, antibiotics, immunoglobulin treatments and steroids, and was actively involved in physical and occupational therapy.
By the time she was discharged home, Julia could breathe, eat, talk, walk, and complete meaningful everyday tasks. The staff and physicians noted that her positive attitude and determination to get well significantly contributed to her improvement and recovery.
Julia was elated to be going home.
She thanked staff and physicians, stating, “I am thankful to have been given a second chance to live and enjoy life.”
Kindred Hospital Santa Ana’s success is apparent in stories like these as well as in our quality scores – our patients and families rate our quality of care at 92.8 percent and 98 percent recommend Kindred. In 2010 our hospital received the Quality Respiratory Care Recognition from the American Association for Respiratory Care.