Kimberly's Story
Finding Her Footing After a Medical Crisis
Hair stylist Kimberly Swinehart spent long days on her feet, making sure every client left looking their best. Over time, she developed chronic knee pain from a condition that would eventually require knee replacement surgery, but she adapted so she could continue working. As the pain worsened, Kimberly began using a wheeled walker for support while working to qualify for the surgery so she could remain active and independent.
But her plans shifted during a family vacation when she began experiencing severe abdominal pain along with nausea and constipation. Kimberly was rushed to Piedmont Mountainside Hospital, where doctors diagnosed a perforated bowel, a tear in the intestine that allows bacteria and digestive contents to leak into the abdomen. Doctors performed emergency surgery to repair the perforation and address the infection it caused.
During surgery, doctors removed a portion of Kimberly’s intestines to treat the damage from the perforation and created an ostomy, a surgical opening in the abdomen that allows waste to leave the body through a small pouch worn outside the body while the intestines heal.
Kimberly remained in the hospital for several weeks as her medical team carefully managed her pain and provided daily wound care. During this time, they also began treating the significant muscle loss that had developed after her prolonged immobility. “I lost so much muscle,” Kimberly said. “I was weak. I couldn’t move.”
Once stable, Kimberly’s doctors recommended rehabilitation at a critical illness recovery hospital. For that, she chose Select Specialty Hospital – Midtown Atlanta, which is known for helping medically complex patients.
Rebuilding strength and confidence
Upon arrival, Kimberly was alert and aware but physically limited. She had a large open abdominal wound that required frequent cleaning and dressing changes, and pain and dizziness made even small movements difficult.
Kimberly’s physician-led interdisciplinary care team assessed her and tailored a care plan to meet her needs. They coordinated nursing, wound care, therapy and nutrition, addressing Kimberly’s immediate needs while planning for her longer-term recovery.
Kimberly’s nurse worked with the hospital pharmacist to ensure her pain medication continued to keep her pain under control. In addition to administering medication, nursing regularly checked Kimberly’s vitals and managed care for her abdominal wound and ostomy. Because the wound required frequent dressing changes, Kimberly said wound care was one of the most stressful parts of her recovery, but her nurses helped ease her anxiety.
“My wound care nurse talked to me through every session,” she said. “He asked me questions to distract me. I didn’t even know when he was done.”
With her pain under control, physical and occupational therapists began working on Kimberly’s mobility. Because she became dizzy when sitting upright, the team started with small movements to improve her circulation, including rolling her from side to side in bed, practicing gentle leg exercises and gradually increasing the time she could tolerate sitting upright. As Kimberly tolerated these exercises, her therapy expanded to include transferring to a cardiac chair and eventually sitting on the edge of the bed where she worked on balance. Lower body strengthening exercises were next, helping Kimberly reactivate muscles needed for standing and walking.
The therapy team taught Kimberly how to transfer to a cardiac chair, a seat that adjusts to different positions to support the body while patients rebuild strength. Therapists used a sliding transfer board, a flat board placed between two surfaces that allows patients to slide safely from a bed to a chair while limiting strain on the body and protecting surgical wounds.
As her endurance improved, Kimberly progressed to transferring into a wheelchair and sat in the chair for up to two hours at a time to build stamina. Therapy sessions in the gym soon followed with standing exercises. Using parallel bars, Kimberly practiced standing, balancing and shifting her weight from one side to the other.
Knee pain began to limit Kimberly’s progress, related to the chronic knee condition that had already led her to pursue knee replacement surgery before her hospitalization. Her therapy team adjusted her program to strengthen the muscles around her knee and prepare her for standing and walking. She used a standing frame to pull herself into position and eventually progressed to taking her first tentative steps with a rolling walker.
“When I took my first steps in the therapy room, I felt great,” she said. “I was barely able to move and here I was taking steps again.”
Occupational therapy concentrated on Kimberly’s everyday routines. They taught her to use resistance bands to strengthen her arms for personal care tasks, which she practiced daily – brushing her teeth, combing her hair, washing her face and getting dressed.
One moment in particular was a turning point. “When I washed my hair with occupational therapy,” she said. “I washed it and blow dried it. I’ve been doing this since I was 17.” A small step for anyone else, a huge leap for Kimberly. Her strength was returning too -- soon she was able to handle her personal grooming while standing at the sink.
Throughout her stay, her open abdominal wound continued to improve with daily wound care, reaching 84 percent healing by the time she was discharged, though it still required monitoring as she continued her recovery. Nutrition services supported her recovery with meals aligned to her vegan diet.
“They made sure I was taken care of,” Kimberly said.
Looking ahead
After 38 days at Select Specialty Hospital – Midtown Atlanta, Kimberly was walking 32 feet with a rolling walker and her therapist nearby. She was also able to stand and manage personal care tasks on her own, building her stamina each time she did so, a feat she didn’t think possible just weeks earlier.
Kimberly was ready for the next level of care and transferred to a skilled nursing facility for continued recovery, supported by her dad, her roommate and a network of friends and family who helped organize a fundraiser during her hospitalization.
“I didn’t think I could come as far as I did,” she said.
Looking ahead, Kimberly plans to continue therapy to improve her walking. She also hopes to move forward with knee replacement surgery when she is ready. Having met her initial goal of walking, Kimberly has set a new goal of returning to work and leaving the wheeled walker behind.
“You have to stay positive,” she said.