Diane's Story
When Craig Walsh found his wife, Diane, 68, lying face down inside their front door, their daughter’s puppy next to her, he had no idea what happened to her, only that it was serious.
Craig and Diane own a farm in Ubly, Michigan. Craig and his farm hands loaded Diane into his truck and he hurried to the nearest hospital. An MRI revealed her skull was fractured with bleeding on her brain, as well as facial fractures. They then realized Diane had been kicked in the head as she was feeding her horses.
Diane, a retired social worker, was intubated and flown to Covenant Healthcare in Saginaw where she was sedated and underwent a craniotomy, which is surgery to open her skull and address the brain hemorrhage.
A week later, with her medical condition stabilized, she was transferred to Select Specialty Hospital – Saginaw because, in her words, “We heard this is the best care in the state.”
Upon arrival, she faced paralysis on the left side of her body, difficulty swallowing, and was now also diagnosed with pneumonia. A tube ran through her nose and into her stomach, providing most of her nutrition. She also struggled to think clearly with difficulty following simple directions and impaired judgment.
Every day, Craig, her husband of 41 years, was by her side. His three children, whom she considers her own, were also a constant source of support, as were the couple’s friends, farm employees and members of their community. Diane’s goal was to get back to farm life with her husband. That meant being able to walk, use her left side of her body, and eat.
A physician-led multidisciplinary team that included nurses, therapists, and wound specialists worked together to help Diane work towards these goals.
All of Diane’s care team focused on protecting her head, as she had just undergone brain surgery. She was required to wear a helmet when she was upright at the edge of bed with therapy and anytime she was out of bed. Nurses, along with specialized wound care nurse, cared for her incision, ensuring it was healing properly and didn’t get infected.
Given her partial paralysis, just moving in bed was a challenge, but Diane pushed herself daily. At admission, she needed help for all movement and activities of daily living – for example, grooming, dressing, bathing and going to the bathroom. Her therapy (physical and occupational) team focused on balance, coordination, strength training and range of motion exercises to help Diane’s brain and body reconnect. She slowly regained strength and balance, progressing from sitting on the edge of her bed, to standing up, to taking a few steps and eventually walking down the hallway. She also demonstrated significant improvement toward safely caring for herself again. A key turning point in her recovery was when she was able to get up and use the toilet.
Diane participated in breathing exercises to improve her lung strength as she recovered from the pneumonia.
In speech therapy, Diane participated in swallow-strengthening exercises and underwent neuromuscular electrical stimulation that sent impulses to her throat muscles, strengthening and improving sensation. In only 13 days, Diane went from being unable to swallow her own saliva to a soft diet with thick liquids. Within another 3 days, she was able to advance to thin liquids. Since she was swallowing and eating again, the nasal feeding tube was able to be removed.
Diane remembers the moment she knew she would be okay: she felt clearheaded for the first time and no longer in a fog.
She commended “the whole team” at Select Specialty Hospital for giving her a solid foundation for recovery. Her last day, with assistance, she walked down the hall and back.
“I can’t thank the whole Select team enough,” she said, noting that nurses, nurse aides, therapists and others were compassionate, patient, hard-working and explained things in a way that she and Craig could understand.
Three weeks after admission, Diane was discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation hospital to continue working toward her goal of returning to farm life.
Craig and Diane own a farm in Ubly, Michigan. Craig and his farm hands loaded Diane into his truck and he hurried to the nearest hospital. An MRI revealed her skull was fractured with bleeding on her brain, as well as facial fractures. They then realized Diane had been kicked in the head as she was feeding her horses.
Diane, a retired social worker, was intubated and flown to Covenant Healthcare in Saginaw where she was sedated and underwent a craniotomy, which is surgery to open her skull and address the brain hemorrhage.
A week later, with her medical condition stabilized, she was transferred to Select Specialty Hospital – Saginaw because, in her words, “We heard this is the best care in the state.”
Upon arrival, she faced paralysis on the left side of her body, difficulty swallowing, and was now also diagnosed with pneumonia. A tube ran through her nose and into her stomach, providing most of her nutrition. She also struggled to think clearly with difficulty following simple directions and impaired judgment.
Every day, Craig, her husband of 41 years, was by her side. His three children, whom she considers her own, were also a constant source of support, as were the couple’s friends, farm employees and members of their community. Diane’s goal was to get back to farm life with her husband. That meant being able to walk, use her left side of her body, and eat.
A physician-led multidisciplinary team that included nurses, therapists, and wound specialists worked together to help Diane work towards these goals.
All of Diane’s care team focused on protecting her head, as she had just undergone brain surgery. She was required to wear a helmet when she was upright at the edge of bed with therapy and anytime she was out of bed. Nurses, along with specialized wound care nurse, cared for her incision, ensuring it was healing properly and didn’t get infected.
Given her partial paralysis, just moving in bed was a challenge, but Diane pushed herself daily. At admission, she needed help for all movement and activities of daily living – for example, grooming, dressing, bathing and going to the bathroom. Her therapy (physical and occupational) team focused on balance, coordination, strength training and range of motion exercises to help Diane’s brain and body reconnect. She slowly regained strength and balance, progressing from sitting on the edge of her bed, to standing up, to taking a few steps and eventually walking down the hallway. She also demonstrated significant improvement toward safely caring for herself again. A key turning point in her recovery was when she was able to get up and use the toilet.
Diane participated in breathing exercises to improve her lung strength as she recovered from the pneumonia.
In speech therapy, Diane participated in swallow-strengthening exercises and underwent neuromuscular electrical stimulation that sent impulses to her throat muscles, strengthening and improving sensation. In only 13 days, Diane went from being unable to swallow her own saliva to a soft diet with thick liquids. Within another 3 days, she was able to advance to thin liquids. Since she was swallowing and eating again, the nasal feeding tube was able to be removed.
Diane remembers the moment she knew she would be okay: she felt clearheaded for the first time and no longer in a fog.
She commended “the whole team” at Select Specialty Hospital for giving her a solid foundation for recovery. Her last day, with assistance, she walked down the hall and back.
“I can’t thank the whole Select team enough,” she said, noting that nurses, nurse aides, therapists and others were compassionate, patient, hard-working and explained things in a way that she and Craig could understand.
Three weeks after admission, Diane was discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation hospital to continue working toward her goal of returning to farm life.