Robert's Story
Every October, Robert “Buddy” Petty, 60, looks forward to his job as a Halloween scare actor at Freddy’s Haunts in Liverpool, Ohio. He likes the cool weather, the crowds and the rush he gets from entertaining patrons. One night while at work, he started to experience cold sweats and shortness of breath – at one point, he even passed out. Buddy brushed off the experience and didn’t think about it again.
Three months later, the cold sweats returned, this time with shaking and severe chest pains. Concerned, his fiancé Diane set off to the hospital with him and called emergency services on the way. An ambulance met them at a gas station along the route and rushed Buddy the rest of the way to East Liverpool City Hospital. Doctors determined he had coronary artery disease. Due to the seriousness of his condition, Buddy was transferred to Trinity Medical Center West in Steubenville for surgery to clear significant blockages and plaque from his arteries.
The procedure was the beginning of a difficult journey. Complications afterward led to prolonged ventilator support, a tracheostomy and a feeding tube for nutrition. After 25 days in the hospital, Buddy remained unable to breathe, eat, talk or walk on his own.
On the advice of his medical team, Buddy and Diane decided he would transfer to Select Specialty Hospital – Weirton in West Virginia. There, his physician-led multidisciplinary team developed a treatment plan focused on getting Buddy off the ventilator and regaining his independence so he could return home.
Progress came quickly. One of Buddy’s first milestones occurred eight days into his stay when his respiratory therapist introduced him to a Passy-Muir valve (PMV). The one-way valve attaches to the tracheostomy and allows patients to speak by closing off after inhale, forcing air over the vocal cords. Using the valve also helps patients build crucial lung strength. With the PMV in place, Buddy was talking again, and happy to no longer rely on his phone’s text-to-talk function to communicate.
Highly motivated to regain his mobility, Buddy approached physical and occupational therapy with determination. His therapists encouraged him to move with the motto, “Get up and mobilize!” In his second week at Select Specialty Hospital, Buddy was standing and walking the hallways with support. Meanwhile, occupational therapy concentrated on enhancing his independence through self-care tasks such as dressing, grooming and using a toilet – all important to his goal of returning home.
Meantime, Buddy’s respiratory therapy team conducted daily spontaneous breathing trials under the guidance of a pulmonologist. Each day, they increased the time Buddy spent off the ventilator. A couple days after taking his first steps, Buddy was breathing independently. Four days later, his tracheostomy was removed.
Buddy’s next milestone was returning to eating. His speech-language pathologist guided him through exercises to strengthen his throat muscles, then took him through a special study that confirmed he could swallow safely. Three weeks into his stay, Buddy started eating small, bite-sized foods and drinking thin liquids. Soon after that, he returned to a regular diet and his feeding tube was removed.
Exactly one month after arriving at Select Specialty Hospital, Buddy had achieved his goals of breathing, eating, walking and speaking on his own again. He was ready to return home. Buddy praised the “excellent, top-notch care” he received and credited the staff for helping him achieve each milestone. Equally important to his success was Diane’s support and encouragement, which included daily visits and frequent text messages that lifted his spirits.
As he looks toward his final goals of driving again and returning to seasonal acting, Buddy recognizes that he is still healing and will need to take things slowly. For now, as he anticipates spending time with Diane and sleeping in his own bed, Buddy offers this advice to others on the road to recovery: “When the staff encourages you to get up and mobilize, do it! It’s only making you better.”