Case Study: Bethany Center for Rehabilitation and Healing (June 2021)

Director Concierge: Deaven Golding
Patient Name: Debra
Patient Age: 63
Admission Date: 5/17/21
Admitted From: Centennial
Discharge Date: TBD
Reason for Stay: Debra had a spinal cord injury and was admitted to Bethany for therapy.
How did the patient hear about Bethany Center for Rehabilitation and Healing?Debra heard about Bethany because her family friend works here in the therapy department.


Details of Experience:
Imagine being in a car wreck and sustaining an injury from it lasting almost 24 years – that is what Debra is going through. Debra was in a severe car wreck in 1997, which caused her to have back surgery and a yearlong hospital stay. She had fallen five times in one week; she visited her PCP to get a check-up and see why she was falling so much. Debra knew she had weakness in her legs but didn’t know why. During her visit with her PCP, the doctor shared that her back injury caused her leg weakness, and if she had fallen one more time, she could have been paralyzed. 

Debra was admitted to Bethany on 5/17/2021 after a 22-night stay at the hospital. She was admitted to the hospital for multiple falls, muscle weakness, and edema. They performed an MRI on her spine, and they noted moderate to severe stenosis at C4-C5 and C6-C7 with osteophytes. On 4/20, she was taken into the OR for a C4 through C7 anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, and she returned two days later for a posterior cervical decompression fusion of C3 through C7. 

Upon admission, Debra was greeted by our admissions team and concierge. The next day, OT and PT came to meet with Debra and complete their initial evaluation. Therapy set short-term and long-term goals for Debra: safely perform bed mobility tasks, perform functional transfers with a sliding board, propel self in a manual wheelchair up to 100ft, patient to improve self-feeding, and patient to demonstrate toileting and toilet transfers with good hygiene.  

Debra shared she was hesitant about starting therapy and how to deal with the pain she may have but said she knew she was in good hands with the therapists at Bethany. She participated in therapy 6x a week for one hour a day and is seen by occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy. Therapy immediately started working with her on all of her goals and starting to get her strength back.

Debra shared that when she was admitted to Bethany, she could not eat with her dominant hand, her right hand, and by 5/23, she could eat and do basic hygiene activities with both her right and left hand. One of her goals is to be able to stand for greater than one minute. By 5/24, she was able to stand for 3 minutes without the assistance of a therapist. By 5/31, she was able to propel herself in her wheelchair for 30 feet, and by 6/7, she had met her goal of 100 feet. 

As of 6/27, she has met all of her goals of transferring with the sliding board, standing, propelling herself in the wheelchair, feeding, and personal hygiene. Debra has demonstrated wonderful techniques from her therapy journey at Bethany. She is continuing to work with therapy on keeping her strength up and continuing to build those skills.

She is planning to discharge early July, and we wish her the best!