Patient’s Age: 91
Admission Date: 6/11/18
Discharged Date: TBD
Discharged to: Home with son
Length of Stay: TBD
Reason for Stay: Shortness of breath, Pneumonia
How did patient hear about Chatham Hills?: Morristown Medical Center and Google Reviews

Details of experience:

Carmella was admitted to Chatham Hills on June 11th, 2018, from Morristown Medical Center. She was originally admitted to Morristown Medical for abnormal heart rhythms and was diagnosed with pneumonia. Previous to this hospital admission, she had a history of coronary artery disease, received an aortic valve replacement and sudden cardiac arrest asystole. Throughout her many hospital stays, Carmella had some complications which lead to having a permanent pacemaker implanted. She had an episode where she was able to speak, but her words did not make sense to other. She was informed that she would need to come to Chatham Hills Subacute Care Center for further rehabilitation.

Upon evaluation by her therapists, Carmella required maximum assistance with all her ADLs (activities of daily living). She was unable to lift her left arm above her shoulder, could not walk upstairs, could only walk 15 feet with a rolling walker and overall had decreased strength. Carmella required skilled therapy services to assess her safety, independence and to increase her functional activity tolerance. Throughout her stay, Carmella trained her body on the Nu-Step bicycle to increase her endurance. She also practiced standing for longer periods of time in order to perform her self-care tasks. She suffered from shortness of breath during her time in therapy, which is what our highly-trained therapists wanted to focus on. She was exhibiting constant shortness of breath with activities and needed frequent rest periods as well as assistance for transfers, however, was showing signs of improvement. Carmella’s endurance has significantly improved, she does not feel as out of breath or “winded”, as she put it, as she used to.

One of Carmella’s main goals was to ambulate 75 feet using a wide-based quad cane. When she was admitted to Chatham Hills, she was only able to ambulate 15 feet with Contact Guard Assist. Within her two-week mark, Carmella is successfully walking about 60 feet with a rolling walker! Not only is she able to walk further, she is also able to stand for longer periods of time as well. Aside from getting further into her walking progress, she is also significantly improving on her dressing. In just two weeks’ time, she went from being totally dependent to being able to get herself washed up and dressed! As one of her therapists, Michelle, stated, “I am very pleased that Carmella has had fewer complaints about feeling short of breath. I’m so proud of her every day on her improvement inside and outside of the gym.”

With a discharge date in the near future, we are all so proud of her progress. Carmella stated,

“Before I came to Chatham Hills, I wasn’t able to walk or stand up, I laid in bed for over a week. My goal coming in here was to get therapy to be able to walk again. I was independent and walked with a cane. I would like to get back to the point I was, maybe even better than I was. I think the therapy department here is great, they work really hard and are great with the patients. They are very patient, and they really want you to improve. Being 91, there are certain things that can’t be done, but I’m going to try to get to my goals. I love shopping and can’t wait to do that again. My favorite thing I did here was sit by my window with a beautiful view and watch the birds. I don’t know how the crew here does what they do, but it really is something. Everyone here is top notch.”

Team Chatham Hills is so happy to congratulate Carmella on her constant success and can’t wait to send her back home to her son!