Patient’s Name: Carmen Sorvillo
Patient’s Age: 81-years-old
Admission Date: 04/06/2019
Discharge Date: 09/24/2019
Discharged To: Home
Length of Stay: 24 weeks and 3 days
Reason for Stay: Hypoglycemia
How did this patient hear about Water’s Edge?: Patient was recommended by a Social Worker at Mather Hospital.


Details of Experience:
Mr. Carmen Sorvillo is the kind of man who wouldn’t be seen in a hospital unless he was the one bringing someone there for help. Independent, strong-willed and optimistic are just a few words that have been used to describe this man. Though one day; amongst all other days, Mr. Sorvillo found himself feeling a little different than usual. Carmen felt weak and fatigued, and after much convincing, those feelings landed him right where he never thought he would be.

After spending time in the emergency room, Mr. Sorvillo was admitted to the hospital for hypoglycemia. A few short days later, Carmen was recommended to go to a sub-acute rehab to build back his strength.

On April 6th, 2019, Mr. Sorvillo was admitted to Water’s Edge Rehab & Nursing Center at Port Jefferson. He was greeted by a great number of our interdisciplinary staff, who quickly enjoyed his witty personality and adored his loving family. Surrounded by his wife and daughters, as well as our supportive staff, Carmen Sorvillo was not going through this alone.

The first few days were rough – Carmen was in a lot of pain. His back was in so much pain that he was not able to get up to go to physical therapy or get up to take a shower. Medicine was adjusted; x-rays were given and after much support and care by our Medical Staff, Mr. Sorvillo was on his way for a radiation consult.

Mr. Sorvillo was feeling defeated but continued to push through to the absolute best of his ability. He stated, “I just can’t wait to get back to working at the fire department.” As his daughter always had wonderful things to say about her father, she expressed in utter emotions; “this is not my father, he doesn’t deserve this. Please be there for him and help get him through this.” Mr. Sorvillo was in and out of the hospital a couple of times before things settled down. Radiation was en route, medication was working appropriately and Carmen was ready to fight this thing!

Going from being independent to needing assistance with nearly everything due to all that was happening, Mr. Sorvillo was ready to gain his independence back. At first, he needed help with almost all daily functions – including but not limited to – getting dressed, eating and especially walking. While physical therapy worked with him to gain his physical strength back, occupational therapy worked with him to gain his daily skills and speech therapy worked with him to get him eating again.

Mr. Sorvillo fought the good fight and pushed himself to therapy every single day they would allow him there! He worked with physical therapy doing therapeutic graded exercises, therapeutic resistance exercises, energy conservation techniques, positioning skills, and many other skills. All while occupational therapy used therapeutic exercises with light weights, sitting balance training, and techniques to facilitate functional balance skills, strength, and coordination, Carmen was on the move and ready to keep moving forward.

What looked like a devastating outcome turned out to be the experience of a lifetime for Mr. Sorvillo. With the help of Team Water’s Edge, as well as his supportive family and friends – Carmen was able to push through the hard times and work towards a happy and healthy future. He is now able to get himself dressed with little assistance, walk with only the occasional help of a walker and he is able to eat a decent meal, A long but rewarding 6 months has gone by and Carmen was on his way to discharge. He stated, “Your facility is filled with great people, the service is great and therapy is the absolute best I ever had. Rating this place on a scale of 1-10, I would have to give it a 10 because, without all of you, I don’t know that I would have been able to get through all of this. I am excited to go home but I can’t wait to be back to visit.”

Mr. Carmen Sorvillo was a rock star and came back around tenfold. Water’s Edge wishes him and his family nothing but the absolute best! We can’t wait until he comes back to see us soon!