Patient’s Age: 79-years-old
Admission Date: 08/02/19
Admitted From: Boca Raton Regional Hospital
Discharge Date: 10/08/19
Discharged To: Home
Length of Stay: 67 Days
Reason for Stay: Stroke
How did this patient hear about The Encore: Doctor Recommended


Details of experience:
Early Sunday morning, Joan Schaal was relaxing in her living room when she looked up at the clock and noticed it was almost 8 AM, time to get ready for church. Thankfully, a member of the community, Joan’s neighbor, was awaiting her communion by Joan and was startled by the fact that Joan was not showing up and could not be reached by phone. Joan’s neighbor ran over to her home and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Upon peeking through the window, Joan’s friend noticed her lying on the floor and called 911 immediately. Joan was rushed to Boca Raton Regional Hospital and it was discovered that she had suffered a stroke. Joan feels very thankful that her living room was carpeted and was able to prevent further injuries. Joan’s doctor recommended The Encore at Boca Raton, for extensive rehab, before returning home.

Joan was admitted to The Encore on August 2nd, 2019, in what she describes as, “very poor condition.” “I was not cognizant of what was going on,” Joan remembers very little from her time of admission to The Encore, up until the first week of her stay. After a week of being at The Encore, she began to become aware of what was happening. Joan developed goals for herself to getting better fast and returning to her independent self. She did not enjoy being dependent on others.

Upon admission to The Encore, Joan was not able to do much on her own. Joan was seen by her Physical Therapist, Silvia Delgado, her Occupational Therapist, Julieth Sargent, and her Speech-Language Pathologist, Nancy Hecker, all of whom she is very fond of. The therapist’s goals were similar to Joan’s own, to regain independence and be able to return home quickly. Upon admission, Joan required moderate assistance for mobility, transfers and required maximum assistance for completion of self-care tasks. She required assistance for feeding, hygiene, grooming, and dressing. Joan was not aware of her left side visually or motor wise. She could not use her left arm or leg and had a left facial droop. Joan had a challenging time concentrating and her attention span decreased from the stroke. The therapists worked with Joan on narrow muscular training, functional visual exercises, and other exercises to assist her on her path to recovery. “The therapists were polite and caring. They are the nicest,” shared Joan.

During her stay at The Encore, Joan enjoyed different activities that were scheduled for residents to attend. She especially enjoyed the musical entertainment. Joan felt that watching the birds at The Encore was a very inspiring experience and tried to take advantage of them each time she passed by the cage to get outside. Joan was delighted by sitting out in the beautiful outdoors, especially with her many visitors that came through during her stay. Besides family, Joan had visitors coming from the community schools she taught at and from her heavy involvement with her Church. She loved the furry dogs that came to spend time with residents while she was at The Encore, especially the Chow. Joan felt especially grateful to the aids that assisted her with feeding by mealtimes.

Joan kept her mind focused on her goals of returning home and regaining her independent as quickly as possible. On October 8th, 2019, Joan was discharged home using just a walker! She regained function in her left side and her facial droop, as well as her attention span, improved significantly. Joan will continue her recovery with outpatient and home therapy but is thankful for the extreme progress she has made at The Encore. Joan shared, “I feel great and I am working on getting around as much as I can. The therapists at The Encore were very inspiring! I am continuing to push myself to reach my goals.”

We wish Joan continued success in reaching her goals and thank her for inspiring our community during her healing process!