Patient’s Age: 72-years-old
Admission Date: 12/04/19
Admitted From: West Boca Medical Center
Discharge Date: 12/17/19
Discharged To: Home
Length of Stay: 13 Days
Reason for Stay: Right Knee Replacement.
How did this patient hear about The Encore: Wife found on Google.


Details of Experience:
Laughter is the best form of therapy, at least according to Clif Shepard. Clifford Shepard was admitted to The Encore on December 17, 2019. His main goal was to become independent again and fast. He was ready to recover, and embark on his next upcoming cruise. On November 25, 2019, Clif had a right knee replacement. It was his first major surgery and his first time with a fracture. Four days after surgery, he was transferred to a local rehabilitation center to begin his therapy. An hour after admission, Clif was transferred back to the hospital because of a blood clot behind his knee. When he was ready to leave the hospital, his wife researched rehabilitation centers and found The Encore at Boca Raton, on Google. She read the reviews and felt this place would be a great choice for her husband to work toward his recovery.

Clifford was admitted late at night to The Encore. The next morning he had the pleasure of meeting many managers and staff members that were informative and gave him insights as to what his stay at The Encore would be like. JR, his physical therapist, and Eric, his occupational therapist, came to greet him as well. Clif was met by the dietary department to review his eating preferences. He found that there were a variety of food choices on the menu and enjoyed foods that were in line with his no salt diet. He also enjoyed spending time by the patio tables outside in the garden. “Samantha, my nurse, and the aids on my unit were extremely giving. Any time I needed something, they were there right away to help.”

Therapy was Clifford’s favorite part of being at The Encore. Clif set goals of being independent. Upon admission to The Encore, Clif required maximum assistance with all tasks, including transferring. Aside from his regular therapy schedule, he enjoyed a group therapy session with Jillian. JR, his physical therapist, shared, “We treat each patient individually, as they need, with their own approach that will work for them. I got a great read on Clif to see what would work best for him during his therapy journey. We took special consideration into the therapy, as we wanted to take extra precaution to the clot. We wanted to make sure that there was blood flow to the leg at all times.” Clifford started off experiencing lots of pain and had a fear of falling. He made improvements in therapy, and slowly the pain began to subside. His therapists knew when to encourage and push him, and when to let him rest. Clif used an Alter G during his therapy at The Encore. The Alter G is an anti-gravity treadmill. This piece of equipment, allowed Clifford, a runner, to balance, control and monitor his walking, as well as his pain. The Alter G allows patients to watch on video the way they are moving their feet when walking. It allows a patient to understand how much weight they are placing on each leg and to adjust the anti-gravity levels according to their pain tolerance. It allows a patient to have a full workout, based on their pain tolerance and abilities, without being burnt out. The machine was especially beneficial to Clif after his painful joint surgery. Clif returned for outpatient therapy at The Encore. He went from needing max assistance with basic tasks to walking without a walker or cane, in under one month.

Clif is back to cooking, something he loves to do. Clif loved wearing T-Shirts with sarcastic jokes on them. He purchased new ones specially for his outpatient experience. He very much enjoyed sharing sarcastic jokes with the staff and residents at The Encore. Clif shared, “I would go back to Encore, no questions asked. It was a very rewarding experience being there. If you are dedicated to doing what your therapists tell you to do, and you work on pushing yourself, you will get out of there quickly. I was able to be on my own after just three and a half weeks. My goal was to be able to enter a car on my own, and I did. I wanted to get out of the car on my own, and I did. I wanted to be able to sit in a chair and get back up on my own, and I did. I wanted to be able to shower on my own, and I did. I wanted to be able to get in and out of my house on my own, and I did. I am thankful that The Encore was the place I went to, as anywhere else I would still be using a walker. I am walking on my own and am ready to stroll around my next cruise!”

We are thankful to Clifford for the humor and motivation he brought along with him to his recovering process at The Encore. We wish him well in all his future travels and journeys!