Concierge: Emily Lawrence
Age: 80 yr old
Admission Date: 2/15/23
Admitted From: Vanderbilt Hospital/Mary Queen of Angels Assisted Living Facility
Discharge Date: TBD
Discharge To: TBD
Length of Stay: TBD
Reason For Stay: Complications with Parkinson’s Disease
How Did This Patient Hear about Nashville Center? The Case Worker at Vanderbilt Hospital, as well as a recommendation from Mary Queen of Angels Assisted Living Facility staff
Details of Experience:
Father Charles Strobel was admitted to Nashville Center for Rehabilitation and Healing from Vanderbilt Hospital on February 15, 2023, with Parkinson’s Disease, leading to complications in Polyneuropathy (nerve condition causing pain in the whole body) often made worse by movement,) and weakness in the body and mind.
Upon his arrival, Father Strobel expressed gratitude for the kind and warm welcome he received at Nashville Center. Though he was tired from his stay at Vanderbilt, he appreciated having an opportunity to briefly meet several people with whom he would very soon become well acquainted and touch the hearts of. Two notable encounters for him were with his nurse and the Director of Concierge Services. The Concierge Director presented Father Strobel with a welcome gift and introduced herself to the patient, as well as the patient’s sister and brother-in-law, who had been present during the transfer from the hospital to our facility. Father Strobel and his family were impressed by the warm welcome and felt that every need would be accommodated, not just for Father Strobel but for his family too. The Concierge Director quickly made a good relationship with Father Strobel’s family, as she provided an open ear for concerns in and out of the building and our care.
Social services, nursing, and the rehabilitation team worked together to construct a plan of action for Father Strobel’s care and rehabilitation goals to be met at Nashville Center. The primary goal was for Father Strobel to be independent enough to return back to Mary Queen of Angels Assisted Living Facility. This included walking, maintaining balance, stabilizing digestive and urinary tract control, and eating with minimum assistance. In order to achieve this, Father Strobel received cognitive, speech, physical, and occupational therapy in-house. Typically these sessions were five days a week, up to an hour a day.
Father Strobel progressed very well through his stay at Nashville Center. Both became rather emotional when the Concierge Director and the Patient’s sister discussed Father Strobel’s progress. His sister remembered a time when she wasn’t sure if Father Strobel would ever get his strength back, be able to walk, talk, and return to his formerly mostly independent lifestyle. “I remember the first day I saw him walking again,” Said Concierge Director Emily, “there was such a pride in my heart knowing that Father Strobel could get back to being the light everyone knows him to be.” Father Strobel celebrated his eightieth birthday at Nashville Center, and people from all over the community came in to celebrate. The receptionist that weekend recounted that “it seemed the whole city lined up down the hall to visit their old friend and see him well again.” The Concierge Director, Father Strobel, and his family were much more optimistic about his care plan for the coming weeks. Often, staff from Mary Queen of Angels assisted living, Father Strobel’s home residence, would come to visit Father Strobel and comment on their positive experience when visiting and how the facility was looking after Father Strobel’s Care. There is a certain confidence with this return that he did not formerly have; the Staff of Mary Queen of Angels and the family of Father Strobel became much more confident that he could return to a much more independent lifestyle.
While his Discharge Date is not yet decided upon, his progress with therapy and nursing thus far is creating a positive outlook for him to return safely home in the coming months. Father Strobel, his family, and the rehabilitative team at Nashville Center are optimistic about the course of his action plan for a safe return home. His continued services include medical management, balance, and strength building, both patient and outpatient, with home therapy, adaptive services, and focus on daily tasks cognitively and physically. In the meantime, the team at Nashville Center is thankful to have found a friend and been a part of this beautiful rehabilitation story. “When he is discharged,” the Concierge Director states, “I am really not sure if any dry eyes will be left in the building. It feels like he and his family have become our family, but I will be so proud to see him walking out of our doors, confident in his recovery, well equipped for success.”
The family noted that Nashville Center staff have been kind and attentive and always work together to complete the job. Father Strobel likes to joke that the only thing that would improve his stay would be a chocolate milkshake every day, but he understands that his blood sugar may not appreciate that as much as the rest of him would, so for now, a glucose control shake will have to do.
Nashville Center would like to thank Father Strobel and his family for allowing us to share their story, and can’t wait to see the rest of this story in the coming months.