Rehabilitation Center Patient Success Stories
We love celebrating with patients who have successfully made it through our Cone Health Rehabilitation Center! Here are just a handful of the hundreds of success stories we have to share.
Paul Tiedeman
At age 69, Paul Tiedeman was leading an active retirement: walking and gardening, and enjoying photography, golf, bowling, travel, and reading. On Feb. 25, 2023, as he was reading a page in his book, Paul suffered an acute ischemic stroke leaving him with no movement in his left arm and leg. Within 2 minutes, his wife, Kathie, had 911 on the phone. In less than an hour the ambulance had Paul at the emergency room door. The Cone Health stroke response team set a record time of 9 minutes in completing tests and administering the anti-coagulant. Paul was admitted to intensive care with only limited movement in both his left arm and leg. He had no other impairment from the stroke.
“I decided right then and there that retirement was on hold and that my “new job” was regaining full left side function and resuming normal activities to minimize the impact on the future with Kathie. Within two days I was accepted into the Cone Health In-hospital Stroke Rehabilitation Program. This specialized team of doctors, nurses, and therapists were highly committed to helping me recover and I was highly committed to working my butt off to do it. We successfully worked together along with the support of my wife and close friends to achieve that goal. I was brought into the rehab wing in a wheelchair and two weeks later I left using a cane and an AFO. I continue to work hard in outpatient rehab, and I improve every day! THANK YOU CONE HEALTH!”
Ayesha Smith
After delivering her healthy son, Raymond Jr., Ayesha experienced postpartum weakness in both legs and ultimately underwent emergency back surgery to address an epidural hematoma that formed from the epidural catheter placement. She was moved to Inpatient Rehabilitation to help her regain mobility following her surgery, and remembers being surrounded by loving and caring people. “Coming in right after having a baby and having emergency back surgery was very hard for me and being away from my child was especially hard, but everyone understood my pain,” she said. “Not only did they help me gain my strength, they encouraged me to stay positive.”
She left Inpatient Rehabilitation able to walk – a big improvement, considering she couldn’t use both legs when she arrived!
Garey Lam
In June of 2020, Garey Lam was in a car accident resulting in multiple injuries, including to his back and ankle, as well as a traumatic brain injury. After multiple surgeries, he was admitted into Cone Health’s Inpatient Rehabilitation Center in July, where he began speech, physical and occupational therapy. After having to relearn everything from balance to walking with a walker to eat regular food to regaining communication and memory skills, Garey was able to go home in September.
James Gordon
James Gordon was paralyzed from the waist down while practicing Judo in February of 2018, and later that month he began his inpatient rehabilitation journey with the goal to walk again before returning home.
“I was pushed and tested to limits that made me uncomfortable and that were beyond my limitations. The OT/PT staff were relentless and never allowed me to waiver from my goal and commitment to walk out of here. The nursing staff provided encouragement and support beyond measure on the days when I was emotionally beat and sleepless nights. On March 16, 2018, I walked out of the rehabilitation center.”
Jaime Trotter
Jaime was admitted to Inpatient Rehabilitation after suffering a left frontoparietal hemorrhage following the delivery of her third child. Jaime presented with significant right-sided weakness and difficulty communicating. Her rehab stay was briefly interrupted by a seizure, but when she returned to rehab she was able to fully participate in therapies and was one of the hardest working patients on the unit. Jaime made excellent progress while at Inpatient Rehabilitation and she left able to walk, communicate and take care of her newborn baby. Jaime is an excellent example of how hard work, family support and perseverance can lead to big changes!
Mark Thomas
Mark contracted COVID-19 in July of 2020 and suffered complications from the virus. After spending several weeks on a ventilator and undergoing medical interventions to save his life, he was in need of rehab and was transferred to Cone Health Inpatient Rehabilitation Center in September.
Initially, it required 2-3 people to assist with getting him out of bed and he was unable to stand without lift equipment. He continued to work on standing and pushing himself daily working daily with OT and PT. After almost 4 weeks to the day of coming to rehab and several months of being in the hospital, Mark was finally able to go home to his family on October 24, 2020. He is now able to get himself dressed, get to and from a chair by himself, and has been making great progress with walking.
He says of his time here: “This rehabilitation is fantastic! I wouldn’t be where I am today without you all!”
Patrick Helm
Patrick suffered a large stroke to the right side of his brain in September of 2020 and, after spending time in the intensive care unit, was moved to Cone Health Inpatient Rehabilitation Center. When he entered the rehabilitation center, he wasn’t able to move the left side of his body at all and needed help with simple tasks like sitting up in bed.
Pat and the Inpatient Rehabilitation team worked hard for nearly six weeks on speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy, and their efforts paid off: Pat was able to go home. During his time at the Inpatient Rehabilitation Center, Pat learned to stand, to move his left arm again and to walk using a walker. He went from not being able to move his left side at all to being able to grasp items with his left hand and move his left leg to take steps.
Rosa Sanchez
Rosa was admitted to the Inpatient Rehabilitation Center with compression in her spine, which was causing severe pain and weakness in her arms and legs. When Rosa was admitted, she was unable to stand or walk and required a mechanical lift to move her form the bed to a wheelchair. Because of Rosa’s pain and weakness, her family planned to take her home with a power wheelchair, a hospital bed and a mechanical lift to transfer her from the bed to her wheelchair and a lift chair.
After three weeks of rehab, however, and with a combination of intense medical care, occupational and physical therapy, Rosa began to regain feeling and strength in her legs and had less pain. A week before she discharged home, Rose began to stand and walk in the parallel bars. Within a day she began walking with a walker!! By the time Rosa was discharged, she no longer needed a mechanical lift and was able to transfer on her own with a walker.
A few months later, Rosa came to visit the Inpatient Rehabilitation staff and she can now stand and walk completely on her own.
