St. James Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center (March 2017)

Roy was admitted from St. Charles Hospital on October 12th 2016. Roy has been a part of our community since April 2014 due to surgeries on his right foot. Upon arrival on October 12th, Roy had his right leg amputated. Roy expressed that he had came back to St. James for their outstanding therapy and hearing about the world-class Amputee Walking Support program led by paralympic gold medalists Dennis Oehler and Todd Schaffhauser that is offered at St. James; he couldn’t think of a better place to be. Roy stated, “ I have had a long stay here, but it was worth every minute. I accomplished all of my goals every time I came here and now I am lucky enough to walk out of here.”

Roy has built a connection through friendship with many of our staff here at St. James. He shared, “this is my second home. Even my daughter works here. It feels like a welcoming atmosphere.” Throughout his stay here, Roy has been struggling to acclimate to the prosthetic leg. After building the strength required to be able to walk with a prosthetic and getting the proper fitting for the prosthetic leg, Roy was ecstatic with joy. “ You guys are fantastic and exceed my expectations of walking out the doors instead of rolling out the doors in a wheelchair. The rehab center is premier and the staff that works in that gym is the reason why I have so much success. It is unbelievable what they can accomplish!” He expressed that Dennis and Todd have helped coach him through the process and really inspired him to do something great. When Roy was not in the gym, he would be socializing with other patients or joining a recreation programs. Roy would participate in poker games with Hannah and even enjoyed watching the Super Bowl. “ The recreation team does a great job of keeping me busy. I enjoy all of their company. I especially like when they do big events for the holidays. It is those little things that make it feel like home here. I can really see that they care.”

Throughout Roy’s stay here he expressed that he had excellent care by the doctor.s “ If my primary doctor wasn’t so good I would switch to one of the doctors that work in St. James Rehab”. Roy also works closely with Robbe cardiopulmonary. He has had tremendous success with Robbe and stated, “ Everything that she has done with me has turned into success and she can properly diagnosis my problems and fixes them in a timely matter.” As Roy’s stay here is coming to an end he is not only proud to be apart of the St.James Rehab family but is taken away by how much we accomplished together. Our whole staff will be sad when Roy leaves, but happy to see that he is walking out of the doors with his new prosthetic and his goals being exceeded.

Roy wanted to give a special thanks to certain team members:

Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy
Anthony, Melanie, and Diane
He stated “ they go above and beyond their roles here.”

Nurses
Jessie, Gina, Jocelyn, Diane, Catherine, Gaye
He stated “ They always do their job with a smile.”

Aides
Jeff, Jordan, Miguel
He stated “ these individuals are always on time with call bell responses.”

Recreation
Maureen, Nicole, and Hannah
He stated “ these individuals are always upbeat and brighten the room.”

Dietary
Noel
He stated “ She helped me with all my issues that I have had with my diet.”