Life Care of Waynesville helps Marvin Rose go from dependence to home

Marvin Rose was confused and in need of almost total assistance due to metabolic encephalopathy when he came to Life Care Center of Waynesville, Missouri, on March 10, 2021.

He started needing total assistance with all of his activities of daily living, such as hygiene, bathing, dressing and feeding himself, as well as most of his mobility, with the exception of needing extensive assistance with sitting balance. He also had difficulty swallowing.

Thanks to the rehab team, however, Marvin wasn’t destined to stay that way.

Five days a week, physical, occupational and speech therapists worked with Marvin to restore as much mobility, independence and normalcy as possible. In physical therapy, he worked on transfers and gait, as well as lower-body strengthening and endurance. In occupational therapy, he focused on his activities of daily living and upper-body strength and range of motion. Both PT and OT used neuro re-education to help with balance, kinesthetic awareness and proprioception to correct the neglect from his stroke. They also educated his wife, Loretta, on how to care for him when he returned home.

Speech therapists worked with him on swallowing and were able to slowly upgrade his diet to normal foods and thin liquids again.

“Marvin had a previous stroke, and we took that into consideration when forming his plan of care,” said Kaylynn Havens, assistant director of rehab. “His wife was extremely supportive, and we were able to get him home.”

When Marvin returned home to Loretta on April 15, just over a month after starting rehabilitation, he was able to walk with a walker with supervision, swallow normally, sit independently and feed himself. He was at a supervision level for bed mobility, standing balance and transfers from one surface to another and needed minimal assistance for grooming tasks, bathing and dressing.

“Therapy got me home,” said Marvin. “I am able to walk now.”

Loretta, added, “Everything was wonderful at Life Care Center of Waynesville. I wouldn’t be taking him home without the therapy department.”