Stroke, COVID survivor surprised by progress at Life Care of Jacksonville

It is hard enough to deal with the effects of a stroke, such as losing function of one side your body, difficulty speaking or inability to do simple day-to-day activities like putting on a shirt or combing your hair. To be infected with COVID on top of that and have to start all over again, just when things are starting to improve, is even more discouraging.

Roland Jones is a 75-year-old man who, prior to his stroke, was living on his own, driving himself, playing chess and enjoying his retirement.

In late December 2021, he suffered a stroke which affected the right side of his body. He had difficulty getting out of bed, walking, getting into a chair, dressing and bathing, among other things. He underwent a rigorous round of acute care rehab but was infected with COVID and had a severe decline in his function. Upon discharge, he declined post-acute rehab, reasoning that if acute care did their best, then he must have already reached his best function. Thankfully, his daughter convinced him otherwise, and Roland came to Life Care Center of Jacksonville, Florida.

When Roland came to us, he needed maximum assistance with transfers out of bed and into a wheelchair, and he was totally dependent on caregivers for walking. He needed moderate assistance with dressing and maximum assistance with bathing.

By the end of a three-week regimen of balance training, gait training, transfer training and ADL training provided by both physical and occupational therapies, Roland was able to dress himself with less assistance. He was able to get out of bed and transfer to a chair with supervision. Best of all, he was walking with a hemi-walker with supervision up to 40 feet, enough to get himself around a house.

He was ecstatic!

Roland surprised himself with the improvements he gained. What he thought was a dead end opened into a new road for him. By the time he left, he proudly said, “This rehab got me walking!”