OGDENSBURG
– When Frank Howie, of Ogdensburg was admitted to RiverLedge Health Care & Rehabilitation
Center he was prepared to stay there for the rest of his life.
However,
just over three months later Mr. Howie was free to return home after completing
a short-term rehabilitation stay.
“When I
got here, I couldn’t even walk. My left leg would just give out on me all the
time,” he said. “My wife and I never thought I was coming back home. That’s how
bad it was when I first got here.”
While
his stay at RiverLedge was interrupted by a brief hospitalization, Mr. Howie
said returning to RiverLedge was like going home.
“When I
got back here the nurses were right here waiting for me,” he said. “It was like
coming back home.”
His
wife, Terri said that one of the things that upset him the most about being in
the hospital was while he was not being able to receive therapy while there.
“When
he was in the hospital, he was angry, because he was missing therapy,” she
said.
Mr.
Howie said he was initially treated for back pain, but eventually doctors would
discover the problem was with his leg, as a result of complications with
diabetes.
During
his inpatient stay, therapy was held two or three times per day, but now that
he’s home and progressed to the point of walking with a cane, Mr. Howie said
his therapy has been reduced to twice per week.
“I
can’t believe how well they got me,” he said. “If you need therapy, this is the
place to go.”
Given
that Mr. and Mrs. Howie didn’t think he would ever come back home from his stay
at RiverLedge, the thought of dancing together again was something that didn’t
even cross their minds up until the day it happened.
“The
thing I’m most proud of is being able to dance with my wife again,” Mr. Howie
said. “It was a short dance, and a slow dance, but it meant the world to me. I
never thought I would be able to do it again.”
Mrs.
Howie agreed.
“I’ve
always enjoyed dancing, but we both thought it was never going to happen
again,” she said. “But it did, and it was amazing. They made a new man out of
him.”
In
addition to physical therapy and occupational therapy, RiverLedge staff also
assisted Mr. Howie with diabetes management.
“Mr.
Howie had many changes to his diabetes regimen while he was at RiverLedge,”
said Kara Pharoah, who serves as the nurse manager in the Newell Neighborhood
where Mr. Howie stayed. “Diabetes management is important for people with diabetes
because it helps to keep their blood sugars within normal limits. When blood
sugars are consistently high it leads to extended healing times, neuropathic
pain, neuropathic organ failure and other serious conditions which can be life
threatening.”
Ms.
Pharoah said staff worked with Mr. Howie to show him ways to check his blood
sugar, administer insulin, manage pain connected to diabetic neuropathy, check
his feet and legs for symptoms of other complications and monitor symptoms of
hypoglycemia.
When asked
if he would recommend therapy at RiverLedge to others, Mr. Howie said without a
doubt that he would, adding that if he ever ends up needing skilled nursing
services he knows exactly where he wants to go.
“If I
ever need permanent placement, this is where I want to go,” he said.
For
more information on United Helpers Therapy Services contact RiverLedge in
Ogdensburg at (315) 393-0730 or Maplewood in Canton at (315) 386-4541. Visit us
online at www.unitedhelpers.org or
on Facebook at www.facebook.com/unitedhelpers.
