“They set me up for success!”

In March 2024, when Audra K. awoke from a nap, she was showing signs of having a stroke. She was hospitalized after confirmation of suffering a stroke, which was followed by an admission to an inpatient rehabilitation hospital. She was experiencing left-sided weakness and had limited ability to move her left upper and lower extremities. Despite her challenges, she felt relief when learning about our Home & Community services.

Audra said this about her time with RWW and her recovery journey, “Before Rehab Without Walls, I felt discouraged because I could barely move my left side. I had difficulty navigating my home and had to use a wheelchair while out in the community. Rehab Without Walls provided me with equipment to safely navigate my home and access my community. I can complete my transfers independently, walk around my home and outside using my left leg with the support of my quad cane. I do not use the wheelchair anymore. I cooked with my occupational therapist to increase strength and improve the contracture in my left hand. I was very satisfied with the intensive therapy I received.

Therapy sessions outside of the home included going shopping at department stores and walking at a local park. When we went shopping, we focused on taking clothes off the rack, building endurance, and pushing a cart. Recently, I was able to navigate a large furniture store while shopping with my husband. Eight months ago, I would have never been able access the store without my wheelchair. It was intimidating at first, but I was able to successfully walk around the whole store with the use of my quad cane.

I am so thankful for my therapists at Rehab Without Walls, especially my physical therapists, Marci and Allise, and my occupational therapist, Joyce. They never gave up on me. My therapists had great energy, were knowledgeable, had great ideas, and took a creative approach during sessions. They worked me hard but always made sure to give me breaks. It has been hard to say goodbye to my therapists, but I feel confident that they have set me up for success in the next chapter in my recovery. Rehab Without Walls has been a great experience and I have nothing negative to say. I would rate my overall experience with Rehab Without Walls 100 out of 100.”

“Audra made many improvements as a stroke survivor in the months we worked together. Her main goals were to reduce her 8/10 shoulder pain, getting out of the house, and using her left arm. In occupational therapy, Audra’s pain improved to 0/10, her hand function improved to allow opening containers, picking up beads and returning to all cooking, dressing, and cutting activities. She improved enough with electrical stimulation, mirror therapy, and strengthening in her hand motion that we were able to complete a modified constraint program, where Audra’s unaffected hand was immobilized to force use of her left hand. During this time, Audra engaged in crafting activities such as embossing, board games, and making mosaics to make repetitive, functional activities more fun! I am so proud of Audra’s determination and carryover between sessions. I hope with the additional tools in outpatient, Audra will continue to recover!” stated Joyce F., Occupational Therapist.