Mr. D. B.
Mr. D. B.’s medical complications began after he had undergone elective surgery to his right hip due to end stage osteoarthritis. The surgery itself, a right total hip arthroplasty, was successful; however, he was found to have bilateral pulmonary emboli and bilateral lower extremity deep venous thrombosis several days after surgery and was unfortunately readmitted back to the hospital. He was experiencing generalized weakness and an unsteady gait pattern. He was transferred to Bay Area Rehabilitation Hospital in Webster, TX for intensive rehabilitation services. The therapy and nursing team at Bay Area Rehabilitation Hospital worked diligently to assist Mr. D.B. regain his strength.
On initial evaluation, Mr. D. B. exhibited a significant gait abnormality when using a rolling walker and demonstrated difficulty shifting his weight. He was ambulating approximately 125 feet with supervision and presented with weakness of the right lower extremity. Given his admitting hip precautions, Mr. D.B. required maximum assistance to dress his lower body. He had to relearn how to dress himself while maintaining hip precautions. These precautions limited his ability to extend and adduct his right hip. Hip abduction was also limited to 25-30 degrees.
After completing his intensive rehabilitation program of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Mr. D.B. was able to walk more than 1,000 feet with a single point cane on indoor and outdoor surfaces with Modified Independence. A community re-entry program was completed at NASA and a home safety assessment was completed at NASA crew quarters prior to discharge. He was able to safely dress himself while adhering to all hip precautions. Mr. D.B.’s long term goal is to be able to be medically released to fly back to his home and to be able to participate in another International Space Shuttle Mission.