Hospital: PAM Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Round Rock
Diagnosis: Stroke
Anita Reed was alone in her sunroom, arranging flowers, when she experienced extreme dizziness and vertigo. She started sweating profusely and could not move to the other room to get her phone. Fortunately, she had a smartwatch and used it to call 911. Emergency responders took her to the hospital where doctors discovered she had suffered a cerebellar stroke. After spending a few days in the hospital, Ms. Reed transferred to PAM Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Round Rock for further therapies.
When Ms. Reed arrived at PAM Health, she could not walk and was uncertain of her future.
“When you have a stroke, you have all of these fears,” she said. “Where will this leave me? It terrifies you.”
Initially, she was convinced she would not be able to walk without assistance again. However, one day in therapy when she was working with her therapist, she assumed the therapist was holding onto her gait belt as she was walking. What she had not realized was that the therapist had let go and she was walking on her own. When the therapist told her, Ms. Reed started crying, “I knew then that I could have my life back.”
Occupational therapists taught her how to approach challenges safely – including showering and dressing. “They teach you so well,” she said.
“After my stroke, I wasn’t sure what type of future I would have,” Ms. Reed shared. “With their (PAM Health) exceptional therapists, the doctor who came to see me every day, the opportunity to have therapy 900 minutes a week is paying dividends because I can now walk without a walker and I have a bright future in front of me because of the opportunity I’ve gotten here.”
After two weeks, Ms. Reed was ready to return home with her family who stayed with her for the first two weeks. Then she felt she was able to be on her own again and continued with outpatient therapy to continue to make gains.
“I now have a bright future in front of me because of the opportunity I’ve gotten here.” -Patricia Reed
