Hospital: St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Hospital
Diagnosis: Complications from tracheotomy; Workers’ comp
Jose Castaneda is a kind-hearted young man who fell from a ladder at a height of 20 feet. He suffered traumatic injuries to his head, chest, and neck. Upon arrival at St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Hospital, the main priority for both Mr. Castaneda and our team was to wean him from his tracheostomy tube. However, he had significant scarring around his tracheostomy which caused complications, resulting in a brief return to the acute care hospital. Supported by the fierce advocacy our workers’ comp team including case manager Trish, Mr. Castaneda returned to St. Luke’s with a properly sized trach tube.
A major highlight during Mr. Castaneda’s months-long time with us was our team’s commitment to getting him the proper care for his damaged airway that had suffered substantial trauma so that he could successfully wean from the trach. His case manager and our devoted respiratory team helped arrange care and appointments with a “wonderful” ENT and other specialists, and Mr. Castaneda underwent a procedure to repair his airway. When he came back to St. Luke’s after the procedure, he no longer needed his trach, a tremendous milestone that opened the door to further progress for Mr. Castaneda!
Despite all of the respiratory complications, Mr. Castaneda always remained eager and optimistic about his physical progress, showing up for therapy at every session with a smile on his face. Our physical and occupational therapy teams cheered him on as he went to his trach surgery, and he returned to us to continue making tremendous strides in rebuilding his endurance and speaking abilities.
Mr. Castaneda developed close bonds with everyone involved in his stay, and he particularly appreciated the diligent, above-and-beyond care from our respiratory, nursing, and therapy teams. He looks forward to being home with family again and eating authentic Mexican food. All of us at St. Luke’s feel blessed to have been part of Mr. Castaneda’s story and to have witnessed his tremendous resilience.
