Laura's Success Story
"I love to cook for my children.”
- Laura
Laura, a devoted mother of three young daughters, cherishes every moment spent supporting and caring for them, whether through cooking or simply being present. Her recent hospitalization was particularly challenging, as it prevented her from fulfilling her nurturing role. Laura arrived with a significant abdominal wound that initially required frequent, daily dressing changes, impacting her ability to participate in physical therapy. The condition of the wound also contributed to feelings of depression and discouragement for the patient.
Our dedicated wound team, collaborating closely with the registered dietitian, nursing staff, medical doctors, and rehabilitation team, worked diligently to address these challenges. Thanks to their concerted efforts, the wound is now almost healed and requires dressing changes only every other day. Knowing Laura was eager to go home, our wound care team took the time to teach Laura and her family how to safely care for the wound at home, ensuring confidence and preparedness for a smooth transition. Laura was admitted to City of Hope on 5/11/24 requiring moderate assistance from two people for functional transfers and walking due to bilateral lower extremity weakness. They utilized a front-wheeled walker with minimal assistance.
On 6/26/24, Laura was discharged home with home health services after successfully achieving modified independence in overall mobility, including car transfers, negotiating stairs, toilet transfers, and walking more than 300 feet without an assistive device.
Care for Complex Conditions
Patients come to our hospitals with serious conditions such as respiratory failure, complex wounds, sepsis, stroke, congestive heart failure, or even a combination of these. Their diagnoses are often complicated by existing health problems like diabetes or COPD. Many of our patients require treatments such as mechanical ventilators, dialysis, or IV therapy.