Life Care Center of Treasure Valley helps woman recover from strokes

Life Care Center of Treasure Valley in Boise, Idaho, helped Sheri Stairs get back her independence after her brain underwent several traumas.

It started on Nov. 21, 2016, when Stairs was admitted to the hospital with a subarachnoid hemorrhage, or a bleed in the space around her brain, as well as an aneurysm, a bulge in the blood vessel, in the artery feeding the left side of her brain. She underwent emergency surgery to drain the excess fluid, and unfortunately, she also suffered two strokes.

The strokes affected the right side of Stairs' body, leaving it completely flaccid.

Stairs came to Life Care Center of Treasure Valley for rehabilitation on Jan. 16, 2017. She needed assistance to walk or even stand. She needed extensive help to get out of bed and bathe. She also needed moderate assistance with her daily grooming tasks that required the use of her right hand and arm, such as brushing her teeth and brushing her hair, because she is right-handed.

Stairs' left vocal cord was paralyzed, and she had difficulty speaking and swallowing. An outpatient procedure with her ear, nose and throat specialist allowed her vocal cord to be used again, and speech therapists at Life Care treated her with oral motor exercises and VitalStim^® electrical stimulation to retrain her throat muscles.

Physical and occupational therapists worked with Stairs to get her right side moving again for mobility and function. PTs addressed mostly strength, balance and range of motion. For example, Stairs used the Omnicycle^™ arm bicycle to exercise her upper body. Meanwhile, occupational therapists addressed more of the fine motor skills she needed for her daily self-care activities, like grasping door handles and putting on her shoes.

"Rehab is absolutely excellent," said Stairs. "They go above and beyond and take time for you. I love everyone here. They are here for the people. They smile and always know the residents' names."

On May 2, Stairs was able to graduate to a lower level of care at a local assisted living facility. Her swallowing was back to normal, and she was able to get around in a wheelchair with no difficulty. She could walk with supervision and had functional use of her arms, hands, legs and feet again.

"Sheri made great gains all around," said Rachel Gibney, clinical liaison.