Therapy at Life Care Center of Wichita gets Louis back to herself

An infection got so severe that one day, Wynema Louis lost consciousness and collapsed.

Louis came to Life Care Center of Wichita, Kansas, for therapy to recover. When she arrived on Oct. 25, 2017, she was disoriented. As a result, she had trouble speaking and taking care of daily tasks like grooming, bathing, getting dressed and feeding herself. She also needed assistance to walk and get around.

"When I first got here, I was really confused and treating people really badly," said Louis. "That's not me at all – I treat people with love and kindness."

The nursing staff helped Louis with the infection, and the rehab staff got working with her to recover her independence. Speech therapists helped to restore her cognition and speech, while physical therapists did strengthening exercises, balance training and activity tolerance building. Occupational therapists helped her practice her activities of daily living until she was able to manage on her own.

"Wynema made gains every day," said Chanda Tyler, occupational therapist. "She was always willing to work and wanted to regain her independence and return home. She was an absolute joy to work with."

"Therapy has helped me do things at a slower pace," said Louis. "I'm used to doing things fast and rushing. Therapy helped me relearn a lot of things, like getting dressed and walking and doing things in steps."

Louis went home to her independent living apartment on Nov. 20, able to walk with a cane and take care of herself again.