Fall & sepsis patient regains function at Life Care of McMinnville

Rehabilitation at Life Care Center of McMinnville, Oregon, was a game changer for Jack Morrison.

Morrison had fallen at home and bruised his back, and unfortunately, he did not bounce back right away. In fact, he developed sepsis (an infection in the bloodstream) and became very weak.

When Morrison arrived at Life Care Center of McMinnville on Dec. 20, 2017, he needed extensive assistance for all his mobility, including walking, getting in and out of bed and standing. He also needed extensive assistance for most of his self-care tasks, including getting dressed, managing his medications, bathing and grooming. In addition, the sepsis had negatively impacted his cognition and language skills.

The 73-year-old wanted to get back his independence and took part in physical and occupational therapies seven days a week. Speech therapists also worked with him five days a week.

In physical therapy, therapists taught Morrison therapeutic exercises to improve his balance. He used the NuStep^® and Omnicycle^™ seated exercise machines to build up strength and endurance and the Biodex Balance System^™ SD for balance. He even got to have fun with his sessions using the Nintendo Wii^™ bowling game to practice standing and balancing during movements.           

In occupational therapy, Morrison worked on functional self-care skills, and in speech therapy, he worked on thinking strategies and speech skills.

"There are very good people here," said Morrison. "Therapy is very good. Twice a day, seven days a week helped tremendously – they definitely don't let you lie around much!"

"Jack was always so pleasant to work with," said Rose Dutra, occupational therapist assistant. "He had the best attitude when working with therapy and really had a great drive to succeed with every exercise."

As Morrison prepared to complete his therapy program, Dutra accompanied him to tour his new home at a local assisted living facility.

"He had a smile from ear to ear the whole time," said Dutra. "He was so happy about being able to transition to a safe place."

When Morrison moved into his assisted living apartment on Feb. 26, 2018, he was thinking more clearly, communicating normally, able to take care of himself and able to walk more than 500 feet using a cane for short distances and a walker in the community.