Robin Hill was 56 when she suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm in June 2019. In July, doctors placed a shunt in her brain to relieve the pressure caused by the aneurysm and sent her to Mountain Valley outpatient for speech therapy rehab.
Prior to her aneurysm, Robin was independent in all aspects of her life. She owned her own cleaning business and had a college education. Because of the damage her brain suffered, she initially scored in the second percentile on a standardized cognitive test at the start of her therapy. An average score for an adult without a brain injury would be in the 50th percentile.
Robin’s speech therapy focused on reasoning, attention, memory, word retrieval and increasing her vocal intensity. In addition to the therapy she received in her visits with a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), Robin and her son were given activities to do at home to support her recovery.
By December 2019, Robin was scoring in the 12th percentile on the same cognitive test and was able to fill her own medication box for the week. Her ability to find her words during conversation had greatly improved, but it continued to be an issue. Robin’s ability to name pictures of objects showed an improvement from 63% to 95%. Also, her voice volume was rated as normal at the time of discharge.
In a follow-up meeting with Robin and her son in August of this year, I asked Robin if she thought speech therapy had helped her. She said, “You gave me my voice back. I was so bummed when it was over. I could see how much better I was doing on those tests.” Her son, Tandr, said, “We still use some of the tools you gave us, like the cognitive pacing scale, word finding strategies and calming tasks.”
When I asked Robin what advice she would give to anyone experiencing difficulty talking or thinking, Robin responded, “I highly recommend speech therapy. You guys do stuff I didn’t even know you did and I didn’t know I needed it so bad, but I did. I can remember things that I didn’t think I could remember.”
She went on to say, “Go to therapy, because you’ll get your strength back, and the cognitive therapy brings back your brain bits. My life has changed. I try really hard to be positive. Be thankful for what you have. Be happy with what you still have. Recovery is possible, definitely keep trying.”
Speech Therapy is not just about speech. It is about language, voice, swallowing and cognition. Any and all of these areas can be affected by a stroke, a brain injury, brain cancer, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis and many other neurological diseases.
At Mountain Valley, our SLPs help our patients develop their cognition, including concentration, memory, problem solving and reasoning. When something happens to the brain, skills like managing medications, taking care of finances and planning daily activities can all be impacted. Our goal is to help our patients develop strategies and skills that will help them manage the challenges they now face in order to live the fullest life possible. QCBN
By Erin E. Aafedt, M.A. C.C.C.-S.L.P
Mountain Valley Regional Rehabilitation Hospital is a 44-bed, free-standing rehabilitation hospital that provides intensive physical rehabilitation services to patients recovering from strokes, brain and spinal cord injuries, orthopedic injuries, and other disabilities caused by injuries, illnesses, or chronic conditions. The hospital is consistently ranked in the top 10% of inpatient rehabilitation facilities nationally by the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation (UDSMR). Mountain Valley also provides in-home skilled nursing and therapy services through our home health agency, Mountain Valley Home for Health, and outpatient therapy services in our 10,000-square-foot therapy gym that includes a therapeutic pool.
For more information, visit MVRRH.ernesthealth.com.
3700 N. Windsong Drive • Prescott Valley, AZ 86314 • 928-758-8800 •
mvrrh.ernesthealth.com
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