Gary and Betty Carter have been living life to the fullest, thanks in part to the physical therapists at Dixie Regional Medical Center and Homecare who’ve helped them work through challenging health issues. About two years ago, when Gary began struggling with mobility problems, Betty says his rehab team helped him get his life back.
Gary, who’s 87, had come into the Dixie Regional Emergency Department with a staph infection and he soon learned the infection had triggered a health condition called rhabdomyolysis that deteriorates the muscles in your body.
Philip Lamoreaux and Lindsay Pugmire
Lindsay Pugmire, a physical therapist in Dixie’s inpatient neuro rehab unit, says when Gary started rehabilitation, he was initially unable to walk and in need of a significant amount of help due to rigidity in his trunk, along with back pain, and muscular weakness.
“Gary was completely dependent on others to care for himself or move around,” Lindsay says. “Initially he was in a power wheelchair.”
“He was put completely down,” Betty adds. “He had no strength and lost even the ability to feed himself.”
While in the neuro rehab unit, Gary worked with Lindsay, as well as Philip Lamoreaux, an occupational therapist, who Betty says were both incredibly helpful not only in helping Gary gain his strength back, but also his life.
Gary and Betty Carter
“Most people didn’t expect him to recover, but through physical therapy and the support of his family he kept going,” Betty says. “The therapists made him get up and go, whether it was walking in the hallway or simply motivating him to do more.”
Lindsay says, “By the time we did his home evaluation just prior to discharge, he was independently walking, climbing into his truck, feeding his dogs, and walking down hills on his property.”
After heading home from the hospital, Gary and Betty worked with Matt Johansen, a physical therapist from Homecare who’d had Gary as a patient a few years earlier after hip surgery. Matt’s efforts helped Gary recover quickly. Matt recently was able to reconnect with the family as he worked with Betty after she had a hip replacement. He was pleased to see how well Gary is doing now.
“Gary still does the exercises Matt gave him every day and they’ve kept him going,” Betty says. “This summer he installed fence posts and one hundred feet of barbed wire. We’ll always be grateful for those at Dixie Regional who gave him a chance to come home and go back to normal activity. They’re an amazing team.”