Georgia Reece had one major goal when she entered the Rehabilitation Institute at Palmdale Regional Medical Center: learning how to walk again after breaking her right thigh bone (femur) in a car accident.
“When I arrived, I was in severe pain and could barely get out of bed,” she recalls. She quickly discovered that she was in the right place to get better physically and emotionally.
Initially upon arriving, she was grateful to have her own private room and bathroom, and she was immediately reassured by the caring, compassionate staff. “They made me feel like they were there just to help me.”
She was a little intimidated at first by her rehab regimen, which included three hours of therapy a day. But her team helped her manage her pain and her schedule, and she steadily gained confidence walking with a walker. “Even when I didn’t want to go to physical therapy or dinner, they had a gentle way of prodding me and helping me see the light at the end of the tunnel, and of course I always felt better.”
In between therapy sessions, she ate meals with other patients, and she also had a chance to practice real-life skills like cooking and laundry, which boosted her confidence and morale. “I got to leave a half week early because I was doing so well,” she says. “I felt very confident by the time I went home. It was pretty miraculous.”
As an added personal accomplishment, she quit smoking during her 11-day stay, which was something she’d been wanting to do for months.
Reece gets emotional when she talks about her experience. “I fell head over heels for all the therapists and everybody that helped me,” she says. “I am grateful that the Antelope Valley has a place like this … It was five-star treatment all the way around.”
Restoring independence
The Rehabilitation Institute at Palmdale Regional is designed to help restore function and enhance quality of life for patients with disabling physical or neurological conditions, including:
- Stroke
- Brain trauma
- Brain injury
- Spinal cord injury
- Orthopedic injury
The unit features 27 private rooms and specialized areas for training and activities.