Johnny Johnson, age 71, has been here at Lake Village Nursing & Rehabilitation Center for about five or six months. He is one of our star patients who has come a long way.
Initially, Johnny would not participate in therapy services, until therapy was presented as an elite exercise club not offered to everyone, with a membership card that was marked off after each exercise session. Once the card was completed, then he moved up to the next level. He chose his membership gift, a steak dinner, and Therapy took him to a local diner for chicken-fried steak with his daughter.
Some of the approaches used by Lake Village therapists included:
- Barihab to increase standing tolerance/weight bearing
- SciFit for endurance and total body conditioning
- Safety awareness
- Functional activity tolerance
- Gait training
- Strength training
We would like to share Johnny’s story, because everyone loves a happy ending! Here is a summary in his own words of his experience at Lake Village.
Back in January, at my country house in Arkansas, I was out hunting for deer on a cool, crisp morning. I fell out of an 18-foot metal deer stand. As I was falling, I remember, I was face-first, but somehow I made myself turn over in the air and land on my back. I laid on the ground for about an hour because I just couldn’t get up. Slowly, I crawled to my four-wheeler and drove home.
I could hardly walk because of the pain, so my wife took me to the Wadley Hospital in Texarkana. It turned out I had trouble with my vertebrae and a head injury. I knew I needed rehab, so my wife asked around and heard great things about Lake Village in Lewisville. It was a good option because my daughter lived here.
I don’t remember much about this time at the Wadley Hospital or even my first few weeks at Lake Village. I was extremely sick and partly crazy. I was cursing more than a sailor, wouldn’t take my medication and wouldn’t do anything they wanted me to. They were needling me all the time with a bunch of pain meds, so I just was out of it.
When I finally felt better, I joined the rehab exercises with a Basic membership. I finally started to walk, build strength and work my mind. I was upgraded to the Gold membership, which focused on even more walking. Now, I’m almost done with Gold, so I’ll be getting a steak dinner. Next, I’ll do the Platinum and Diamond until I’m ready to go home.
The staff here are just wonderful, especially the ones in the fitness center. It’s a nice facility; everybody works with you and gets along with you. I’ve been real satisfied with this place.