(Photo of June with therapists Joseph Zaldua, OT, and Camille Navata, OTA)
Submitted by Donald Millares, TPM, Glenwood Care Center, Oxnard, CA
Today, we celebrated with one of our outpatients who successfully drove herself to the facility, something she could have not done in the last six months. Our Occupational Therapy Assistant who mainly has her for sessions cried in joy with our patient, celebrating her achievement. Words cannot describe the emotion that was seen as the whole rehab department clapped in joy.
Our patient June has been coming to our facility for Occupational Therapy Outpatient Services to work on both of her hands to regain function and take her life back into control. Prior to coming, she was one of our in-person residents who then discharged out of our facility and became our very first outpatient. During her stay, she developed a strong bond with the nursing staff, housekeepers, and our amazing Occupational Therapy Assistant Camille Navata and Occupational Therapist Joe Zaldua. She regained her ability to do her daily routines while wearing a soft cast that covered all the way up to her PIP joints of her fingers. Once the soft cast was removed and she was cleared for discharge, she declined to attend other outpatient clinics in the area that were recommended by her MD and decided to work with Camille and Joe once again for our outpatient services.
June knows how they work and established a great client/therapist relationship and entrusted their expertise on her road to recovery. Working together, they were able to break down scar tissue to allow her to regain strength for functional grasp patterns and increased ROM for both hands and upper extremities. With the constant intensive Occupational Therapy sessions, June was able to complete her main goal of driving her car again – something she could have not done ever since her incident that left her hands immobilized for quite some time.
Now with the regained ability, June has the freedom to go places and not have to rely on others to drive her. Camille and Joe’s dedication shows exactly why we do the things we do and celebrate the achievements of our patients – to better our patients and guide them on the healing path of independence.