henry starlin
5/5
When I was transferred from St. John's hospital to Glenwood Care Center I wasn't in very good shape - I had been flat on my back for at least 4 days and wasn't even certain I could walk - my first night - due to being internally flooded with liquids and meds at the hospital for a really bad infection found me having to go to the bathroom at least 8 times that first night - I finally realized I could get out of bed, plop myself into a wheelchair and maneuver to the bathroom to take care of it myself - but the nurses on duty would have none of that - they needed to make sure I could safely get out of bed and move to the wheelchair and then get situated in the bathroom and then back to the bed. I decided right then and there that I was going to do everything in my power to 'get up and get out'. During my two weeks stay at Glenwood I had physical therapy 5 days a week and occupational therapy (which I thought was kind of silly, for me, but realized the need for it) and finally speech therapy which went really fast since I could always talk and that was one thing I hadn't lost during the past few weeks so a big thank you to Victor.
My main evening nurse, Shanai, was absolutely wonderful - always a smile and friendly word. One day Naomi showed up and said she was there to 'do my toes' and clipped the nails and doctored the big toe - which was the origin for the dreaded infection - this care continued on for the rest of my stay at Glenwood. All the nurses - and there were many that I cannot recall the names of that were totally professional, helpful, friendly and kind.
I was sort of dreading shower day but when Shanai wheeled me to the shower room and got me prepared for the shower itself it turned into a life enhancing experience - I'm embarrassed to say that I cannot remember the young lady's name who oversaw the shower room and made everyone feel comfortable AND clean - I had never in my adult life sat in a chair while being showered by a female and was at first apprehensive but once the warm water hit me I didn't want it to stop.
I also want to say something about the food - I was asked by the nutritionist in my first week there what I would like for breakfast - I said one egg - one piece of toast and some cranberry juice - and that is what I got for the remainder of my stay. AND I would imagine that some folks might find fault with the food but overall, I could find no complaint - some things I didn't like and some things I did like and especially the Argentine Beef Stew - it was extremely tasty - you can Google this and make it for yourself.
I guess the overall most important thing going on at Glenwood is the actual physical therapy - there were many therapists and I think I interacted with most of them during my two weeks stay but it was Eunice who really got me ready for going back home - she did tough love with a silk whip and I will be forever grateful for her help.
For the past few years I have been using a cane but Eunice and Lisa - another tiger working to get us all up and out - wanted me to be able to walk on my own - even though they knew I used a cane - and they did.
The main goal of all the therapists and nurses was to help us get strong enough to get back home and live an independent life - just as we had before finding ourselves at Glenwood.
Overall Glenwood was the perfect transition for me from hospital to back home again - I cannot thank the entire staff enough for all their help.