John: Working to Return Home

John lived in his home independently and enjoyed attending church and working in his yard. One day he began having pain and swelling in his right side. He was admitted to a short-term acute care hospital where he underwent a nephrectomy, a kidney removal.

While recovering from the surgery John developed respiratory failure, was placed on a ventilator, and admitted to the hospital’s SCU. He developed pneumonia and had a feeding tube placed.

After a few weeks in the SCU, John’s doctors decided to transfer him to Kindred Hospital Indianapolis for continued care.

John was admitted to Kindred’s SCU for ventilator weaning and rehabilitation on September 30. The respiratory team began weaning protocol immediately and by October 9, John had been successfully weaned. By October 24 his feeding tube was removed and he began eating a normal diet. By October 27, John was completely off of oxygen and decannulated.

Breathing independently and having made significant progress with rehabilitation, John was discharged to a rehab facility for additional therapy so that he may soon return home. Upon discharge from Kindred, John was anxious to return to his church and his yard, and his family members credited the doctors, specialists and rehabilitation therapists at Kindred Hospital Indianapolis for helping him towards that goal.