Bruce's Story
Bruce Ray had no idea what was wrong with him.
The 67-year old husband and father worked in pest control and enjoyed gardening and biking in his spare time. When Bruce began experiencing impaired coordination on his right side, he and his wife, Cindy, visited the doctor. Their internist suspected it could be Parkinson’s disease or a transient ischemic attack, which is a brief stroke-like event that occurs when blood flow to the brain is temporarily blocked. Next, they headed to a neurologist, who ordered further testing. However, before all of the tests could be completed, Bruce’s condition worsened. He began having difficulty reading, writing, speaking and moving his arm. Cindy called their son, a nurse, who urged her to take Bruce to the emergency room immediately.
Upon arrival at the hospital closest to their home, Bruce was immediately taken for a CT scan. Imaging showed that Bruce had a brain tumor. While still trying to process the news, Bruce was transferred to Banner Desert Medical Center. It would be there, five days later, that he underwent a left fronto-parietal craniotomy to remove the tumor. This procedure involved removing part of Bruce’s skull on the left side of his head in front of the ear to access the tumor.
Bruce’s surgery was a success and after a week of recovery in the hospital, he was ready for the next step in his journey. The decision about where to go for inpatient rehabilitation was an easy one – the daughter of family friend was an occupational therapist at Banner Rehabilitation Hospital East. While Bruce’s tumor had been removed, he still had a long way to go to achieve his goals of walking, talking and moving his right arm again. Bruce was also weak, restless and struggling with agitation. His care team, led by a physician and made up of nurses as well as physical, occupational and speech therapists, worked with Bruce to help him get back to his life.
Initially, Bruce needed the assistance of two people for all tasks; he was also unable to sit up and became exhausted being out of bed for more than 10 minutes. For the first 12 days at Banner Rehabilitation Hospital, Bruce was participating in physical, occupational and speech therapy and making slow but steady process. Then, on the 13th day, Bruce refused physical therapy and had a decreased appetite. The next day, Bruce became unresponsive and was rushed back to Banner Desert Medical Center. An MRI showed that he had a hematoma, or brain bleed, in the area where his tumor had been removed. The leaking blood can build up pressure on the brain, damaging brain tissue and impairing brain function.
One day later, Bruce was back in surgery undergoing a second craniotomy so the surgeon could remove the hematoma and place a drain to stop any additional leakage from pooling in the brain. Less than a week later, Bruce returned to Banner Rehabilitation Hospital to continue working toward his goals.
In physical therapy, Bruce and his team worked on getting up and moving, focusing on improving his leg strength and mobility while walking with therapist support. As he progressed, Bruce utilized the exoskeleton, a wearable robotic suit designed to help patients learn to stand and walk again. Once the exoskeleton had helped him get comfortable with walking again, Bruce’s therapists had him use the LiteGait, a mobile system offering bodyweight support that is used help patients walk and balance more independently. With time, Bruce began using the LiteGait while walking on a treadmill. His therapists challenged him by adding low hurdles and cones on the treadmill as obstacles that Bruce needed to step over or around, further helping him improve his balance. From there, Bruce progressed to using a walker – by the end of his stay in rehab, he was able to walk 700 feet with his walker with minimal assistance.
Occupational therapists focused on helping Bruce regain use of his right hand and arm. They began by using functional electrical stimulation, which mimics electrical brain signals and helps reactivate impaired muscles. Once Bruce’s muscles “woke up,” his therapists had him work on his coordination and fine motor skills by using a nut and bolt board, a therapy device where patients can place, thread and screw various sized nuts and bolts into a wooden base to help with hand and finger dexterity and strength. To increase the challenge and simultaneously help Bruce work on his balance, therapists had him stand while he worked. This enabled Bruce to be more independent in his personal care tasks, including bathing, dressing and brushing his teeth.
Speech therapists worked with Bruce on improving his cognition and speech. Initially, he had a hard time communicating; when he spoke, it sounded like gibberish, which made Bruce more frustrated. As time in rehab passed, the speech and memory strategies his therapists had him practice in his sessions began to make a huge difference. Therapists also taught Bruce safe swallowing strategies to reduce the risk of choking.
By the end of Bruce’s second stay at Banner Rehabilitation Hospital East – which spanned 25 days – he had made great progress and was planning to continue his recovery with home health care before progressing to outpatient therapy. “I’ve got a long way to go, but they’ve given me hope,” Bruce said of his care team. Cindy also had high praise for the team, saying, “The therapists took a real interest in him, you could tell. They know what they are doing.”
Upon discharge, Bruce was most looking forward to eating a hamburger, sitting on the back porch and looking at the garden.
Reflecting on his Banner Rehabilitation Hospital care team, Bruce said: “I wish I could take everyone home with me because I have all these people trust and that I can depend on. My overall experience has been fantastic.”