Posted on July 27, 2010
Stroke patient Sandra Boyce tells her story
The 51-year-old widow from Grand Rapids suffers from diabetes, so she thought that might be the problem. After she rested a bit, her arm went numb and her leg was tingling.
“I called my sister and said that something was wrong, and I needed to go to the hospital,” Sandra recalls.
Her sister brought her to Mercy Health Saint Mary’s, where Sandra was diagnosed with a stroke that had affected the right side of her body and caused weakness in her arm and leg.
On Christmas day, Sandra was transferred from Saint Mary’s to Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital.
“Every day I was given physical, occupational, and speech therapy. I did exercises and got massages,” Sandra says. “The staff started by teaching me to take care of my basic needs, like getting dressed. They worked together in all aspects I needed to get my body back to functioning correctly. They made me want to push myself to get better.”
Sandra found Mary Free Bed’s staff to be wonderful, caring and patient people, who put her needs first.
“Not only did they help with all my physical limitations, they gave me hope and confidence,” she adds.
Sandra was discharged from Mary Free Bed in January. She’s happy to be home with her daughter and six grandchildren. She’s also pleased to be receiving in-home visits twice a week from Mary Free Bed therapists, who are helping to further her recovery.
“For anyone who’s gone through what I have, I highly recommend Mary Free Bed,” she says. “The staff and social workers are wonderful people. Everyone is treated the same no matter what their income.”
