Holland Completes Remarkable Stroke Recovery With Help From ARU
June 20, 2023
Buddy Holland entered the EAMC emergency room with left-sided weakness, left facial droop and slurred speech.
He was diagnosed with a stroke, and his symptoms worsened throughout his hospital stay. He was able to walk some when aided by a physical therapist but struggled to keep a grip on his walker and dragged his foot as he moved. He was also unable to dress himself without help.
Before his stroke, Holland was independent and able to care for himself. He would not let the stroke keep him from recovering his independence.
“I was determined to get back what I had lost,” Holland said. “That’s just who I am.”
Holland was transferred to the Acute Inpatient Rehab Unit (ARU) at EAMC-Lanier, and over the course of his 14-day stay made incredible progress. Evolution of his stroke caused difficulties with syncope during his rehabilitation, but his medical team and therapists helped him manage this so that he could continue to participate with his therapy.
By the end of his stay at the ARU, he was able to walk over 300-feet with a cane and had begun working on walking without a device. He could go up and down a full flight of steps without physical help and could get in and out his car on his own. He was able to dress himself with adaptive equipment and training from occupational therapy, and had overcome much of his slurred speech difficulties with speech therapy.
Buddy was thrilled to share his story, saying, “I want to get better to help other people.”
He did a daily devotional and said he knew the Lord would see him through this. When asked what advice he had for other patients he said, “be determined, because it does get better.”
Click here to learn more about the ARU.
