Here’s Marisel Mendez’s Moving Story

Released from hospital in late July after having major open heart surgery, Marisel Mendez arrived at Oakwood Healthcare motivated and determined to regain her independence. The surgery took a great toll on Marisel’s strength, endurance and mobility and she required rehabilitation to help her complete the simple everyday tasks she was once able to do like dressing, grooming, and walking. The Oakwood team created an individualized rehabilitation program for Marisel that was focused on helping her regain her strength and independence so she could return home safely and be with family once again.

Marisel was extremely motivated since Day 1 to complete all of her therapy sessions, despite also being a dialysis patient. She fought through the frequent fatigue that dialysis causes and pushed herself to attend every session. Although she entered our building in a stretcher and used a wheelchair for long transports,at the time of her discharge, she walked out independently, without the use of an assistive device!

“Therapy helped me a lot. They sent me home with exercises that I continue to do every day. I had rehab once before, and this experience was so much better!”