Center for Rehabilitation serves patient’s care continuum COVER
S T O R Y, C O N T I N U E D
ful. But soon after the surgery, Smallwood suffered major pulmonary complications. His lungs filled with fluid, making it impossible for him to breathe. His blood pressure plummeted and his heart stopped beating. Doctors quickly revived Smallwood and gave him the oxygen he needed through ECMO—extracorporeal membrane oxygenation—a mechanical bypass pump that circulates blood through an artificial lung outside the body. Superb nursing care “In most hospitals, he would have died that night,” Dr. Banbury says. “But we had the equipment to keep him alive—and a team that knows how to use it.” For two weeks, Smallwood was heavily sedated while his body healed. “Throughout those long days, we fell in love with John and his family,” recalls Kim Proctor, RN, part of the team of nurses who cared for Smallwood in the cardiac intensive care unit. “The moment he awoke was a thrill beyond words.” Dr. Banbury says superb nursing played a significant role in the sportswriter’s amazing recovery. “They could not have cared for him more tenderly if he was their own child,” he says. Getting patients home faster On Nov. 1, 37 days after his heart surgery, Smallwood began the arduous process of recovery at the Center for
recalls. “But most of all, I wanted to Rehabilitation at Wilmington Hospital. write about the nurses and all the When he arrived he was too weak to people who had taken such good care get out of bed and had to be transof me.” ferred into a wheelchair with a mechanical lift. “I'm in the Christiana Care system, and The team the people here literally saved my life.” worked diligently to —John Smallwood help him regain function and independence. ‘With me every step of the way’ “In rehab, we take the life that has been given back to us and give it new purpose,” says Rebecca Whitney, director of Patient Care. When it comes to helping patients attain independence, the Center for Rehabilitation excels, with higher outcome measurement scores than regional and national averages. Patients are also far more likely to gohome directly from the center than to a nursing home. “We get patients home faster—and they also are able to function better,” says Kelly Eschbach, M.D., the center’s medical director. Using his forum to offer thanks Smallwood soon began writing again, painstakingly typing a column for the Daily News. “I'm in the Christiana Care system, and the people here literally saved my life,” he wrote. “I wanted to let my readers know where I was, that I hadn’t changed jobs or gone away,” Smallwood
Less than two weeks later, he would face yet another challenge. The medication that helped to push blood to his brain and organs works by robbing blood from the extremities. An unfortunate side effect is tissue damage to the digits, and Smallwood lost all 10 toes. Benjamin Cooper, M.D., a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, performed the amputations on Nov. 20. A few days later, Smallwood resumed rehab. “They pushed me hard, and I needed that,” he says. “They knew how determined I was to get home, and they were with me every step of the way.” On Dec. 4, he rejoined his wife and 5year-old daughter Ryan at home in Smyrna. Daily News readers are enjoying his columns once more. “The people at Christiana Care were able to work a miracle,” he says. “That’s why I’m here.”