Majestic Care of Lafayette is proud to spotlight resident Joseph Lumley’s Success Story!
It was early February. Joseph noticed pain in his knee and lower left leg. After consulting an orthopedic surgeon, they found issue with the anterior aspect of his patellar tendon, as well as a large abscess in his left calf. Joe’s surgeon gave him a few options. Concerned with the possibility of recurring infections and additional surgeries, Joseph chose to have an above-the-knee amputation.
After 42 days in the hospital, Joseph transferred to Majestic Care of Lafayette for more healing, recovery, and physical therapy. When he arrived, Joseph required assistance from three clinicians to safely transfer from bed to a wheelchair. Joseph was scared, unsure of what his new normal would look like. He feared falling as he reoriented himself to life with limb loss. Before surgery, he never gave a second thought to those things we do with 2 intact limbs. His biggest goals were to get back to as many of those things as possible.
A dedicated team of nurses and therapists put him on regimen of occupational and physical therapy for up to 4 hours a week. They began to teach him how to transfer to multiple surfaces and led him through strengthening exercises, wheelchair mobility and management. His nurses and therapists also focused on wound management. They taught Joseph wound care hygiene and pre-prosthetic care to prepare her for eventual fitting of a lower extremity prosthesis.
Joseph came to every therapy session with a positive attitude and willingness to try anything the therapists threw his way. Joseph achieved all his goals including independently transferring to and from a variety of surfaces. He gained strength and confidence in his ability to care for himself and was no longer fearful of his future!