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by Mercy's Kate Shupert
When Frank Zieba started feeling some weakness at home, he knew something wasn’t right. It progressed rapidly to him losing his balance and his speech. His family raced him to the emergency department at Mercy Hospital Southeast, where Zieba was quickly suspected of experiencing a stroke.
After a stint in Mercy Southeast’s intensive care and neurological units, Zieba was moved to the inpatient rehabilitation floor (IRF) at the hospital, where he began the long journey to recovery. He had lost some of his vision, his ability to swallow and speak, and entire parts of his body weren’t working correctly. It took three caregivers just to help him walk.
“It was really scary,” Zieba recalled. “I lost my freedom. But everybody in the hospital from the ICU to neuro to IRF, they started working with me immediately to help me recover.”
Zieba was discharged from the hospital, but it wasn’t long before he had to be readmitted. The stroke caused him to develop a seizure disorder, bringing him right back to Mercy Southeast’s IRF. Will DeStefano, an occupational therapist, Kaitlin Heuring, a physical therapist, and Megan Mayhall, a speech therapist, all began working with Zieba on the IRF with one goal — to get him better and to get him home.
“The entire team on this floor were fantastic,” Zieba said. “They were so supportive and always came with a cheerful attitude. They were so helpful and gave me hope. I really want to thank my nurses who I’ve become especially close with to this day.”
But Zieba’s wife Lori, who he has been married to for 30 years and has been with him by his side through this entire journey, knew he needed more therapy after he came home. He still couldn’t walk. They went to Mercy Therapy Services in Cape Girardeau, where they met Hayley Harris, a physical therapist, Kristin McRaven, an occupational therapist, and Meghan Orr, a personal trainer at neighboring Mercy Fitness Center. Over the last year or so, Zieba has met all three of these caregivers at least once a week, sometimes twice a week. Hayley and Kristen have worked to help Zieba regain his mobility while Meghan works with him on gaining strength, endurance and stretching. He also utilizes Mercy’s massage therapy to help ease his muscles of any tightness and discomfort.
“There was a moment when I realized things were turning around,” Zieba said. “When I had my first evaluation, Hayley wanted me to move my left leg, and I said, ‘I don’t think I can do that.’ She said, ‘I didn’t ask you if you think you can. I told you to move it.’ And I was able to lift my leg. That’s when I knew it was starting to work.”
Today, Zieba has more strength and his speech has returned to near normal. Most importantly, he is walking on his own, progressively going longer distances with less assistance.
“Frank has just been blessed by these qualified and caring individuals,” Lori said. “It’s the people of Mercy that made his experience what it is. What they do is so very important, and they are a blessing to us.”
To learn more about Mercy Therapy Services – Independence Street in Cape Girardeau, visit www.mercy.net/practice/mercy-therapy-services-independence-street/ or call 573-986-4400.
