HOURS
ROCK HILL, SC
Mon Fri 1 pm 9pm
Sat 9 am 7 pm
Phone# 803-324-2255
Fax# 803-329-8800
COLUMBIA, SC
Mon 2 pm 9 pm
Tues 11 am 10 pm
Wed Fri 2 pm 9 pm
Sat 9 am 7 pm
Phone# 803-865-8881
Fax# 803-865-8875
IRMO, SC
Mon Wed 1 pm 9 pm
Thurs 9 am 9 pm
Fri 10 am 7 pm
Sat 9 am 5 pm
Phone# 803-732-7880
Fax# 803-732-6156
Port St Lucie
Mon Fri 12 pm 8 pm
Sat 9 am 5 pm
Phone# 772-408-5800
Ext 27
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Once Again Calling all Prayers
UPDATE DEC 2008
My brother was discharged from the nursing home the last week of August. While medically he certainly should have benefited from the 24/7 nursing care, in reality the care in nursing homes (he was in two different ones), is anything but. We found the quality of the staff to be sub-par at the very least. It is so sad to see the negleUnderline.ct the residents of nursing homes receive. My brother was very lucky because myself and his friend Nancy were there so often. Therefore we were able to monitor his care very closely. But for the people that rarely have visitors and may not have their full mental capacity any longer, their care suffers tremendously. For Jimmy's mental stability, we made the decision for Nancy to take him home. Nancy is a true saint and I don't have any idea what I would do without her. She tends to Jimmy's needs every day including taking him to all of his doctors appointments. Jimmy wanted to dance with Vicki at her wedding more than anything. He has worked hard to be able to stand in order to accomplish this goal. On Oct 19 he was able to prove to all the doctors that told us he would be bedridden, how very wrong they were. Jimmy did dance with Vicki. Jimmy also passed his swallow test a few weeks ago and is scheduled to have his feeding tube removed just before Christmas. From not being able to eat, his teeth are in terrible shape now, but he is in the process of getting extensive restorations done. While he is still in a wheelchair most of the time, his voice is still not back to normal because of the paralyzed vocal cord and his right side still doesn't work very well, he is here with us. He is able to call me daily on his new cell phone (the Jitterbug designed for senior citizens). His short term memory isn't very vivid but his long term memory is phenomenal. He even remembers things we did as kids. Thank you for your prayers and thank you to God for allowing me to get to know my brother all over again.
UPDATE AUG 2008
Jimmy remains in a nursing home at the present time, although I am working on a waiver with the insurance company to allow him to be transferred home. This waiver will allow him to have home health care. He has continued to make some progress during the past several months. He is not able to walk yet, but his strength is improving. His is able to maneuver his right arm somewhat, but it remains weak and unsteady. He is still on a feeding tube as the paralysis in his throat has not subsided. He can talk, although the speech is very deep not always clear, as the vocal cords suffered paralysis as well. He is actually having a surgical procedure on August 15 on the vocal cords that may improve his speech. This is somewhat risky for him to go under general anesthesia, due to his proneness of stroke, but he wants to take the chance of improved quality of life. The doctors say only time will tell with his ability to swallow.
His mental game has deteriorated a little bit, but I think once he gets out of the nursing home this will get better. He believed I put him in the nursing home to die, which of course is very untrue. Nursing homes are the pits, and in many cases just a holding cell for people awaiting their death. I have never seen one that truly has compassion for the residents. They are certainly a necessary element in our society, however the care by both the doctors and the nurses is certainly not up to par. Usually the volunteers and nursing assistants are the ones that care the most.
UPDATE
My brother was transferred from NRH to a Nursing Home on May 22. Here we continue to work to assist him with normal everyday functions. The main goals are to get him ambulatory and get the feeding tube removed. He has come a long way with the help of the NRH team. He has learned to work the remote for the TV and with the help of glasses can now focus well enough to enjoy some of his favorite shows. I visited him May 30 & 31, where we had time to reminisce about our childhood. His long term memory is amazing. He remembers quite a bit about growing up and corrected me on the stats for Big Brown and the upcoming Belmont Horse Race. He was able to have a few spoons of pureed food which he was extremely happy about. I call him everyday and just keep encouraging him to be strong and fight to continue to get better.
On January 13, 2008 my brother, James Stowell, from Annapolis, MD, aged 44 suffered a massive stroke.  The call came around 3:15 am in the morning. I threw some clothes and the dog in the car and headed up the road. During the drive, the neurosurgeon called me on my cell phone to say he needed to remove a part of the brain called the cerebellum due to increased swelling. If I did not give consent, he would not be alive when I got there. Obviously, I gave the consent.
Jimmy had a tracheotomy to allow him to breath, a feeding tube inserted to give him nutrition and a drainage tube in his skull. He remained in the hospital until February 9 at which time the hospital stated there was no reason medically for him to remain there. He was unable to speak, walk, focus his eyes, eat, had minimal movement of his limbs, etc. He still had the trach & feeding tube. We transferred him to a Nursing Rehab Facility, where he continued to deteriorate.
I began to fight to get him accepted to the National Rehabilitation Hospital for Brain Injuries & Stroke Victims in Washington, DC. Jimmy started rebelling a bit, probably out of frustration, pulled out his trach a couple of times and fell out of the bed several times. Finally on March 26, I received word that he had been accepted at NRH.
He remains at NRH at this time. I visit about every other week. He undergoes 4 6 hours of physical, occupational and speech therapy a day. Each day a small miracle occurs. It is amazing how the little things matter, like sitting in a chair for 30 minutes, recognizing a picture, making a sound, having the sensation of being thirsty or hungry.
The staff at NRH are wonderful.  It is amazing how much patience they have and how eager they are to see improvement. My brother had the trach removed today, April 10 and will now start to learn how to swallow again. He is beginning to form some words.
We dont know how long he will be an in-patient at NRH. Any extra prayers you can spare, will surely be appreciated. The power of prayer is second to none. Thanks to all of you that have sent your well wishes thru cards and mostly thru the hugs. I love & desperately need the hugs !!!!!
Deborah Gardner
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