Humberto: Recovery from a Serious Disability

Humberto lived in Bakersfield with his wife and 8-year-old son. He was disabled and did not work due to end stage renal failure which required outpatient hemodialysis three times a week. Humberto was very involved in caring for his son at home.

On June 8, Humberto was admitted to a local hospital in Bakersfield after having four days of increasing headache and confusion. He was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma which required a craniotomy, and respiratory failure with which required ventilator support. He also had a feeding tube placed.

Because of his complex condition, Humberto was transferred to Kindred Hospital Brea on July 2 for continued care. He came to Kindred with the goal of improving his neurological status, weaning him from the ventilator and removing his tracheostomy, improving his nutritional status, improving his functional mobility, and managing his chronic end stage renal disease.

Humberto made slow and steady progress throughout his stay. He was weaned from the ventilator, and made progress in his cognition. He began working more consistently with physical, occupational, and speech therapy. He was weaned off the ventilator, passed his swallowing tests and was placed on a diet. Humberto began to become much more alert and oriented to all aspects of his care and current situation. He began to walk with minimal assistance and eventually independently with a walker. He had his tracheostomy removed.

Throughout this process his family would visit from Bakersfield and the greater Los Angeles area. Eventually Humberto was stable enough to return to a rehabilitation facility in the Bakersfield area. There he could continue physical therapy, continue outpatient hemodialysis and follow up with his surgeon for skull flap replacement.

“I am very happy that I got better,” Humberto said surrounded by family on the day of his discharge. “I thank God for the people that took care of me. I want to go home and be with my family and I think that is going to happen now.”

Kindred Hospital Brea’s success is apparent in stories like these as well as in our quality scores – our patients and families rate our quality of care at 95.6 percent and 98.6 percent would recommend Kindred.