Thrive - Winter 2017 - 7


occupational therapists, dietitians and
social workers.
"It took away a lot of the worry and
fear because I knew what to expect,"
McGrew says.
After surgery, McGrew spent four
days at Lake Regional Hospital. The care,
she says, was a perfect balance of professional and personal.
"Professional because everybody
really knew how to do their job, and I
felt safe," she says. "And then also personal because I never felt like anybody
was just doing their job. I felt like they
really, genuinely cared about me. People
were always asking, 'Can I do anything
for you?' Not only the medical professionals-the techs, nurses, physicians-
but also the housekeeping personnel
and volunteers. I felt really thankful."
After being discharged, McGrew
decided to spend seven days at the
Lake Regional Skilled Nursing Facility,
located within the hospital. She received
physical therapy twice a day and occupational therapy as needed.
"The best thing about the Skilled
Nursing Facility was that I had an extra
week to focus-just focus-on getting
better and getting stronger," she says.

Expert Care Close to Home
For the rest of her summer, McGrew
went to the hospital three times a week
for physical therapy. She switched to
twice a week when school started.
"My physical therapists are wonderful about helping me with practical
aspects of life," she says. "They ask me
what is challenging me and then show
me exercises and other tips to help
make these tasks easier and to help me
get stronger and more flexible. There
is some stiffness, but I have no pain in
my joints. I am able to go up and down
stairs and am getting faster when walking. I was still using a cane for the first
week back to work but abandoned it the
second week.
"I know a lot of people think they
have to go to a bigger city to get good

McGrew with
School of the Osage
student Carly Meyer

hospital care, like somehow, right
here at home, it's not going to be good
enough," she adds. "I didn't experience
that at all. My surgeons used the latest
methods, and along with that professionalism, I had the personal aspect

because I had nurses who were parents
of kids I've had in school. I had people
from the community I know, and that
means a lot to me, to be in my community, where I know the people who are
taking care of me." 1

WATCH Kristi McGrew share her experience at www.lakeregional.com/HereForYou

7
http://www.lakeregional.com/HereForYou
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Thrive - Winter 2017
