Mr. De Luna was just 44 years old when he was involved in an unfortunate motor vehicle accident which required him to be intubated and placed on mechanical ventilation. On September 15 th , after several failed weaning attempts at the acute care setting, he was admitted to the PAM Specialty Hospital of New Braunfels facility still on mechanical ventilation.
Upon admission, Mr. De Luna was also dependent and unable to perform any transfer, ambulation, or activities of daily living. He was unable to eat, and used a letter board or gestures for communication. After a few very intense days of weaning trials, he was finally able to tolerate being off the ventilator, and on trach collar for hours at a time. He continued to progress until he was finally liberated from the vent on October 5 th , and by October the 8 th, Mr. De Luna had been decannulated.
At the time of discharge, Mr. De Luna was independent with getting up to edge of the bed, required supervision with transfers and ambulated with the rolling walker up to 335 ft. with contact guard assistance. He was able to perform his activities of daily living with standby to minimum assist and was able to eat and drink normally. Thanks to his unwavering support from his wife and his hard work and determination, he was able to be discharged from our facility and move on to the next phase of his recovery. Congratulations, Mr. De Luna!