Allene's Success Story
"Nothing beats a failure, but a try."
- Allene
From Cornerstone Specialty Hospitals Little Rock
Allene's journey started in July, 2023 when she was admitted to Baptist Health Hospital after going into respiratory failure that caused her to suffer from Anoxic Brain Injury, Cardiac Arrest and myoclonus jerks (after hyperthermia). Her family was advised to take Allene off of life support for 46 days and were told she would not survive and that there weren't any facilities in the state of Arkansas that take ventilator patients. The family did their own research and found Cornerstone Specialty Hospital Little Rock inside of Chi St. Vincent. Her children had Sammie transferred on the ventilator from Baptist Health in September of 2023.
Once Allene was transferred to Cornerstone Specialty Hospital Little Rock, our Respiratory Therapy (RT) Team and entire staff sprung into action and changed the course of Allene's life. Within a couple of days, she was weaned from the ventilator and in less than two weeks, she was decannulated.
Allene was discharged to a step down facility where she would undergo therapies to get a better quality of life that put her back in the hospital and later discharged home with her children to take care of her.
Unfortunately, Allene was admitted back into St. Vincent Hospital in April 2024, where her children were told that she would be trach and ventilator-dependent for the rest of her life. Her family did not agree nor sign off on that conclusion until she had another chance with Cornerstone Specialty Respiratory Therapists, so she was admitted back to Cornerstone Specialty Hospitals Little Rock in May ventilated with a tracheostomy (trach).
Allene had a complicated weaning process this second time around but eventually was weaned and placed back on the ventilator. A keen assessment from one of our respiratory therapists was the suspicion of Tracheomalacia (TM). A further assessment was done by a highly recommended ENT who stated he hadn't seen a severe case like Allene's in 35 years. This diagnosis often results in vent dependence with a permanent trach. The RT team was also discovered that albuterol, which she had been on for years for asthma, had a tendency to worsen the TM. The RT team quickly had the medication changed.
In late June, Allene was weaned from the ventilator and re-evaluated by an ENT. With his thorough testing he was able to prove the TM healed and gave the approval to proceed with trach weaning. On June 24th, Allene was decannulated and is now breathing on her own without oxygen and was successfully discharged home on July 1st.
Care for Complex Conditions
Patients come to our hospitals with serious conditions such as respiratory failure, complex wounds, sepsis, stroke, congestive heart failure, or even a combination of these. Their diagnoses are often complicated by existing health problems like diabetes or COPD. Many of our patients require treatments such as mechanical ventilators, dialysis, or IV therapy.