David Smith
For David Smith, a local Laurens County resident, April Fools Day began like any other day. He was not feeling his best but he had several things to do that day. As the day went on he began to feel worse and his breathing worsened. He initially asked his wife to take him to Macon to the emergency room because his lung doctor was there. As they were travelling in to town, he knew he would not be able to make the drive to Macon and asked her to bring him to Fairview Park Hospital. He walked into the emergency room and was visibly short of breath and immediately taken back to a room. He was placed on oxygen and an EKG was done, from there multiple tests were ran. Respiratory therapy began giving breathing treatments and his physician told him and his wife that he was experiencing a COPD exacerbation and that he was to be admitted.
Mr. Smith was admitted to 4th floor and it was a very long night. He could not breathe, the nurses and respiratory therapists came in and out during the night trying to help but he was struggling for each breath. On day two, he was placed on a Bi-Pap machine to help force air in and out of his lungs. He got some relief from this but by the end of the day he was exhausted. A respiratory therapist that night was vital as they took care of Mr. Smith-an assessment was done and they consulted with a physician in the critical care unit and Mr. Smith was transferred to CCU soon after. His breathing had continued to worsen and with fatigue set in the decision was made to intubate him and place him on a ventilator. Mr. Smith would stay intubated and supported by the breathing machine for 15 days. In those days, Mr. Smith was touched and cared for by many nurses, therapists, technicians, and housekeepers. On day 15, his pulmonologists and hospitalists made the decision to perform a tracheostomy to help in weaning off the breathing machine. He remained in CCU for 28 days; he was then transferred to the 3rd floor in PCU and was then moved to the 6th floor for inpatient physical therapy. He remained in physical therapy for 2 weeks.
Once Mr. Smith regained some of his strength and was weaned completely off his tracheostomy he was released from the hospital and returned to his home. From this point, he was still very weak and continued to require outpatient physical rehab. He spent a few weeks in outpatient therapy and began making huge strides in his recovery. Muscle strength came back and each day he was closer to finding his new "normal" again. After he completed physical therapy, he was referred into the pulmonary rehab program. As his body continued to heal and strengthen each day, he was finally able to regain his independence and begin doing his regular daily activities. He graduated from the pulmonary rehab program and chose to enroll in the maintenance program where he can continue to exercise under supervision and maintain his disease and condition.
Mr. Smith has been a patient at Fairview Park Hospital in some capacity for over 6 months now and is grateful to his physicians and the entire staff that was involved in his care. He would like to thank each and every one of you and let you know that he continues to share his testimony and will forever be grateful for what was and continues to be done for him.
November is COPD awareness month. Please join us in bringing awareness to this disease. Mr. Smith's story is one that shows how vital each person in our facility truly is - together we can make a difference in our patient's lives. Thank you to each of you for all you do to make our community and patients feel loved and cared for during their stay here at Fairview Park Hospital.
