Patient Stories

With over a decade of roadblocks that may have initially felt impossible to get through, Rhona’s optimism and witty spirit shine through it all.

In February of 2014, Rhona suffered from her first cardiac arrest. Leading up to it, she was having bad back pain, but did not think of it as something severe at the time. Rhona was initially brought to the Hospital of Central CT, formerly known as the New Britain General Hospital at the time. When she arrived, Rhona went into cardiac arrest and was going to be pronounced dead. Then, her left arm moved.

Knowing that this wasn’t the end gave her hope. Nonetheless, the journey was still far from easy. Rhona’s body started shutting down, her organs were failing, and there was a blood clot found in her left arm. This lead to Rhona being in a coma for the next several months, uncertain if she would wake up again. When she finally did, she was in a state of shock without her left arm.

As Rhona slowly started to gain her bearings, the hospital was ready to transfer her to a nursing home. However, Rhona’s husband was adamant about getting her to Hospital for Special Care instead. Later that year, Rhona was admitted to HFSC as an inpatient on the Cardiac Medical Unit for around 2 months.

Rhona then started doing both physical and occupational therapy to gain her strength back. Robyn Cop, an Occupational Therapist at HFSC, played a significant role in helping Rhona get back up on her feet again and begin learning to operate with a prosthetic arm. Once Rhona started to feel more independent in doing basic everyday tasks, she stopped her regular therapy appointments for a few years.

Around 2 summers ago, Rhona was developing issues with her stump and had a lot of pain in her right shoulder due to overexerting her right arm. In an effort to manage this pain, Rhona returned to HFSC and started doing outpatient occupational therapy intermittently. Kate Williams and Carly Law who are both Occupational Therapists at HFSC, worked a great deal with Rhona and have been able to see her make amazing progress. She is currently using a myoelectric prosthetic for her left arm. This prosthetic has sensors built into it, allowing the wrist and fingers to move and be able to hold objects. At HFSC, we are proud to highlight our expertise in prosthetics and our focus on advancing the use of our technology to enhance our level of care.

Rhona’s journey and commitment to finding new ways to improve mobility with a prosthetic left arm, while still being able to make light of her situation, is truly encouraging to watch.