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"What Comes Next?"

Inpatient medical rehabilitation can transform your life — helping your strength, skills and independence, getting you home sooner, and helping you return to work, school or leisure activities you love. You'll benefit from the expert care, innovative treatment and advanced technologies provided by a multidisciplinary team of rehabilitation specialists.

Led by a physiatrist, a board-certified physician specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation, your team may include rehabilitation nurses, physical, occupational, cognitive and respiratory therapists; speech language pathologists; psychologists and neuropsychologists; dietitians; pharmacists; prosthetists; orthotists; recreation therapists; social workers/case managers; and other clinical and support staff. Together, they will tailor treatment to your needs, goals and hopes for the future.

You and your family may find yourselves asking the daunting question of “What comes next?” 

The patients below chose inpatient medical rehabilitation as the next step in their recovery journeys. Read their stories and learn about the treatment and encouragement they received, their courage and determination, their challenges and their triumphs.

Are you an AMRPA member interested in submitting a story? Visit our submissions page to learn more.

Content
Marisa

A Whirlwind Recovery

It’s not every day that you’re thrown into the air in the middle of your own home.

But that’s exactly what happened to Dave Boughner when a tornado tore through the town
of Gaylord, Michigan, in May 2022. As the EF-3 tornado reached Mr. Boughner’s home, it
burst through the walls, tossing him airborne and causing rubble to collapse on top of him,
pinning him to the ground.

When he arrived at University of Michigan Health, Mr. Boughner was diagnosed with
multiple fractures in his spine and ribs and had no sensation below his chest despite
exhibiting some involuntary movement in his lower extremities. He was placed on a
ventilator for about two weeks and required total assistance for all functional and self-care
tasks. His physicians were hopeful but ultimately unsure of the recovery he would make.

Dave Boughner

Following his intubation, Mr. Boughner was transferred to the University’s Department of
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, where he began the recovery process. He went on to
spend just over a month in the inpatient rehabilitation unit, receiving three hours of
physical and occupational therapy per day as well as recreational and independent group
living therapies, even having the opportunity to go fishing with his therapists.

Over the course of that month, Mr. Boughner was able to return to a normal diet and
achieve independence at the wheelchair level. By July, he was discharged from the hospital
and able to rejoin his family to recover further. While he has not currently regained the
ability to walk, Mr. Boughner remains optimistic for the future and is grateful for how far he
has already come.


Are you an AMRPA member interested in submitting a story? Visit our submissions page to
learn more.

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