Keisha Heil

Keisha Heil and her husband have their hands full with two children ages two and three, and dog Louie. The whole family enjoys doing different activities like working on puzzles, watching movies, and going to the park. Her life was put on hold when at age 43, she experienced a left field cut stroke.

Keisha lost her peripheral vision in both eyes and felt extremely weak on the entire left side of her body. Her condition made essential skills like reading impossible and left her with poor balance. Any movement made her sick. Even riding in the car would lead to nausea. Because of her state, she had to rely on her husband and mother to help with the children.

Ready to focus on her recovery, Keisha started outpatient therapy at Southern Indiana Rehabilitation Hospital. Her biggest motivator was being able to experience life again with her family. “I want to make memories with them. I don’t want to miss out on anything “.

SIRH developed a program to address all of the issues Keisha was experiencing. They started with exercises to help eliminate the sick feeling she would get with movement. Her speech therapists worked with her on visual scanning to improve her visual field. They also focused on her fine motor skills while she was relearning everyday activities such as folding clothes and getting dressed.

Keisha’s favorite part of therapy has been walking with her therapists. “My occupational therapists, Krista and Jennifer, would encourage me while we worked together. They made me want to do better”

Even though Keisha is still dealing with weakness on her left side, she has seen great improvement. Since starting therapy, she feels she has progressed 70%-80%. She can now hold her balance and is more confident when walking on her own. She is excited to get back to her active lifestyle so she can go on vacation with her husband and children. She is determined to keep working on herself to reach her full potential.