Steven Horn

Steven Horn and his wife, Deedee, consider themselves “foodies.” They love finding new restaurants to try especially hamburger and Mexican food dives that no one knows about. They say the smaller the better! They enjoy searching for these hidden gems on Steven’s motorcycle. He will soon be celebrating a birthday that he thought he would never see.

After experiencing flu-like symptoms, Steven went to the ER at Norton Brownsboro Hospital. There he was diagnosed with COVID-19. He was sent home but returned a few days later in much worse condition. One of the symptoms he experienced, shortness of breath, turned out to be more than just COVID-19. Steven was later diagnosed with pneumonia and was quickly intubated.

All this came as a shock because before his diagnosis, Steven was a healthy and active young man. His physicians explained to Deedee that he was seriously ill. Because of his condition, they didn’t expect him to make it off the ventilator. Deedee knew he was a fighter and had faith that he would make it through this. After a few weeks, he saw some progress and was transferred to Kindred Hospital for continued care.

Steven spent several weeks on a ventilator and one day “woke up.” Unaware of anything that occurred since his diagnosis, Steven described his previous state as feeling lost. With this new sense of clarity, he began to progress even more and was referred to Southern Indiana Rehabilitation Hospital.

Ready to continue his recovery, Steven had to face another obstacle. His insurance didn’t approve admittance into acute care, only skilled, which meant less daily therapy. SIRH conducted an evaluation to prove that he needed acute care. Because of their highly regarded reputation for evaluations, the insurance company ended up approving his admittance.

Steven began acute therapy right away. He picked up verbiage like max-assist and became more educated on the whole therapy process. He dreamed of returning to his old hobbies like golfing, riding his bike, and eating at those restaurants that he missed so much. With aggressive goals set, he continued to work hard at his recovery.

After spending over 100 days in the hospital, Steven has seen great progress. “I went from only being strong enough to walk five feet to now walking hundreds of feet.” He has a full support team waiting for him at home. In addition to his wife, his mother, father, and mother-in-law have all moved in temporarily to help. They are all looking forward to celebrating a birthday he will never forget!