Field Report: Marta

Photo with permission of the patient Marta and the Therapy Center Burgau 08/2023

She had already been treated there three months ago, before being transferred to the Burgau Therapy Center. After a severe stroke of fate, she has already spent almost half a year in hospital.

It all started 4 years ago, she tells us. Headaches that became increasingly severe, so that the doctors treating her at the time decided to perform an MRI. Shortly after that, it was clear that a difficult road lay ahead for her, the diagnosis was: brain tumor.

Although not malignant, a growing brain tumor was pressing on the brain stem and had to be surgically removed.

After the surgery, Marta had neurological deficits due to swelling and complications. She had to relearn how to move, eat, swallow, and even breath. She is still undergoing rehabilitation, but familiar functions are slowly returning.

Through a lot of willpower and early mobilization this recovery process could progress.

Shortly after her admission to the SKBA, she tells us, they started to mobilize her with our VEMOTION system while she was still ventilated. First shorter sessions and then longer and longer. We asked her if and how she remembers the first mobilization. She remembered it very well:

„It was new and unfamiliar at the beginning, but I had a nice nurse who prepared me well for it and when the therapy started and I was verticalized, I could orientate myself in the room again for the first time. See everything from a different position.“

Despite all the tubes and catheters, everything had gone well, and when we asked if she had been scared before the first mobilization, she simply replied:

„No I had great nurses who took good care of me. It made me feel safe.“

At the Burgau Therapy Center, Marta now already trains with our system for up to 1.5 hours – both actively and passively. Other mobilization, such as moving to the edge of the bed, was not yet possible, since hemodynamic problems kept occurring when they tried to mobilize her conventionally.

She enjoys VEMOTION and, when asked, considers it a good option to help other patients in similar situations. With her enthusiasm she had positive influence on everyone and supports the robotic assisted mobilization also in the Therapy Center Burgau. It is only through the commitment of the Therapy Center Burgau and the SKBA that we are able to experience how our system proves itself in clinical practice.

Marta’s wish for the future is simple. She would like to return to her old life and resume her work as a childcare worker in Munich. The manifold support and sympathy for her recovery process by the treating institutions, of which we were also allowed to be a part with our VEMOTION system, is a very beautiful experience. Her story has moved us and motivated us to continue to do everything we can to provide new possibilities for the care of severely affected patients. We wish Marta all the best for her future and that her wish comes true and thank the teams at the Therapy Center Burgau and SKBA for the fruitful, cooperative partnership.