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A Life-Altering Experience Leads to a Life Altered
Recovering from a devastating illness and coma, this native Ocean County
resident is thankful for her life, her family, and the critical care she received
at Ocean Medical Center.
It was the first year of her
husband’s retirement, and
Judy Garris of Lakewood was
in good spirits and good health.
"I always took care of myself.
I walked regularly and lifted
weights. When I first became
sick, we didn’t think too much
of it, expecting that it would
pass," she says.
Feeling like she had a case
of the flu, Judy remembers, she
never thought at the time that
she’d be worse before she’d be
better. "I spent a couple of days
in bed, and then I vaguely
recall my husband calling for
an ambulance when I was too
weak to get up one day."
A Serious Turn of Events
It turns out that Judy was
suffering from an internal
infection, and her condition
deteriorated quickly once the
infection took control of her major
organs and sent her into respiratory
failure. Given these circumstances,
it’s understandable that Judy’s memory
of her emergency transport and her
subsequent weeks of hospitalization
is quite foggy. But her husband Paul’s
recollection of these events is far more
vivid, and the image of his wife on a
ventilator on Ocean Medical Center’s
Intensive Care Unit is something he
will never forget.
Judy fell into a coma, and despite
what her family calls the "persistent
and attentive" medical care she
received 24/7, she was unable to
communicate, breathe on her
own, or eat.
Eventually, following seven weeks
of vigilant nursing accompanied by
the targeted expertise of numerous specialists, including pulmonologists,
surgeons, and cardiologists, Judy
was put on the road to recovery.
But it would prove to be a long road.
"I came out of the coma slowly," Judy
shares, "and because of the damage
that had been done to my system,
I literally was unable to speak or
even lift a finger for a long time."
She’d lived through a devastating
coma, yes. But with a 30-pound weight
loss, she’d grown quite frail, and the
coma had resulted in muscle atrophy
that rendered her virtually unable to
move without assistance. Even in the
face of these obstacles, her family
was grateful. "What I didn’t know
at the time was that the doctors had
cautioned my family that a person
in my condition had less than a 20
percent chance of surviving," says Judy.
One Step at a Time
When Judy was healthy
enough to be moved, she
was transferred to Shore
Rehabilitation Institute,
located on the Ocean
Medical Center campus.
There, she spent another
six weeks, learning to swallow
and to eat on her own again.
She also underwent intense
physical therapy that would
lead her toward regaining the
ability to independently sit
up, then stand, then take a
step. "The goal at this point
was to have Judy progress to
a point where she wouldn’t
need a wheelchair at home,"
clarifies George Jaharian, M.D.,
an internal medicine specialist
at Ocean Medical Center
and Judy’s longtime primary
care physician.
After returning home, Judy
continued to entrust her health care
to the Meridian network by using a
Meridian At Home nurse and physical
therapist to assist her transition; they
taught her to care for her tracheotomy
site, for example, and got her back
in the swing of her daily routine.
Now, a year after her life-threatening
experience, Judy still sees her
specialists regularly to regain the
stamina and overall health she once
enjoyed. And she has a newfound
appreciation for her ever-improving
health. "Who would have thought
that this mother of 5 and grandmother
of 12 would look forward to doing the
laundry again?" she rhetorically asks.
Her answer is just a smile.
 – Lynne Nouvel
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