Fabian leaves for home after 120 days in rehab

Patient Fabian with staff from the STARS Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit.

After spending 120 days in STARS Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit, Fabian headed home in time to celebrate Christmas with his family. He was presented with a ‘graduation’ certificate by members of his rehabilitation team.

“When Fabian was transferred to STARS, he was disorientated, unable to verbalise and was using a tilt in space wheelchair,” said Kym Murphy, Allied Health Project Officer at STARS.

Initially only able to participate in around an hour a day of interprofessional therapy sessions, over time Fabian was able to build his tolerance and capacity. By the end of his stay at STARS he had completed an amazing 21,000 minutes of multidisciplinary rehabilitation.

Fabian’s rehabilitation was a massive team effort with many health professionals involved. Dietetics, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, social workers, nurses, and a neuro psychologist and interprofessional clinical assistant were all involved in Fabian’s care at STARS.

“Before being discharged Fabian had returned to a full diet, was able to communicate well with his family and could complete his ADLs without any physical help. He even managed to walk up and down the STARS Spanish Steps,” said Kym.

In preparation for his discharge, social work assisted Fabian and his wife with the NDIS process to ensure he had an adequate level of care to transition home.

Before his admission to STARS, Fabian was extremely active, enjoying mountain bike riding, boating, fishing, camping, and surfing.

After his discharge he was looking forward to being able to take his dog Duncan for a walk to the park and had a long-term goal to get back to the beach.

“I would like to walk on the sand and eventually get back in the water. It might be on a body board this time though,” Fabian said.

Fabian’s return home was also just in time to start preparations for the family’s traditional Christmas Day Italian lasagne which starts with the making of a special tomato sauce.

All the staff at STARS wish Fabian the best on his return home and with his continued recovery.