How compassion (and STHS rehab therapy) gave one woman her life back

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Friday, July 14, 2023

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How compassion (and STHS rehab therapy) gave one woman her life back

Mike Scott, mscott@stph.org

Frieda Holland, a patient of the cardiopulmonary rehab program at St. Tammany Health System, said the team there – including STHS Exercise Physiologist David Speirer, pictured – are like old friends. The cardiopulmonary program celebrates its 25th year in 2023. (Photo by Tim San Fillippo / STHS)

Recently, Frieda Holland spent 17 days in New England. On another trip, she spent three weeks in New Mexico.

That’s the way the retired nonprofit executive likes to live – like a human verb, a person in motion.

So, when her health turned, limiting her mobility, her life changed dramatically.

“I was in the hospital for 11 days,” she remembered. “When I came out, I could hardly walk.”

In addition to putting her on oxygen, her doctors also suggested she attend cardiopulmonary rehabilitation sessions.

As she tells it, those sessions – which she attended at St. Tammany Health System’s Paul D. Cordes Outpatient Pavilion on Bootlegger Road near Covington – gave Holland her life back.

“When you become ill and you get to this point in your life, you can only control so much,” she said. “Coming here allows me to control aspects of my life that I didn’t think I’d ever control again.”

Holland is far from alone.

Founded in 1998, St. Tammany Health System’s Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Program marks its 25th anniversary this year. In that time, it has improved the quality of life of countless patients like “Miss Frieda,” as the staff knows her.

Much of the work is done in the facility’s gym, which is filled with the same sort of exercise equipment one might find in a non-medical gym, but which is overseen by a staff of medically trained professionals, including an on-site physician to help with any unexpected setbacks or emergencies.

Staffers there also provide educational support to their patients, to equip them with the knowledge necessary to make the most of their efforts. Additionally – and this was a big one for Miss Frieda, especially when she was still weak following her hospital stay – there’s the emotional support.

“The team here cares,” she said when asked what sets STHS’s program apart.

“I’ve gotten to know them extremely well over these last years,” she continued, “and these people truly care. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for anyone here and, vice-versa, I know there’s nothing they wouldn’t do for me.”

During a recent workout, that was evident.

As Miss Frieda chugged along on a treadmill, she traded jibes – and smiles – with longtime STHS Exercise Physiologist David Speirer, who has been with the health system since the 1998 launch of the Pulmonary Rehab program.

Officially, he was there to oversee her workout. It felt more like a hang session between two old friends. 

That’s not at all uncommon, according to STHS Director of Outpatient Cardiopulmonary Services Missy Moore.

“Miss Frieda has meant as much to us as we have meant to her,” Moore said. “It’s not something you plan on, but it’s just a benefit of the job. … The people and the friendships we gain from this – you can’t put it into words sometimes.”

Miss Frieda doesn’t share that struggle. She can certainly put it into words. Two of them, in particular: “Thank” and “you.”

For getting her back on her feet. For getting her back behind the wheel of her car. For getting her in shape to do the traveling she loves so much.

“Had it not been – and I mean that sincerely and with all my heart – had it not been for rehab, I wouldn’t have been able to do those things,” she said.

She continued: “My life would not be what it is today. I wouldn’t be taking vacations. I wouldn’t be doing things. I wouldn’t feel like the person that I feel today.”

Learn more about St. Tammany Health System’s Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation program at www.sttammany.health/Cardiac_Pulmonary_Rehab and watch a video of Frieda Holland talking about her experiences there at YouTube/c/StTammanyHealthSystem.

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