Mario Di Brita praises Trillium Villa convalescent program for helping him regain mobility

‘This program is a solution for many problems I have had’
11/27/2015  - Deron Hamel
Mario Di Brita is seen here with Trillium Villa life enrichment worker Shannon Barnwell.  

Mario Di Brita has been in and out of hospital for 20 years, enduring countless knee surgeries to address his debilitating arthritis. The transition from hospital to home was always rife with challenges.

However, after his latest surgery in August, he came to Trillium Villa’s convalescent program to help with his transition home. On Nov. 26, after three months of receiving physiotherapy and other services offered through the program, Di Brita went home more mobile than he had been in years.

“This program is a solution for many problems I have had,” Di Brita tells S&R Today. “I have been in the hospital many times but it seemed like there was never a solution. When you have a surgery, after the surgery they send you home and there is nothing left for you. That experience was hell. This has been a solution for me.”

The convalescent program offered at the Sarnia long-term care home offers care from an interdisciplinary team that helps patients recover from surgery and improve their well-being before moving back home.

As part of the program, patients receive care through registered nursing staff, physiotherapists, therapeutic recreation professionals, social workers and dietitians.

When Di Brita came to Trillium Villa three months ago he was in pain and wasn’t able to get out of bed. Today, with the help of the program, he is able to walk with a cane, after progressing from a standard walker and a rollator walker.

“And now I can almost walk without a cane,” Di Brita says. “The pain has been relieved in my knee. Up until then I had serious, painful problems, but (now) it is like the pain has just been washed away. I would really like to emphasize the importance of this program because after all my surgeries there was not much hope for me.”

Trillium Villa’s convalescent program was launched in August 2012 through funding by the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network (LHIN). The program can accommodate up to 10 people at a time.

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