Home Health Care & Mobility Solutions

On a September day one year ago Ivon Toe's life changed forever. A car accident in Marshalltown left the mother of five paralyzed from the neck down and in an intensive care unit at Mercy Hospital for four months.

Since January, Ivon has lived at a nursing and rehabilitation center in Norwalk, receiving care and physical therapy. It has been a difficult journey. Ivon is originally from Liberia, having come to the United States four years ago. Three of her children are still in West Africa.

Ivon is facing these tremendous obstacles with support from her sister Janet and LSI's home health care and mobility solutions services.

Through LSI's mobility solutions program, Ivon was able to receive a specialized tilt chair that she can drive independently.

Getting the chair was tricky. The amount Medicaid pays into a person's care at a nursing home is supposed to cover all the individual's needs, explained Craig Hanner, LSI rehab case manager. But Ivon's unique needs grossly exceeded that amount, meaning the chair was not covered through insurance.

It took a long shot act of advocacy to change that. LSI and Ivon's occupational therapist, Sara Reincck, decided to pursue an exception to policy from Medicaid and sent a letter on Ivon's behalf. The request, miraculously, was granted only a month and a half later.

"This is the first one we've ever done," said Craig. "I can't believe it went through. You usually have to fight for these."

Ivon received the chair in July and is now able to operate it through a high-tech head array system, allowing her to drive it by moving her head.

"I am so grateful for the chair," she said, with the help of her sister Janet.

Ivon's voice is soft, barely a whisper through her trach tube. The day she got the chair it was her face that said it all.

"I wish we had a camera to show the look on her face the day we delivered it to her," said Craig. "The smile on her face was incredible."

A look of joy. A small sign of hope on a long road.