Hospital happenings
At 95, Howard Requardt was a fully independent and active. That drastically changed when he was admitted to the hospital with COVID-19. Throughout his hospital stay, Howard had oxygen and had several consults with both palliative and hospice care due to the severity of his condition. He pulled through, though, and after spending 21 days in the hospital, Howard was admitted to Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital. Upon arrival, he was unable to roll over or even sit on the side of the bed due to general fatigue, weakness, oxygen fluctuations and low blood pressure. Howard spoke on many occasions about his prayer for the Lord to take him home and had lost hope that he could return to his previous life. That changed as he began to build back his strength in therapy. He worked with his therapists to not only gain his strength and independence back, but also to improve his outlook. Howard finally returned home to his independent living facility with the assistance of family, without oxygen and with the use of both a wheelchair and rolling walker.