“Those first steps were unbelievable. There were a lot of people there, because I'd been there for so long, who were routing for me. I almost had to stop because I was crying so hard. Everybody was crying,” says Renown Rehabilitation Hospital Stroke Patient, Steve Valenzuela. Valenzuela, a resident of Tonopah, Nevada was spending a normal evening at home when he fell from weakness in his leg. He managed to get himself to his kitchen and take a couple of aspirin. He went to bed, go up and went to work. Then the weakness returned even stronger. Valenzuela didn't know he was having a stroke. He ended up at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, but it was too late to give him treatments that could have possibly stopped the stroke's damage. After Valenzuela spent days in the Intensive Care Unit to prevent another stroke, he was admitted to the Renown Rehabilitation Center. He lost movement in his left leg and arm from the damage to his brain. "Even though there was a part of Steven's right brain that was damaged from the stroke, highly intensive therapies, challenging task specific, three hours a day of therapy in the first month to three months after the stroke has the greatest opportunity for the brain to make new connections around the injured area of the brain,” says Stroke Medical Director, Valerie Brooke, MD. Valenzuela worked with the physical, speech and occupational therapists nearly every day for three months to regain his cognitive skills and movement to his leg and arm. “He's really motivated to make as much progress and regain as much independence as he can,” says Physical Therapist Monica Thomas. While the movement is his arm has been slower to return, he has made a lot of progress walking. “Some things he still has trouble with, some moment on that left leg. The exoskeleton forces him into the correct pattern we are looking for and gives him cues that we are unable to do otherwise,” says Thomas. Brooke says, "He has worked incredibly hard, He's inspiring to watch work." “It gets a little bit easier every day. It's just a lot of repetitions. They told me that it takes a thousand repetitions to learn how to walk again,” says Valenzuela. “I just can't believe how good the staff is here. Every one of them has the same thought and that's to get you better or whoever they are working with better and get them up and running.” #renownhealth

We want to welcome you back to Renown Health. If you haven’t come in for a few months or have an upcoming test, surgery, a baby on the way or any other healthcare need – we can’t wait to see you. We want to do everything humanly possible to care for you, in sickness and in health. That’s why our teams are taking extra precautions to ensure a safe environment for you, and your family, when you visit us. Everyone, including employees, patients and their supporters, are screened with a temperature check at the entrance. Wearing a mask is mandatory and there are social distancing guidelines in place. We know the important role that supporters play in the health, healing, and recovery of every patient. As a patient, you’ll be asked to choose one healthy adult "patient supporter" to be with you during a Renown medical visit, surgery, birthing or hospital stay. Children can have two patient supporters, but they can only visit one at a time. If you are coming for a surgery, you must test negative to a COVID-19 test before your procedure and then remain in isolation until the day you are admitted. We will wheel or walk you to the pre-operating area to eliminate time spent in a waiting room or lobby. Renown Health provides a clean and safe environment 365 days of the year, 24 hours a day. We have always held an extremely high standard of cleaning and sanitizing in our surgery areas. Renown employs a large environmental services team that uses the highest quality equipment for cleaning and sanitizing, including an electrostatic cleaning system and germ zapping robots. These innovative technologies are used to sanitize various areas of the hospital, rooms and equipment. The electrostatic system kills multiple organisms in just two minutes, including cold and flu viruses. Our staff take pride in the work they do - cleaning and disinfecting throughout the day. Nothing is overlooked when cleaning…. from the patient’s room, to a counter, to a door knob, to an elevator button. If you or a loved one are coming in for emergency care, our team will quickly screen you at the entrance. We’ve taken other serious measures to isolate patients who could spread illness to others. At Renown Health we are fighting the good fight for you. We have cared for our community for more than 150 years – from our humble beginnings as a smallpox clinic to today, where we continue to be here for all of your healthcare needs. Learn more about the extra steps we’re taking to ensure your health and safety at renown.org/WeFightForYou

The Reno Rodeo. The Wildest Richest Rodeo in the West. It is an opportunity for residents and businesses to give back to our community. Renown Health and Hometown Health are among the many sponsors of this year's event. And three women who work at Renown share a common bond. They have embraced the western style of the Rodeo and put in many hours preparing for the adventure. Guts and Bourbon by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1400032 Artist: http://incompetech.com/

https://youtu.be/KPtdwwo7AKg Renown Radiation Oncology Patient, Thonet LaBadie's, journey with breast cancer began when she received the diagnosis on February 13, 2015 - a day that will stick with her the rest of her life. Since then she has had six surgeries, including a bi-lateral mastectomy. LaBadie underwent 8 rounds of chemotherapy and 33 radiation treatments. She lost her hair, gained weight from the drugs and became too tired to continue her normal workouts and runs. "My whole body - I didn't recognize myself," says LaBadie. "There was a feeling like you didn't want to complain about that because you are alive. And if this was going to be the new me, well then, I guess I just needed to accept it. But there was a part of me that was missing and I knew I wanted to find that." LaBadie says she got through the two years of cancer treatments with the support of her family, friends and faith. She was a regular at the Renown Institute for Cancer Radiation Therapy. "My radiation team of people were like my family. Dr. Sutton, my radiation oncologist, I could ask her anything and I felt really loved and really cared for," says LaBadie. LaBadie's niece first suggested the Each One. Tell One. Breast Cancer to Bikini Challenge. It's a rigorous 221-day body-building program through Evoke Fitness in Reno. The participants ate an extremely lean diet and exercised up to 3 times a day, including weight lifting and aerobic sessions, before the competition, which was held October 7, 2017, at the Best of the West Classic. #eachonetellone #renownhealth LaBadie and the 16 other breast cancer survivors learned how to pose and walk on stage in tiny bikinis and stiletto heels. Neuropathy, the numbing and tingling in the tips of fingers and toes -- a side effect of one of the chemotherapy drugs, Taxol, made balancing difficult for Labadie. "I was a dancer from the time I was a very little girl. I danced all the way through college. It made me angry sometimes. Breast cancer has taken my breasts and now taken my feet," says LaBadie. LaBadie lost 40 pounds and dramatically improved her body fat ratio from 40 to 18 percent. "The bikini is the tiniest part of this journey. Everything else about it is gigantic compared to that tiny bikini. And we were happy to put them on by the time we were done. We'd come through a process that changed us all emotionally and physically. LaBadie says, "The Breast Cancer to Bikini Challenge was the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle that was missing and now has been found. I'm back. "

One of the smallest babies at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Reno, Naomi Bakker weighted about 12 ounces when she born prematurely. Despite the odds against surviving, the doctor got a tiny breathing tube down Naomi's throat to keep her alive. Naomi's mom, Angela Bakker, was diagnosed with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) at 23 weeks - a defective placenta, which caused her daughter to stop being fed in the womb. Slipping in to preeclampsia, Angela was forced to deliver Naomi on July 1, 2015, at Renown Health. Naomi spent 142 days in the NICU. "One of the things I give Renown a lot of credit for is that they let me hold her," says Bakker. "They actually made me hold her early on. There's so much research behind Kangaroo Care, skin-to-skin with the mother, and a lot of hospitals would never have let me hold a baby that frail. Our doctor was adamant that she needed to be held because she was receiving a lot of negative touch." "I remember texting my girlfriend and saying, 'Today I held a miracle.’" says Bakker. Today Naomi shows few signs of her premature birth. She is even learning to swim, despite the fact that she had oxygen for nearly the first year of her life and still has weak lungs.