Los Angeles Times - 25.08.2019

LATIMES.COM S SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2019A

Don’t go through 5 weeks or more of

pain, agony & Stress to remodel your bathroom...

Our Tub/Shower

Package Includes:

http://www.paylessbathmakeover.com

*For a limited time only. Everything we do is custom. Pricing may vary based on size and material selection allowance, as well as the condition

and complexity of what’s already there. We’ll assess all this and review your options as part of a free in home estimate. Financing on approved

credit. Options: 6 mos SAC Deluxe Services. 12 mo. SAC Elite Services. 24 mo. SAC Premium Services. Long Term Financing Starting at 7.99%

OAC. Tax not included in financing. Pictures are for illustration only. Not responsible for misprints. What’s not included in the packages and will

incur additional cost: mold remediation, asbestos abatement, replacing rotted or termite damaged wood, hidden damages, frame or subfloor

repair, relocating repairing or adding plumbing or electrical, adding ducting/venting, painting, knocking down walls, permit fees, bringing house

up to code, flooring, glass door, vanity, countertop, sink, faucet. *20% off available on our first visit. A division of Carpet Wagon Glendale Inc.

CSLB 913187

Buy with confidence!

Over 30 years of

serving Southern

California.

866-479-

Call 24/7 For A Free In-Home Estimate

Day, evening & weekend appointments available

FAST EASY AFFORDABLE 3614 San Fernando Rd. | Glendale, CA 91204

3 EASY STEPS TO YOUR NEW BATH MAKEOVER

Call and confirm your

convenient in-home

appointment

We will bring hundreds of product

selections and all the elements of a bath

remodel to you to help you design and

create your dream bathroom.

We measure and inspect the space

you have in mind and openly discuss

all issues and share solutions that

will fit within your budget.

Our shop @ home

process:

Must present this ad to receive these offers.

• Custom fit shower bases/tubs


• Custom accessories


• Safety accessories: grab bars, shower
  seats, low or no threshold access
  
  
  • Custom fit vanity cabinets & hardware
  
  
  • Countertop options include granite
    and quartz
  
  
  • Flooring
  
  
  
  


• Faucets & plumbing fixtures toilets


• Custom glass doors
  •WalkinTubs

TUB TO SHOWER CONVERSIONS; WALK IN TUBS; AGING & ACCESSIBILITY & ADD ON OPTIONS

OUR BATHROOM REMODELING SOLUTIONS INCLUDE:

TIRED OF YOURTIRED OF YOUR

OLD BATHROOM?OLD BATHROOM?

GET YOURGET YOUR

DREAM BATHDREAM BATH

MAKEOVER NOW!MAKEOVER NOW!

After our 20%** coupon. Includes Installations OR

$95/month OAC*

$

7 , 200

• 
  

NOW STARTING AT

• Demolition to studs of
  shower and tub walls


• Disposal and haul away of
  all old material


• Provide and install all new
  waterproof backerboard


• Provide and install shower
  and plumbing fixtures


• Provide and install new
  temperature control valve


• Provide & install custom
  tub or pan


• Provide & install new solid full panel
  walls in 4 popular colors up to 55 sqft


• Upgrade patterns, colors, fixtures,
  pans/tubs starting at $9,


• Upgrade to quartz, natural stone,
  porcelain starting at $12,

Natural Stone

Walk In Tubs installed

starting at $12,

We have solutions that can help you get your new bathroom in days not weeks and

within your budget. We can help make your new bathroom more relaxing, more elegant,

more enjoyable and help increase the value of your home. Regularly starting at $9,

$

100 OFF- Floor or Vanity

$

100 OFF- Additional Work

$

500 OFF- Second Bath

$

589 Add-on Value

A$1,289Value

ACT NOW

& GET

BONUSES

Includes: Curved Shower Curtain Rod, Soap

Dish, Safety Grab Bar, 2 Shelf Caddy

NOW 20%

*

OFF

0

%

PLUS interestup to 24 mos*

Made in the USA

25% OFF

*

Summer Shutter Sale

CALLTODAYFORAFREEIN-HOMECONSULTATION

Elizabeth Shutters’ world class quality and low price guarantee have

earned us every major customer satisfaction award in the industry.

Low Price Guarantee – Meet

or Beat Any Big Box Store Bid

Free Installation

3

3

100% Whole Basswood

100% Made in California

by Elizabeth Shutters

3

3

ElizabethShutters.com

*100 sf minimum. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Promotion expires 7/31/

Best Shutter Company in the West Seven Years Running!

Best Shutter Company

4 Years Running

Top Shutter Company

3 Years Running

Top Shutter Company

4.8 STARS

2012 - 2018

6 Times Running

A+

BETTER

BUSINESS

BUREAU

(888) 493-

Best of houzz 2019

Nursing homes and doctors
can be protective of their patients,
Schnakers said, so getting access
to them can be difficult.
The doctors “are afraid of hav-
ing false hope for them,” she said.

b

Omar Salgado’s doctor, Ken
Warm, speaks like a man who’s
accustomed to delivering bad
news. He chooses each word delib-
erately, often taking long pauses in
mid-sentence, his language
stripped bare of hyperbole.
“Unfortunately, the way you
heard it — that Medi-Cal pays for
us to keep him alive — that’s really
true and really challenging,” Warm
said.
“For every one of [these pa-
tients] I would like to do more
than I’m doing,” he said.
Medi-Cal — the state’s insur-
ance plan for the poor and disa-
bled — pays nursing homes a daily
rate to care for patients like Sal-
gado. The Villa’s rate is about $
a day. Some of that money can be
used for rehabilitation, according
to a spokesperson for the state
Department of Health Care Serv-
ices.
It’s up to the nursing home to
decide the best treatment.
Patients at the Villa are cared
for by nurses and nursing assist-
ants, and evaluated weekly by
family doctors or geriatricians.
There is no regular testing by
experts to gauge whether patients’
level of consciousness is changing
over time.
“We don’t have a neurologist
who’s willing to see these patients
on a regular basis,” Warm said,
because Medi-Cal reimbursement
is low.
Knowing that Salgado or oth-
ers on the subacute unit may in
fact be conscious, Warm said,
doesn’t change the outcome.
“What do you do if you know?”
Warm asked.
“They’re still locked in,” he
said, referring to a neurological
syndrome in which a patient is
conscious but can’t move or speak.

b

At first, little changed after
Salgado’s awakening. I’d tell the
staff he could communicate by
blinking and some tried to elicit a
response. But they said he wasn’t
consistent. Sometimes he’d blink
and other times he’d just stare
straight ahead.
On Salgado’s good days, I’d
pepper him with questions: one
blink for yes, two for no.
“Do you have a mom?”
One blink.
“Do you have a dad?”

One blink.

“Do you have a sister?”

One blink.

“Do you talk to your mom?”

Two blinks.

“Are you in pain?”

One blink.

Eventually, Salgado got the

colostomy surgery he needed and

put on weight. He stopped shiver-

ing and answered with two blinks

when asked if he was in pain.

One afternoon, I heard Salgado

cough. It wasn’t the gurgling rasp

common among tracheostomy

patients. There was depth to it, as

though his vocal cords had en-

gaged.

I went to the side of his bed and

made a humming sound. I asked

him to repeat it, and when he did, I

recorded it with my phone. I sent

the recording to Kirkpatrick, the

nursing home director, with the

heading: “Omar makes sounds.”

Not long after, Salgado got a

speaking valve — a device that

allows air to pass through the hole

in his throat and engage his vocal

cords.

He began to say “hi,” as though

he was blowing the word out with a

puff of air. One day, I asked him my

name.

“Joooo Annnnn,” he said.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Omar.”

Salgado’s hands began to un-

curl and I brought markers and

scrapbooks. He scribbled at first,

most of it indecipherable. Weeks

later, we wrote out his three goals:

to go outside, eat pizza and read a

Spider-Man comic.

I showed Kirkpatrick that

Salgado could read and write. I

held up words in a notepad: chair,

skateboard, butterfly, and Salgado

read them aloud as Kirkpatrick

watched. It was mounting evi-

dence that Salgado no longer

belonged on the subacute unit.

There have been many firsts for

Salgado since his awakening: the

first time he tasted grape juice; the

first time he danced by moving his

shoulders side to side when a song

he knew came on the radio; the

first time he told me he loved me,

and I asked him to repeat it several

times, partly because his voice was

so soft and partly because I

needed to hear it more than once;

the first time he hugged me, on the

day after Thanksgiving in 2016,

and I was surprised by the

strength of his embrace; and the

first time he used an iPad (paid for

by a GoFundMe campaign) and

typed, “Hello beautiful people,” on

his very own Facebook account.

More than a year after Salgado

awakened, he was transferred to

another unit at the nursing home

where he would get regular phys-

ical and speech therapy. His voice

is sometimes faint and raspy, but

he speaks with clarity and agency.

He has learned to operate a wheel-

chair and he’s had surgery to close

the hole in his throat. He’s eating

solid food: spinach, fried beans,

eggs and applesauce. He spends

his time putting together puzzles

and watching television.

At last count, Salgado had

made 400 friends on Facebook,

many of them scantily clad wom-

en. At first his posts were some-

times gibberish:

“Your head is stinky.”

Sometimes profound:

“Tomorrow we’ll go to the park

in our imagination.”

Often they were inappropriate.

“God is my dick.”

Now, Salgado’s Facebook posts

range from contemplating

whether he should get a “man

bun” to things more cosmic, such

as “Love is art.”

Sometimes he’s lonely or upset

about the state in which he finds

himself:

“I feel terrible, anxious to walk

and I can’t move my legs. ... I feel

like I’m about to be invalid for the

rest of my life.”

Late last year Salgado made

the most incredible connection of

all on Facebook: He tracked down

an older sister he hadn’t seen in

more than a decade. And finally,

he had his first visitors at the

nursing home — the sister and her

young children.

Salgado has fulfilled all of his

three goals: He’s read several

Spider-Man comic books, and he’s

been on outings with other nurs-

ing home residents, including to

the San Diego County Fair. Earlier

this year, he had his first slice of

pizza.

b

I’ll never know whether Salga-

do’s slow turn toward the radio

was his way of shouting to the

world, “I’m still here!” Or was he

just able to hear the music for the

first time? What if I hadn’t been

there to notice?

Warm pondered a similar ques-

tion.

“Why is he better? Was it just

time?” he recently asked. “Was it

that he made this bond with you?”

If human connection did accel-

erate Salgado’s awakening, Warm

said, how does medicine “re-create

it professionally?”

I moved to New York last year

and I visit Salgado less often now.

He frequently sends me Facebook

messages. Sometimes he wishes

me good night, or asks me what’s

new.

Or he wants to know, “When are

you coming?”

“I miss you.”

Faryon is a special correspondent.

DR. KEN WARMand Omar Salgado. “Why is he better? Was it just time?” Warm wondered

about Salgado’s recovery. Or was it because Salgado had made a human connection with oth-

ers? If that was the case, the doctor said, how does medicine “re-create it professionally?”

Marcus YamLos Angeles Times