EXCHANGE: Dogs accelerate Indiana man's rehabilitation

CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) - Michael Regan started crying at the sight of them, at their unconditional love.

Unable to speak much beyond a whisper, he got their attention. They walked up to him, tails wagging, letting him pet and scratch them.

A week earlier, Regan, who is recovering from a stroke at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago at Franciscan St. Anthony Health-Crown Point, wasn't moving his left hand or bending forward. When the dogs showed up, he reached toward them, petting them with both hands.

"So, is he getting a puppy for Christmas?" therapy dog handler Barb Orosz, of Kouts, asked Regan's wife, Kim.

"There's nothing like a dog to warm your heart," said another handler, Chris Tebbens, of Hebron.

The Crown Point hospital recently started a pet therapy program to bring patients joy and, hopefully, an acceleration in their recoveries. Animal therapy is gaining in popularity in health care settings nationwide, having been shown to reduce stress and anxiety in patients, at least temporarily.

Regan, a retired oil rig driller from Hebron, arrived at the facility in early December after suffering his second stroke. The 73-year-old had trouble walking, talking, moving his upper extremities.

Case manager Nancy Grenat said Regan was upset at first and not responding well to therapy. His attitude changed, she said, after he met his new (furry) friends.

"He started sleeping better, was less angry, less confused," she noted. "We think it really made a difference."

He opened up about how the dogs reminded him of the German shepherds he served alongside in Vietnam. His wife said they also brought back memories of the couple's three late canines.

"He's much more happy," Kim Regan said. "I know that he loves dogs."

They returned to visit him again the following week. While he didn't talk much, he facial expressions beamed. His favorite seemed to be Zena, a German shepherd he kept calling over. He appeared to forget for a moment the stressful process of rehabilitation.

Grenat noted Regan needed less help getting out of bed than he did a week earlier. He's scheduled to be released this Wednesday and continue his rehab at home. How much of his progress had to do with the dog therapy is really unmeasurable, though it can't hurt, particularly given the fact that the handlers are all volunteers.

"We don't get any money," Tebbens said. "We get the reward of seeing the change in the patient."

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Source: The (Munster) Times, http://bit.ly/1TmFXWy

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Information from: The Times, http://www.thetimesonline.com