Dena Petersen has never shied away from a challenge.

As a young mother, she and her husband packed their tent and three kids into the car every summer and journeyed 600 miles north to a cabin in Thunder Bay, Ontario. At 40, Dena graduated from college and spent the next 20 years as a teacher. In her 50s, she walked three miles to church every Sunday, sending her high heels along with her husband, who met her there with the car. And as an elderly woman, she recovered from fractures in two hips, a knee and a shoulder, and honed an uncanny ability to solve complicated coded word puzzles called cryptoquotes.

So at 98, when it came time for Dena to recover from a stroke, her determined spirit was ready.

“She’s probably the first 98-year-old to get kicked out of hospice,” says her daughter, Paula Christiansen. “I’ve always said she’s going to outlive me.”

Immediately after the stroke last summer, however, Dena’s health was extremely fragile. The entire left side of her body was weakened, especially her arm, and she suffered from terrible leg cramps that sapped her will to live. Dena, who is also legally blind due to macular degeneration, spent a month and a half at a skilled nursing facility, then was discharged into hospice and round-the-clock care at her home in Iowa.

Seven months later, Dena was weak, wheelchair-bound, and running out of money. It was time to sell her home and move to Bickford of Clinton, Iowa. She entered needing the second-highest level of care—just one step below bedrest—and required assistance with every activity of daily living, from eating to using the bathroom. Yet her pain had improved, and with it, her desire to keep trying.

“Her attitude has been so fantastic since the day she came in,” says Kim Schaffer, executive director of Bickford of Clinton. “She was determined.”

In weekly HigherPath meetings, the Bickford team coordinated their efforts to help Dena meet her goal. The branch’s CarePredict call technology enabled Dena’s caregivers to prevent and detect falls and track her activity level. Regular physical therapy sessions helped her build back strength, and medical care by the branch’s Curana Health nurse practitioner provided frequent monitoring of Dena’s blood pressure and overall health—all without ever leaving home.

“It’s prohibitive to drag somebody that age and that delicate of a condition to outpatient therapy,” Kim says. “The girls were determined to help her get better and help her walk.”

It wasn’t long before Dena started seeing results. Soon after she arrived at Bickford, she started using her walker to travel short distances within her apartment. The branch’s health and wellness coordinator suggested an armrest modification for Dena’s walker that would make it easier for her to push independently with her left arm. Dena took off: She ventured into the hallway, then eventually all the way to the dining room.

“She wants to be very active, and she’s working really hard at getting more independent,” Paula says. “She’s making amazing steps at it, thanks to the care she gets at Bickford. They’ve got her walking.”

Dena helps herself in the bathroom now, and she’s been promoted to a lower—and less expensive—level of care at Bickford. Much as she trekked the three miles to church decades ago, Dena now treks on foot to the Bickford dining room for three meals a day.

For those who know her best, it’s a bit like glimpsing back in time. Kim recently spoke to a longtime friend of Dena’s about the progress she has made at Bickford. “‘This is the best I’ve seen her in eight years,’” Kim recalls her saying. “‘You’ve brought her back to life.’”

Contemplating the next chapter in your loved one’s story? Click here to learn more about Bickford Senior Living and to find a branch near you.