Today I had two of my therapies; speech and physical therapy.
I have improved so much since starting these!
My speech has become so much better that she is going to graduate me at the beginning of June. She truly doesn’t see a need for me to continue as she doesn’t see what more I need to work on!
My ‘f’ and ‘v’ sounds have vastly improved. In the beginning they didn’t even exist! But now I know that I needn’t focus too much on making the actual sound so air doesn’t fly out of the weak side of my mouth!! Those letters exist now and so many people compliment me on my speech and the tone which I speak in. Because we have definitely been working on my tone with the hertz machine thingy.
I have also told her that I have been diagnosed with Pseudobulbar Affect and as soon as I said ‘Pseudo’ she finished my sentence for me!! So we have been working on that and she has also told my other therapists to correct me when my tone gets out of range or when I giggle a lot. Which I appreciate so much!! I was appalled when the NeuroPsych said that when I told her about my family leaving me and then I told her about my kids - I stopped and laughed. But when I told that in Speech, I cried. Which she stated was a more appropriate reaction to everything I have, and am still going through. So not only have we been working on that, I am also on medication for that - which also helps with sleep disturbances and my post traumatic headaches!! She laughed when I told her what the medicine is for and she said, “why on earth didn’t they do that sooner?!”
After Speech was PT - we did a series of tests to see where I’m progressing in and what I need to work on.
In the beginning, I walked 800 or 900 feet. Now I’m walking over 1400 feet. Before I scored a six on their scale for balance and now I’ve scored an 11.
The big one. I USED THE STAIRS WITHOUT HANDRAILS AND I DID ONE FOOT ON EACH STEP! Granted it still took me a little longer. BUT I DID IT!!
She said that the left side of my body is weaker. Especially my left leg and ankle. The cerebellar stroke that I had, damaged both hemispheres - but really damaged the right hemisphere more than the left. The toe raises, that left heel didn’t even raise halfway!! So we will definitely be incorporating strength training as the muscle growth will really benefit me in all areas. She said that working on certain things to make them a habit will form new neuroplasticity to form new GOOD connections in my brain.
She asked me what I really wanted to do.
Run.
She wants me to ask my doctor what they think about me running and if it’ll be safe to reintroduce strenuous exercise. So I’ll be asking my oncologist that question next week!! I mean, she can see my entire chart. Doesn’t hurt to ask!
She gave me some strong exercises to work on at home and has challenged me to walk as fast as I can for 30 minutes a day. She said - do it ask fast and safely as you can for 30 seconds, maybe a minute and then slow it down until you recover and do it all over again!
Challenge accepted.
Here’s to getting stronger.
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