Can I start this by saying... I LOVE MY THERAPISTS!
These people take time out of their lives and leave their families to help me regain independence. There are definitely things that I want to learn to do again safely, and I want to be able to do those things ON MY OWN!
I know God will make this all possible on His time. I definitely have tons of faith in that!
When asked what I would like to do again...I jokingly said - DRIVE! I know they have no power over me driving again; but a girl can dream, right?! One thing I seriously said though, is I want to be able to walk down the hill to see my girl again anytime I want! Since my injury I've only seen her ONCE.
Isn't she PRECIOUS?!
Alright, let's start with speech. We candidly talked about our week and our day. She was taking diligent notes as we talked. She then had me say sentences with the 'f' and 'v' sounds. My 'v' sounds were definitely improving, and my 'f' sounds were on point IF I used my fingers to put my lower lip under my two front teeth! See... finding ways around it! But she is a great therapist and challenges me and tells me to try again WITHOUT using my hand. I did and a bunch of air came pouring out of my mouth as I was trying to say the word. With facial paralysis I can't exactly control how my sounds come out!
The words I said VERY WELL she exclaimed and told me GREAT JOB! She then got out the device that measures pitch ranges in hertz. I was in the 190s today. Which is still above the average pitch for a woman, but only by 30 hertz! At least I wasn't in my previous 200-300s!
We then worked on fluctuation. When I should sound a little higher than my range and when i should sound lower than my range. My homework is to work on sentences she gave me and record myself trying out the fluctuations! MAYBE I'll share with you!
At the end she asked me if the strokes and brain injury gave me any 'quirks.' She actually didn't say quirks, but I cannot for the life of me remember what word she used instead!
So yes, I've developed new quirks that we are going to work on removing. Well, the ones we can control at least! I've developed the following:
I startle easily. Like my husband can just be casually walking in the room and it scares the ever-living daylights out of me! I used to like scary movies and now...I can't even watch the ads on it! So, we can't control that.
I have a higher pitch voice. Which we already know this and are working on this!
I'm a chronic giggler. I didn't do this before! We are now taking a breath instead of giggling.
I say 'yay!' ALL THE TIME. We are going to go over other words for me to use instead. Maybe 'great!' or 'coo!' or 'that's wonderful!'
I'm a belcher....and my husband can attest to this. Yes, I know it's not very 'lady-like;' but i absolutely cannot control it! It's part of the cerebellar stroke. And perhaps part of the brainstem stroke.
I think there's more, but I already forgot them. Wonderful product of the thalamic stroke!
She definitely doesn't want to change me...but I want to change these things. She is there to help me with my wants and needs!
PT was an absolute challenge today. But in a good way! It's good they are challenging me to be better and to work harder! We walked up two flights of stairs to the indoor track. We walked turtle pace at first to test my balance. Then we walked as fast as I could, and I kept reciting "heel to toe' to myself so I can relax my hips and walk normally. There was an older woman walking in front of us very normally and I exclaimed, "I want to walk like her!"
They then set up an obstacle course for me to do. I had ramps and hurdles and dumbbells to hold while I went over the ramps and such.
After all of that loveliness they had me go up a couple of steps, reach for cups on a shelf, and then put those cups on a higher shelf as far back as I could put them! I then had to remove all of the cups... I should've known! They told me to take the steps with my left foot first as I usually use my right foot. THAT was a challenge! They asked me what I wanted to achieve short-term and asked me the quirk question too. This must be the day to ask what I have developed from my injury!
One of the questions asked as well was what I would like to be able to do again on my own. I want to clean! I want to take care of my farm animals and feed/water them without a second thought. I want to spend time with my sweet pig! I want to garden! I want to go trail walking in my woods and visit my sweet girl, Molly, at our pet cemetery.
There's so much I want to do, and they feel confident they can help me get there. They said my gait is improving and they see me doing so well in my therapy. It makes me feel so much better knowing their thoughts, too!
Now OT. This guy is wonderful. We talk about our kids and spouses and then we get to tracking with my eyes! My right eye can track laterally and cross the midline at about 25 degrees. My left eye can track laterally and cross midline at about 10 degrees. I'm stoked that they can even move laterally! Remember, I have horizontal gaze palsy. But my one eye surgery has helped so much so far!
He then asked me what he can do to help me more in OT. What do I want to be able to do in my home environment on my own that he can help me in a controlled environment. I listed all of the same things with PT! While I'm resting in-between my tracking sessions, he will then have me lift heavy objects and walk with them and maintain my balance. He asked me if he could share my improvements with my first OT lady (that left due to maternity leave), and I said 'of course!' She will be happy to know how I've improved.
I'm sure there's so much more but that's really all I can think of!!
Today has been so challenging in my therapy sessions, but in a very good way! I'm happy to be improving! I really have God to thank in all of this. Thanking him for placing all the right people in my path and for keeping my positive attitude. I will absolutely crush this, and I pray I'm a beacon of hope for others. I'm still trying to find the things that I enjoy now - but oh the ideas I have! This will truly be MY year.
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