27 January 2005

I think Fiona is planning to wind down my therapies. We didn't do very much in my session this afternoon. I must admit that I start to get a bit stressed out after she told me about my discharge date. I guess I'm just bit more worried that I'm not getting the most out my sessions. There here was no hot water at the pool this afternoon. I had to have a cold shower - this is probably the quickest time I got ready after my hydro session. I got to the physio gym about 2.10 p.m. - it meant it only took me 10 minutes to have a shower, get dressed and walk to the physio gym. When I got to the gym, Fiona was there but was talking to someone. I sat down on a physio couch and waited for her. By the time she came out, it was already about 2.25 p.m. - not much time left in the session. She looked at my shoulder today - especially on the range of movement. I told her that I've been doing exercises to lift up my arm above my head - like the one Neil set up for me to do (he named that climbing Mt Everest which involves placing a ball with my left hand on top of pile of tax legislations - the height of the pile is actually above my head). She said she could tell that I've been practising.

25 January 2005

I think my luck with taxi has improved. The taxi turned up on time again this morning with no dramas. It may be because there is a new patient who lives in Gatehouse Street share the taxi with me on Tuesday mornings and the taxi needs to pick me up first.

We got to the centre about 8.30 a.m. - half an hour before my appointment with Fiona (physio). I sat down and chatted with the person who shared the taxi with me for a bit. It turned out that he's been living at his house in Gatehouse St since the Royal Children's Hospital moved to Parkville. He used to be a doctor working at the Royal Children's. I didn't even know that Royal Children's was somewhere else before. That must be a long time ago! When it's about 8.50 a.m. I thought I'd better move on and go to the physio gym on time. When I got to the gym, Fiona was not there so I sat down in the waiting area. I waited there impatiently until Fiona finally showed up at about 9.10 a.m.

Fiona looked at my walking again today and got me to practice in front of a mirror and within the physio walking rails. It reminded me of practicing the 'rumba walks' in front of a mirror at a dance studio. I have been practicing walking at home but not in front of a mirror. I think I just need to practice this a few hours a day every day - a bit like dance training.

The next thing Fiona got me to do is practice the same thing but without holding the rails with both hands. I found this quite hard so in the end I cheated a little bit by resting my right hand on the rail a little bit. I did this for about 5 minutes and then unfortunately Fiona's other patient turned up so she put me on the treadmill and left me there. I found this a bit annoying. I think I can do the treadmill in my own time at home (my parents have one which they're not using so I'm thinking of borrowing that one from them). To add to my frustration, her other patient, Andrew (someone I know from "Life Moves"), does not have too much motor skills problem and today he has a sore back. I guess I'm just feeling a bit anxious that I'll be discharged from MECRS soon but I'm not quite recovered yet. I don't like it when I only have 10 or 15 minutes with the physio in my session when I think I need it a lot more than someone who has a sore back!

After about 10 minutes on the treadmill, I decided it was enough for me and I think it's time Fiona sets me to do some useful walking exercises so I switched off the machine and walked up towards Fiona and Andrew. They were still busy so I sat down on a chair and waited for a while. I looked around to see if there is any vacant walking rails so I can go and practice my walking there. I found one in the gym next door so I went up there and started my walking practice. Fiona came over shortly and told me it's time to look at my arm. She had a sheet with different types of tests with her - it's another assessment. She got me to pick up marbles from one cup and place them in another cup and a few other tasks. I got full marks for all the tests. She asked me if there's anything I cannot do with my hand. I felt like saying 'playing the piano'(I don't know how to play the piano anyway). She commented on how my hand seems to have improved a lot. I felt like saying :'yes. thanks to Neil and Rosemary but no credits to MECRS' I hate to imagine what my hand or arm would be like without the help of Neil and Rosemary.

Rosemary came over this afternoon. She has an exercise book with her - she's thought about the new exercises I need and set me a comeplete new set of upper limb exercises.

20 January 2005

I saw Sally (another patient) at the pool in hydro. She's in an electrical wheelchair. I recognise her from my days as an in-patient. I don't know what has happened to her because she's always been transferred by hoist machine. She asked me what happened to me. I told her what happened. I asked her back. She said she had an aneurysm 8 years ago and she's been like that ever since. She is quite envious that I can walk! 2 seconds later, she asked me again what happened to me. I told her again. She asked me again and again. After about 5 or 6 times, a physio came to take her to the hoist machine. I was quite relieved that I won't have to keep telling her what happened to me. I felt I started to sound like a broken record. For the first time, I understand why Prof Kaye was so glad to see me walking and why Tim was so worried when I was first admitted at MECRS. I guess I could be a lot worse.

I told Fiona in my physio session that I went to see John Olver and he suggested a Botox to fix the ankle inversion problem. Fiona thinks the ankle problem is due to muscle imbalance and a Botox probably won't help but it won't do any harm so it's ok to try.

She also told me that I'll probably be discharged from MECRS around end of March or April. This is like bolt out of the blue for me. I didn't expect to be discharged so early. I know she is going on maternity leave at the end of March but that shouldn't mean I have to be discharged just because she's not around. I must admit this news stressed me out a little.

19 January 2005

19 January 2005

I was quite excited this morning. I've been waiting for my appointment with A/
Prof John Olver, a rehabilitation specialist and director of rehabilitation at Epworth hospital, for a few months now.

We got to his consulting suite just in time for the appointment. While we were waiting, I noticed that a lot of people who walked pass were wearing the dynamic AFOs - like the one I have.

About 15 minutes later, John collected us from the waiting area. I told him one of the problems I have is the ankle inversion and I really want that problem fixed. He checked my leg and ankle and commented that the ankle inversion is probably due to the tightness in the tibialis posterior muscle and Botox maybe able to fix the problem. However, the Botox will only last for 12 weeks and I will need a special exercise program during this time to make use of the effect of the Botox. Apparently, Botox is able to weaken certain muscle for a period of time and if certain muscle can be strengthened while the other muscle is weak/unusable, by the end of the 12 weeks period when the function of the weakened muscle returns, the other muscle will be a lot stronger so the inversion problem can be fixed. John said he will get one of his neuro- physiotherapists to contact me and arrange for an assessment before making a final decision on the Botox.

Tim thinks this is great. So far, he is the only person who can pinpoint the specific muscle that's causing the problem. I can't wait for my ankle problem to be fixed!

18 January

18 January 2005

Today is the first day this year for me to go back to MECRS for my physio and hydro sessions. It felt a bit like first day back at work after a long holiday. Fortunately, there was not much drama with the taxi this morning. The taxi turned up on time this morning and to my surprise, he had to pick up another passenger before we go to MECRS. I was able to get to my session on time. Fiona did another assessment this morning – on the speed of walking etc. It turned out that my walking speed is the same with and without the stick. Fiona thinks it’s probably time for me to ditch the stick. Overall, the assessment result shows that I’m walking faster since my last assessment in October but Fiona pointed out that the normal speed of walking for my age is probably twice faster than what I’m doing now. The focus for me in the coming months would be to improve the quality and speed of walking.

Rosemary came around in the afternoon to help me with my exercises. Again, she reviewed my exercises and changed them when they appeared to be too easy for me.

17 January

17 January 2005

This is my first diary entry for the year. We only just got back from Canberra last Thursday night. Over the weekend, we managed to get an exercise bike similar to the one we hired while in Canberra. Tim has started me on the exercise bike for 15 minutes in the mornings and 15 minutes in the evenings and 100 steps on the step machine after the exercise bike every day.

I had a deep tissue massage session with Judy this morning. She was very pleased to see the exercise bike and the step machine. She said she could tell that my leg muscles are getting better. She said at one stage she was really worried about my leg muscles were getting shorter from not being used properly but now she thinks the muscles have improved so I must’ve done something right. I think the exercise bike and the step machine must have helped.

After lunch, Jacqui (OT) came to work with me on how to carry Lillian around the house. I told her that I practiced quite a bit of that when I was in Canberra. The biggest challenge for me in our house is to carry her up and down the stairs. Jacqui mentioned to me last time that if I have a sarong, she could probably make a sling out of it and we can experiment it to carry Lillian around in that. I found a sarong which was given to me by a friend when I was in high school. She bought it for me in Malaysia. I put it in a drawer and have forgotten about it. It’s been sitting there for more than 10 years – I couldn’t think of any way I could use it until now. Jacqui made a sling for me using the sarong. We tried to carry Lillian up and down the stairs but in the end, Jacqui thought the sling was too insecure for Lillian because she’s very active and wriggles a lot. We looked up on the internet for other options and found a sling called ‘Hug a Bub’. Something that Tim and I will have to look into over the weekend.

In the afternoon, Neil came to help me with my exercises. It’s really good to start working with him and Rosemary again. I haven’t seen them for almost two months.
Neil reviewed the exercises he set for me on December 9 and have noted a lot of improvement since then. He had to change some of the exercises for me because as I improve, they become too easy for me. One of the exercises he got me to do is placing a juggling ball on a pile of books on the bench facing me directly (shoulder flextion). This time, he had to add two more volumes of ATP tax legislations on the existing pile of books to make it a worthwile exercise for me. He commented that the way I’m progressing I’ll run out of tax legislations soon!