13 April 2005
My appointment with Gavin was at 1 p.m. so I didn’t have to rush in the morning. Lillian was up about 7 a.m. Tim picked her up from the cot and put her on our bed before he went to have a shower. I wanted to sleep in a bit but Lillian was all over the bed. She even managed to climb over me and got off the bed from the edge of the bed. There was no way I could sleep in now. I made up a bottle for her to take to the childcare and picked the clothes that she’d wear today. I had to stand there watching Tim changing her into the clothes she’s going to wear today. I would always check the weather report and think about what she would wear and leave the clothes in the basket under the change table. Tim for some reason, always asks me what’s Lillian going to wear today. I always have to tell him it’s just under the change table! Sometimes, it’s just easier if I’m standing there watching so he doesn’t get the wrong ones.
I started with my exercise bike and mini trampoline after they had left. I didn’t feel very energentic today so the 30 minutes on the bike felt like eternity. I did some walking practice but didn’t want to exhaust myself too much before my physio session this afternoon.
I was still a bit early when I got to Epworth. All the doors in the physio treatment areas were closed so I had to wait outside. There was nobody around. I remember when I was organising my first appointment wih Gavin, he mentioned that the physio department is closed from 1 pm. This must be what he meant. I sat down on a chair but I didn’t bring any books or magzines with me so I was quite bored. I thought about reading and sending sms on my mobile but there’s a sign on the wall that tells people to switch their mobile phones so I didn’t switch on my mobile.
When Gavin came in, he asked me to get ready for our session (ie leave my bag in the office). I asked him whether he had a nice break last week just out of politeness but there was not really any response. I started to wonder if that’s just a typical male thing – they’re not really listening. Quite often, I might be asking Tim a question and for a while there’s no reponse. When I complained to Tim one day about this, he asked me whether I got a receipt from him. He said unless I get a receipt from him, he probably hasn’t heard what I was saying. I didn’t bother asking Gavin again since I didn’t really care whether he had a nice break or not, I was just trying to be polite. He asked me to do a few laps of walking and then he asked me to sit down on a physio bed so he can tape my foot. He taped my foot with the tape MECRS physio used on my shoulder a while back. He said this is to stop the ankle inversion. I told him that I saw John Olver last week. He asked me what did John say. I told him that John mentioned Botox again and asked him whether John has mentioned this to him. He said John has a shocking memory. I felt like saying ‘Yes. He couldn’t even remember who my physio was’.
He then asked me to put my sock and shoe back on but without the ankle brace and tried walking again. Surprisingly, the tape was tight enough to hold my ankle in position. I didn’t feel as secure as when I had my ankle brace on but it was secure enough for me to walk around. When I was in the middle of my practice, he told me to stop at a certain point and sat down on a stool in front of me, he tried to get me to move forward as Prema calls them – facilitated movement. He asked me to hold my right hand with my left hand instead of let my arms hanging and move forward as he ‘facilitated’. I hated this because at one point I felt I was losing my balance and the more tense I was, the more my ankle was inverting. I remember at one point I was losing my balance and needed to hold on to something and he told me to shift my weight to the right so I should have no problem standing with my weight on the right leg but I couldn’t do that. I thought I had move my weight over to the right but he asked me to look at myself in the mirror – he said my body weas actually leaning towards the left and if he let go of me, I would fall to the left. I didn’t believe him so he let go and I did fall to the left. I think I have a lot more problems than I thought I had. The brain damage obviously affted my balance and my perception of where my weight is.
I was quite happy when Gavin had to go and check on another patient so I could have a little rest – he asked me to practice standing on my right foot in front of a mirror but it was a rest for me when he wasn’t there pushing me. This is probably one of the most tiring session I had for a while. When he came back, he asked me to do a few more laps of walking. He told me not to lift up my left leg just let it drag. He said because the muscles are weak, every time I try to lift it, my leg tends to swing out. He also mentioned that I tend to stick my butt out when I’m walking and kept reminding me to tuck my bottom in as I’m taking a step. I mentioned to him that I’m going to see my orthopaedics next Monday and it would be easier if I can schedule a session with him on Monday as well since my orthopaedics is just at the Epworth medical centre. He asked me why do I have to see an orthopaedics. I looked at him (if they have read my file, they should know that it was my orthopaedics who referred me to see John Olver) and told him it’s because I had a subluxed shoulder. He asked me why would I go to an orthopaedics for shoulder subluxation. I don’t know the answer to that. I told him I don’t know but the neurosurgeon who operated on me referred me to see the orthopaedics when he found out my shoulder problem from Tim. I felt like asking him who else could I see to fix up the subluxation – definitely not a physio from MECRS. Gavin didn’t seem to understand and I could see that he was trying to spot the subluxation by looking. On my previous visit to the orthopaedics, he mentioned to me that my subluxation is all healed and he could see my deltoid building up. Gavin probably couldn’t see anything wrong with my shoulder so he asked me to lift up my arm (above my head). I lifted up my arm easily – thanks to Neil’s Mt Everest exercises. He asked me whether my arm is sore when I lift it up. I told him sometimes it does but it has been much better these days. I thought about asking him the program for my arm and shoulder but then again I didn’t want to distract him too much when we are working on walking since most men are not very good at multi-tasking.
I started with my exercise bike and mini trampoline after they had left. I didn’t feel very energentic today so the 30 minutes on the bike felt like eternity. I did some walking practice but didn’t want to exhaust myself too much before my physio session this afternoon.
I was still a bit early when I got to Epworth. All the doors in the physio treatment areas were closed so I had to wait outside. There was nobody around. I remember when I was organising my first appointment wih Gavin, he mentioned that the physio department is closed from 1 pm. This must be what he meant. I sat down on a chair but I didn’t bring any books or magzines with me so I was quite bored. I thought about reading and sending sms on my mobile but there’s a sign on the wall that tells people to switch their mobile phones so I didn’t switch on my mobile.
When Gavin came in, he asked me to get ready for our session (ie leave my bag in the office). I asked him whether he had a nice break last week just out of politeness but there was not really any response. I started to wonder if that’s just a typical male thing – they’re not really listening. Quite often, I might be asking Tim a question and for a while there’s no reponse. When I complained to Tim one day about this, he asked me whether I got a receipt from him. He said unless I get a receipt from him, he probably hasn’t heard what I was saying. I didn’t bother asking Gavin again since I didn’t really care whether he had a nice break or not, I was just trying to be polite. He asked me to do a few laps of walking and then he asked me to sit down on a physio bed so he can tape my foot. He taped my foot with the tape MECRS physio used on my shoulder a while back. He said this is to stop the ankle inversion. I told him that I saw John Olver last week. He asked me what did John say. I told him that John mentioned Botox again and asked him whether John has mentioned this to him. He said John has a shocking memory. I felt like saying ‘Yes. He couldn’t even remember who my physio was’.
He then asked me to put my sock and shoe back on but without the ankle brace and tried walking again. Surprisingly, the tape was tight enough to hold my ankle in position. I didn’t feel as secure as when I had my ankle brace on but it was secure enough for me to walk around. When I was in the middle of my practice, he told me to stop at a certain point and sat down on a stool in front of me, he tried to get me to move forward as Prema calls them – facilitated movement. He asked me to hold my right hand with my left hand instead of let my arms hanging and move forward as he ‘facilitated’. I hated this because at one point I felt I was losing my balance and the more tense I was, the more my ankle was inverting. I remember at one point I was losing my balance and needed to hold on to something and he told me to shift my weight to the right so I should have no problem standing with my weight on the right leg but I couldn’t do that. I thought I had move my weight over to the right but he asked me to look at myself in the mirror – he said my body weas actually leaning towards the left and if he let go of me, I would fall to the left. I didn’t believe him so he let go and I did fall to the left. I think I have a lot more problems than I thought I had. The brain damage obviously affted my balance and my perception of where my weight is.
I was quite happy when Gavin had to go and check on another patient so I could have a little rest – he asked me to practice standing on my right foot in front of a mirror but it was a rest for me when he wasn’t there pushing me. This is probably one of the most tiring session I had for a while. When he came back, he asked me to do a few more laps of walking. He told me not to lift up my left leg just let it drag. He said because the muscles are weak, every time I try to lift it, my leg tends to swing out. He also mentioned that I tend to stick my butt out when I’m walking and kept reminding me to tuck my bottom in as I’m taking a step. I mentioned to him that I’m going to see my orthopaedics next Monday and it would be easier if I can schedule a session with him on Monday as well since my orthopaedics is just at the Epworth medical centre. He asked me why do I have to see an orthopaedics. I looked at him (if they have read my file, they should know that it was my orthopaedics who referred me to see John Olver) and told him it’s because I had a subluxed shoulder. He asked me why would I go to an orthopaedics for shoulder subluxation. I don’t know the answer to that. I told him I don’t know but the neurosurgeon who operated on me referred me to see the orthopaedics when he found out my shoulder problem from Tim. I felt like asking him who else could I see to fix up the subluxation – definitely not a physio from MECRS. Gavin didn’t seem to understand and I could see that he was trying to spot the subluxation by looking. On my previous visit to the orthopaedics, he mentioned to me that my subluxation is all healed and he could see my deltoid building up. Gavin probably couldn’t see anything wrong with my shoulder so he asked me to lift up my arm (above my head). I lifted up my arm easily – thanks to Neil’s Mt Everest exercises. He asked me whether my arm is sore when I lift it up. I told him sometimes it does but it has been much better these days. I thought about asking him the program for my arm and shoulder but then again I didn’t want to distract him too much when we are working on walking since most men are not very good at multi-tasking.
posted by Teresa Liu at 9:05 PM
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