15 April 2005
I had an appointment with Gavin this morning. When I got to Epworth, I recognised this girl in an electrical wheelchair. I think her name is Eliza. She must be going to her physio session as well. I never actually asked her what happened to her. I think she probably had a car accident because she is still in a pretty bad shape. Apart from unable to walk or move her arm , she also has lost the ability to speak. Her physio is Cathy and we both have our appointments in the same room at the same time.
Gavin set up a 5 cm box in front of a mirror for me and asked me to pracrtice standing on the edge of it with my right foot only and just relax my left leg and leave my left foot hanging. He wanted me to practice this because he said when I walk, I tend to lift up my left leg which is not the natural way of walking. He wanted me to practice this in front of the mirror and make sure I have a good posture and at the same time, relax my left leg. I asked him how can I tell whether my left leg is relaxed or not because I might think it’s relaxed but it may not be. He said the arm is a good indicator because when my left leg is tense, my arm tends to go up.
When I was doing my exercises, Gavin was just finishing up with another patient. I overheard them talking about calf stretches so I paid a bit more attention to what they were saying. He was telling her that he thinks calves are generally over-stretched and under-utlised. I noticed that she was doing the same toe raising exercises he got me to do a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t hear what she was asking but it must be related to spasticity because I heard him saying that don’t worry about spasticity when you do the calf exercises. You just need to learn how to swith them off after you’ve done the exercises. This is a bit like what they told me at the Bobath course when I asked them if they thought my calf was tight. They thought my calf was not tight but my brain just does not know how to switch it off.
Cathy started doing some work with Eliza as well. She put Eliza’s wheelchair in the walking rails and tried to help her to standup. I think Eliza must be in pain because she kept screaming and then I heard Cathy telling her to stop screaming and she’ll help her to adjust her hand. I couldn’t tell whether it was her shoulder or the standing that was causing her pain but she just kept screaming. I found the scream quite disturbing and was glad when Gavin took me to another room and got me to work on the trampoline. He got me to start on my old exercises on the trampoline– a bit like jogging but without lifting up the foot. He then got me to do the same thing but try to lift up my right foot. After a while, he got me to change to lifting up my left foot. Another 10 minutes later, he said he’ll get me to do something harder which he thinks it might be a bit too early for me at this stage – alternating between left and right leg. I tried that and found it quite difficult so he demonstrated again what I should be doing. It’s very hard to keep the rhythm. I think I was getting better after a while but still tends to lose the rhythm from time to time. Gavin actually thought I was doing really well. He said it’s a lot better than he expected. I told him I keep losing the rhythm but he reminded me that a few weeks ago I didn’t have the rhythm at all so I’m actually progressing really well. He asked me to do a few more laps of walking after the trampoline. He said I should feel the walking becomes easier but I couldn’t feel that. I told him one of the biggest problem I have is that when I’m practising walking I don’t really remember what it feels like when I’m walking correctly. He said it will come and it’s just a matter of practice.
Stuart, a friend of mine, came over at lunch time. He’s been trying to catch up with me for some time but Tim has been so busy and we never made it to his place. Last week, he suggested that we catch up for lunch. He was going to bring some sandwich ingredients but last night I thought I should really be cooking some lunch since he’s making an effort to come to see me. I made some spiced lamb with couscous. It’s another dish from the Marie Clare cookbook.
Neil came over later in the afternoon to help me with my exercises. It’s good to have him helping. Sometimes, I don’t remember the state I was in so I don’t notice the progress but Neil remembers everything. I think in some way he and Rosemary knows my situation better than the physios. I told him that I’ve actually made the Mt Everest exercises harder by replacing the ball with a 1 kg dumbbell now. When we went through the exercises, he commented on how much progress I was making. It’s good to have him around when I’m doing the exercises because it’s very hard for me to tell the progress I’ve been making.
Gavin set up a 5 cm box in front of a mirror for me and asked me to pracrtice standing on the edge of it with my right foot only and just relax my left leg and leave my left foot hanging. He wanted me to practice this because he said when I walk, I tend to lift up my left leg which is not the natural way of walking. He wanted me to practice this in front of the mirror and make sure I have a good posture and at the same time, relax my left leg. I asked him how can I tell whether my left leg is relaxed or not because I might think it’s relaxed but it may not be. He said the arm is a good indicator because when my left leg is tense, my arm tends to go up.
When I was doing my exercises, Gavin was just finishing up with another patient. I overheard them talking about calf stretches so I paid a bit more attention to what they were saying. He was telling her that he thinks calves are generally over-stretched and under-utlised. I noticed that she was doing the same toe raising exercises he got me to do a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t hear what she was asking but it must be related to spasticity because I heard him saying that don’t worry about spasticity when you do the calf exercises. You just need to learn how to swith them off after you’ve done the exercises. This is a bit like what they told me at the Bobath course when I asked them if they thought my calf was tight. They thought my calf was not tight but my brain just does not know how to switch it off.
Cathy started doing some work with Eliza as well. She put Eliza’s wheelchair in the walking rails and tried to help her to standup. I think Eliza must be in pain because she kept screaming and then I heard Cathy telling her to stop screaming and she’ll help her to adjust her hand. I couldn’t tell whether it was her shoulder or the standing that was causing her pain but she just kept screaming. I found the scream quite disturbing and was glad when Gavin took me to another room and got me to work on the trampoline. He got me to start on my old exercises on the trampoline– a bit like jogging but without lifting up the foot. He then got me to do the same thing but try to lift up my right foot. After a while, he got me to change to lifting up my left foot. Another 10 minutes later, he said he’ll get me to do something harder which he thinks it might be a bit too early for me at this stage – alternating between left and right leg. I tried that and found it quite difficult so he demonstrated again what I should be doing. It’s very hard to keep the rhythm. I think I was getting better after a while but still tends to lose the rhythm from time to time. Gavin actually thought I was doing really well. He said it’s a lot better than he expected. I told him I keep losing the rhythm but he reminded me that a few weeks ago I didn’t have the rhythm at all so I’m actually progressing really well. He asked me to do a few more laps of walking after the trampoline. He said I should feel the walking becomes easier but I couldn’t feel that. I told him one of the biggest problem I have is that when I’m practising walking I don’t really remember what it feels like when I’m walking correctly. He said it will come and it’s just a matter of practice.
Stuart, a friend of mine, came over at lunch time. He’s been trying to catch up with me for some time but Tim has been so busy and we never made it to his place. Last week, he suggested that we catch up for lunch. He was going to bring some sandwich ingredients but last night I thought I should really be cooking some lunch since he’s making an effort to come to see me. I made some spiced lamb with couscous. It’s another dish from the Marie Clare cookbook.
Neil came over later in the afternoon to help me with my exercises. It’s good to have him helping. Sometimes, I don’t remember the state I was in so I don’t notice the progress but Neil remembers everything. I think in some way he and Rosemary knows my situation better than the physios. I told him that I’ve actually made the Mt Everest exercises harder by replacing the ball with a 1 kg dumbbell now. When we went through the exercises, he commented on how much progress I was making. It’s good to have him around when I’m doing the exercises because it’s very hard for me to tell the progress I’ve been making.
posted by Teresa Liu at 1:39 AM
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