22 June 2005
I had my usual Wednesday physio appointment with Gavin at Epworth this morning. I haven’t heard back from my private insurance fund yet. I’ve chasing them up to find out how many sessions they will fund but so far I have been going around in circles and couldn’t get a straight answer from anyone. It’s very frustrating that I, the ‘patient’ who had a brain injury, is the one who has to do the chasing up.
When I got to the physio treatment room, Gavin was there with his other patient, Graham. Gavin said he’d tape my foot first before I start on anything. When he was taping my foot, I told him that I had the most strange dream on the weekend – I dreamt that I was running but when I woke up, I forgot how to do it again. He asked me if I was being chased by the police in my dream. I told him no, in my dream, I was running across the road. I didn’t notice that one of the physio students was actually doing some work with Graham until Gavin asked her if she was able to get any dorsiflexion out of him. I watched what she was doing – she put her hand on his foot so there’s more feedback for him. He was able to do a little bit, but not much. She told Gavin no. I wondered why because I thought he was getting a little bit of dorsiflexion. He then asked her if she could get any plantarflexion from him. She said yes. Gavin asked her why does she think that happens. She thought about it for a while and said (without much confidence) is it because of neural? Gavin said yes but there could be all different reasons because of neural. I felt like asking if it’s because the plantarflexors are stronger than the dorsiflexors. I was quite curious to find out the answer as well but Gavin told me to start some walking practice in front of the mirror while he took another patient for a walk. I know from last time that I need to concentrate on bending my left knee first and then swing through instead of lifting up the leg like what I was doing before. I practiced this for a while.
The room was getting more crowded. Many patients were turning up for their 11.00 a.m. appointments, inlcluding Gary, the guy with some spinal injury.
When Gavin came back, he looked at my walking and said it looks good. I told him I’m actually finding it very hard to bend my knee. He said I used to lift up the whole leg when I walked and it’s much better now. He then set up a mini trampoline for me next to the rails. I’m not sure if they are rails. They look like the steps on a ladder. He wanted me to start with the trampoline and then some jumping practice in the walking rails. I started on the trampoline next to the ladder like ‘thing’. After a few minutes, I was feeling a bit queazy just from looking straight ahead at the ‘bars’ or ‘steps’ in front of me. I tried to look away but there was nothing else around. It’s bit like looking at those pictures with optiocal illusions. I couldn’t see what’s happening behind me but I could hear a lot of noise. I was curious too see what’s going on so I looked over my shoulder quickly. There were two other patients who I have not seen before – one woman in a wheelchair with a sling over her shoulder, one guy aslo in wheelchair but seems to be in a pretty bad shape. I wonder how long Gavin wanted me on the trampoline for because I think if I stayed on it for another 10 minutes I’d throw up. Gavin and another physio were trying to get the guy in the wheelchair to stand up. They set up a table in front of his wheelchair and got him to lean on the table while standing. He must be in a lot of pain because he was making a lot of noise. Finally, Gavin came over and told me to practice jumping in the walking rails. I was happy to get away from the bars/ladder as I was feeling more and more queazy staring at it.
When I went to the walking rails, I found myself standing right next to the new patient in wheelchair. He looked at me and said something to me but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. I noticed that his left wrist is bent and fingers flexed while he was leanig on this table. I wonder if his injury is to the left side of his brain so his speech has been affected. I also wonder why they don’t put him on a tilt table. I haven’t seen one there but I’ve seen a picture of it in the the textbook by Carr
& Shepard. I think they use that for patients who cannot stand own their own. Gavin came over to see my jumping practice. I told him it’s easier jumping to my left foot because I can push off more through my right foot. He set up a box for me in the middle of the walking rails and said by standing on the box first and jump off to the right foot should be easier. I tried and found that it is a little bit easier but still pretty hard. I went up and down the walking rails a few times practising this. I noticed that Gary’s entourage have showed up – his wife, daughter and grandchildren. They often come to the physio session to see him. Gavin put a physio bed in the middle of the room and set on a stool in front of Gary. He got him out of his wheelchair and helped him walk around the bed. I noticed that when Gary was walking, one of his feet seemed to be able to take a normal stride but he tend to drag the other foot along. I thought that’s a bit odd because I thought with spinal injury, he would be dragging both feet.
I was still trying to jump off the box when I noticed the guy next to the walking rails was staring at me. I looked at him and smiled politely. I thought he couldn’t speak but this time, I could see his lips moving. He didn’t make any sound but I could read his lips. I think he said ‘ you are beautiful and I love you’. I wonder if Gavin and the other physio have noticed that although he couldn’t speak but he could actually move his lips. I tried to get back to my jumping practice but was quite annoyed that he was staring at me and making the kissing sound. I looked up to see if Gavin would rescue me from this but he was still busy with Gary. Finally, Tracy came over and asked me if I was ready for the leg press. I was quite happy to get away from this guy. Tracy helped me on the leg press and I asked her if she should set the bench lower. She was not sure but Gavin came out and told her to lift up the bench higher to work me harder. He said you dreamt about running but now it’s time to realise your dream! The higher the angle is between the bench and the floor, the harder the exercise will be. I had to do the running lying down like last time. Tracy thought I was doing better than last week. She actually let me do it on my own instead of supporting my left leg. To my surprise, I was actually able to do it without her holding my left foot. I did this for a while and then Gavin came out and asked me if I was tired. I was talking to Tim about one thig I found after my operation is that I don’t know how to lie anymore. It’s a real problem when you can’t lie. I should have told Gavin that yes, I’m very tired but instead, I told him I’m a bit tired but not too bad. I knew I was in trouble as soon as I said that. He lifted up the bench even higher so I’m almost half standing. He wanted me to do the running again. It’s harder than before but not impossible. He told me to do about 20 of those and then finish off with some calf stretches. I lost count of how many I’ve done but when I felt that’s enough, I got off the leg press and did some calf stretches. Gavin told me the person who deals with outpatient rehab has again told him that I’ve used up all my sessions. I told him that I’ve been trying to chase up my private health insurance for clarifications but they haven’t got back to me yet and they don’t know why they haven’t been invoiced yet. Gavin said the hospital is very slow in billing and was trying to get me a name to contact at the hospital. I found out that they charge $50 per session for private paitents but they charge more if the health fund is paying. I asked him if I should stilll come in on Friday. His response was ‘yes, if you want to get better’. I suppose I’ll still go but the insurace issue has annoyed me once again. I didn’t argue with him about how they got the 25 sessions because according to my record, I only had 22 sessions, including today’s session. One thing about old habits die hard is that I tend to keep my own record and write up a summary after each session just so I have a record of what I have been doing. It’s a bit like in the past, I would always keep notes from client meetings so I remember what’s been discussed etc.
When I got to the physio treatment room, Gavin was there with his other patient, Graham. Gavin said he’d tape my foot first before I start on anything. When he was taping my foot, I told him that I had the most strange dream on the weekend – I dreamt that I was running but when I woke up, I forgot how to do it again. He asked me if I was being chased by the police in my dream. I told him no, in my dream, I was running across the road. I didn’t notice that one of the physio students was actually doing some work with Graham until Gavin asked her if she was able to get any dorsiflexion out of him. I watched what she was doing – she put her hand on his foot so there’s more feedback for him. He was able to do a little bit, but not much. She told Gavin no. I wondered why because I thought he was getting a little bit of dorsiflexion. He then asked her if she could get any plantarflexion from him. She said yes. Gavin asked her why does she think that happens. She thought about it for a while and said (without much confidence) is it because of neural? Gavin said yes but there could be all different reasons because of neural. I felt like asking if it’s because the plantarflexors are stronger than the dorsiflexors. I was quite curious to find out the answer as well but Gavin told me to start some walking practice in front of the mirror while he took another patient for a walk. I know from last time that I need to concentrate on bending my left knee first and then swing through instead of lifting up the leg like what I was doing before. I practiced this for a while.
The room was getting more crowded. Many patients were turning up for their 11.00 a.m. appointments, inlcluding Gary, the guy with some spinal injury.
When Gavin came back, he looked at my walking and said it looks good. I told him I’m actually finding it very hard to bend my knee. He said I used to lift up the whole leg when I walked and it’s much better now. He then set up a mini trampoline for me next to the rails. I’m not sure if they are rails. They look like the steps on a ladder. He wanted me to start with the trampoline and then some jumping practice in the walking rails. I started on the trampoline next to the ladder like ‘thing’. After a few minutes, I was feeling a bit queazy just from looking straight ahead at the ‘bars’ or ‘steps’ in front of me. I tried to look away but there was nothing else around. It’s bit like looking at those pictures with optiocal illusions. I couldn’t see what’s happening behind me but I could hear a lot of noise. I was curious too see what’s going on so I looked over my shoulder quickly. There were two other patients who I have not seen before – one woman in a wheelchair with a sling over her shoulder, one guy aslo in wheelchair but seems to be in a pretty bad shape. I wonder how long Gavin wanted me on the trampoline for because I think if I stayed on it for another 10 minutes I’d throw up. Gavin and another physio were trying to get the guy in the wheelchair to stand up. They set up a table in front of his wheelchair and got him to lean on the table while standing. He must be in a lot of pain because he was making a lot of noise. Finally, Gavin came over and told me to practice jumping in the walking rails. I was happy to get away from the bars/ladder as I was feeling more and more queazy staring at it.
When I went to the walking rails, I found myself standing right next to the new patient in wheelchair. He looked at me and said something to me but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. I noticed that his left wrist is bent and fingers flexed while he was leanig on this table. I wonder if his injury is to the left side of his brain so his speech has been affected. I also wonder why they don’t put him on a tilt table. I haven’t seen one there but I’ve seen a picture of it in the the textbook by Carr
& Shepard. I think they use that for patients who cannot stand own their own. Gavin came over to see my jumping practice. I told him it’s easier jumping to my left foot because I can push off more through my right foot. He set up a box for me in the middle of the walking rails and said by standing on the box first and jump off to the right foot should be easier. I tried and found that it is a little bit easier but still pretty hard. I went up and down the walking rails a few times practising this. I noticed that Gary’s entourage have showed up – his wife, daughter and grandchildren. They often come to the physio session to see him. Gavin put a physio bed in the middle of the room and set on a stool in front of Gary. He got him out of his wheelchair and helped him walk around the bed. I noticed that when Gary was walking, one of his feet seemed to be able to take a normal stride but he tend to drag the other foot along. I thought that’s a bit odd because I thought with spinal injury, he would be dragging both feet.
I was still trying to jump off the box when I noticed the guy next to the walking rails was staring at me. I looked at him and smiled politely. I thought he couldn’t speak but this time, I could see his lips moving. He didn’t make any sound but I could read his lips. I think he said ‘ you are beautiful and I love you’. I wonder if Gavin and the other physio have noticed that although he couldn’t speak but he could actually move his lips. I tried to get back to my jumping practice but was quite annoyed that he was staring at me and making the kissing sound. I looked up to see if Gavin would rescue me from this but he was still busy with Gary. Finally, Tracy came over and asked me if I was ready for the leg press. I was quite happy to get away from this guy. Tracy helped me on the leg press and I asked her if she should set the bench lower. She was not sure but Gavin came out and told her to lift up the bench higher to work me harder. He said you dreamt about running but now it’s time to realise your dream! The higher the angle is between the bench and the floor, the harder the exercise will be. I had to do the running lying down like last time. Tracy thought I was doing better than last week. She actually let me do it on my own instead of supporting my left leg. To my surprise, I was actually able to do it without her holding my left foot. I did this for a while and then Gavin came out and asked me if I was tired. I was talking to Tim about one thig I found after my operation is that I don’t know how to lie anymore. It’s a real problem when you can’t lie. I should have told Gavin that yes, I’m very tired but instead, I told him I’m a bit tired but not too bad. I knew I was in trouble as soon as I said that. He lifted up the bench even higher so I’m almost half standing. He wanted me to do the running again. It’s harder than before but not impossible. He told me to do about 20 of those and then finish off with some calf stretches. I lost count of how many I’ve done but when I felt that’s enough, I got off the leg press and did some calf stretches. Gavin told me the person who deals with outpatient rehab has again told him that I’ve used up all my sessions. I told him that I’ve been trying to chase up my private health insurance for clarifications but they haven’t got back to me yet and they don’t know why they haven’t been invoiced yet. Gavin said the hospital is very slow in billing and was trying to get me a name to contact at the hospital. I found out that they charge $50 per session for private paitents but they charge more if the health fund is paying. I asked him if I should stilll come in on Friday. His response was ‘yes, if you want to get better’. I suppose I’ll still go but the insurace issue has annoyed me once again. I didn’t argue with him about how they got the 25 sessions because according to my record, I only had 22 sessions, including today’s session. One thing about old habits die hard is that I tend to keep my own record and write up a summary after each session just so I have a record of what I have been doing. It’s a bit like in the past, I would always keep notes from client meetings so I remember what’s been discussed etc.
posted by Teresa Liu at 12:31 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home