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Myasthenia Gravis

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       After watching Holly’s story about being diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, it is clear to see how hard she has struggled to advocate for herself. It is very discouraging to go to the doctor only  to be ignored and belittled.  After years of being told there is nothing wrong, it makes one question their own body. Being a mother of seven children, not being able to simply prepare a meal for your family can be defeating in itself. She lost her independence in every aspect in life. Soon after, Holly started having random spells of choking, double vision, fatigue, dysphagia, and dysarthria. The doctor finally diagnosed her with Ocular Myasthenia Gravis in August 2015, which was later changed to Generalized Myasthenia Gravis. All the symptoms that had progressed are textbook signs of MG that we have learned in our Neurological Aspects course. If the doctor would have spent more time getting to know the patient, Holly would not have had to struggle for as long as she did.         Liste
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Intervention for Feeding

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       Recently, I created a a tool to use in an intervention for a client with a spinal cord injury at the T3 level. When going through the process of deciding what I would like to address, eating seemed to be one of the main things he was struggling with due to his dominant hand and arm being in a cast. He struggles with fine motor skills in his left hand, which creates messy feeding. So, I wanted to work on tuning those movements to make them smoother and easier.      When deciding how I wanted to make this, I wanted to make it as inexpensive as possible. So, I used an empty box of parchment paper/aluminum foil box that was laying around the house. The colorful pom poms were bought at Dollar General, and I found a spoon at home.     When using this tool, the client will hold the spoon, and try to spoon up as many pom poms as possible. Repetition is one way to reinforce fine motor skills and make it easier on the client. When discussing the "just right challenge," there are
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Multiple Sclerosis

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@multiple_sclerosis_facts      After listening to Rachael’s story, I realize how easily Multiple Sclerosis can be misdiagnosed or overlooked. I chose this resource because I have been in that same situation plenty of times. When you struggle and no one can physically see a problem, they assume you are looking for attention or that you are overexaggerating.  It can be so discouraging when all the tests and bloodwork come back normal. Multiple Sclerosis symptoms are never completely the same as another person’s experience, so it is hard to know what exactly to expect in each case.         Rachael described all of her symptoms as being fatigue, blurry vision, sensory disturbances, and issues with swallowing. We discussed each of these as possible symptoms in our session prep work. All of these symptoms link back to the nervous system, and progress quickly. If her doctors had gone more in depth with her symptoms and listened to her concerns, she could have possibly known years before. I th
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SIM Debrief

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          As part of the Neuro Aspects course I'm taking in OT school, I participated in a clinical simulation encounter with a client that has a recent history of a stroke, specifically a right-sided cerebrovascular accident. I administered a cognitive screening assessment to decide whether this client needs further testing since their accident. To further explain, cognition can be described by having the ability to receive information into the brain and being able to understand without impairments. As occupational therapists, it is our job to help our clients get back to being as functionally independent as possible while ensuring safety. After assessing the client’s impairment, we can provide the client with an inclusive and individualized care plan and intervention, whether that included adaptive equipment or altering the way a client performs their ADLs or iADLs. This will allow us to have an effective plan while still letting the client have a say in their care and therapy.  
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Spinal Cord Injury

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     @roshreview      After watching the video documentary of Sophia’s life after her injury, I have learned that the treatment is what you make it. She injured her C4-5 vertebrae riding a horse and could not move collarbone down. She has no hand function and partial paralysis of the arms.     She has 24 hour care, but she makes sure to have her own independence as an adult. I loved that her parents decided to move in the country because she wanted to, and I loved that they bought a small adapted home right next to put right next to theirs. I feel like this does give her more privacy and allows her to feel more independent. We recently talked about how houses to have to be modified to fit     a wheelchair, hospital bed, and any other equipment. After learning about each level of spinal cord injury, I think being able to see what she can do on her own gave me a better understanding each level.          I chose this topic because I am partial interested in learning more about equine/hipp
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Huntington's Disease

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     I recently watched a Tedx talk, “Facing Death Full of Life” by Danielle Valenti. She did an amazing job of describing how precious life is and how we should not be afraid to live it. Valenti began talking about her life of caring for her mother and how hard it was to see her pass with Huntington’s disease. I chose this topic because I felt like I could relate to her being a daughter and being so close to my mother. I learned that this disease is rare because it only effects 30,000 people in the U.S.. Valenti also described Huntington’s disease as the worst disease known to man. Going through this disease in class, I knew it was inheritable and terrible to go through, but many describe it as a combination of Parkinson’s, ALS, and Alzheimer’s disease.        Valenti also explained towards the end that she had the gene, and she has always seen this disease as the “Devil’s disease” as it took her mother away from her slowly.  This disease takes control of your movements, body, and eve
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Parkinson's Disease

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       I recently watched a YouTube video called “Dad Living With Parkinson’s,” provided by Attitude. This video was a glimpse into Andy McDowell’s life as he lives with early onset Parkinson’s Disease. Throughout the video, it shows a glimpse from different peoples’ perspectives on his life, as well as his own.  There is a special part of this video when Andy discusses how he told his two daughters about his condition. After his two daughters were still struggling to understand, he wrote a poem called  “Smaller,” and later made an award winning video.         Throughout this video, I learned to better understand what a person with Parkinson’s is going through mentally before and after a diagnoses. As a person without Parkinson’s, you realize how frustrating it can be to not be able to fully control your body movements or how your brain processes things. I thought about how alone he must have felt when trying to make decisions about work and family. Also, I can empathize as to how much
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