The sad news today was that the tube was completely incapacitated, on top of which there was also a bus strike, and the stroke unit was therefore in complete disarray. I was there on time since I had walked, and an OT student who drives in every day was also there. But everyone else was at least an hour late. Although, I'm just now getting to the sad part of it...the central line had been shut down because there was not one, but two jumpers today. And we come back around to the topic of perspective, because I can't imagine where people must be in their lives to do such a thing-- and I also can't imagine being someone on the platform seeing this happen, or god forbid, the driver of the train.
On a much less dramatic note(perspective), but still emotionally draining and life-changing for this particular family, we had a case conference today for one of my patients. When asked what his current big goal, or number one goal, might be, he replied in this meeting he wanted to get back to work. (He's only 57, and was a self-employed painter/decorator.) We asked him to try again, and to try to think realistically, given the fact that he still has no movement or sensation on the left side of his body. He came up with walking, with a stick, or perhaps a frame at first. And it broke my heart, but we had to tell him we didn't see him being able to walk by the time he goes home, and that going back to work might very well not be on the cards for him. We asked him when he thought he might be ready to go home, and he named June of next year, but we had to tell him it would be early January at the latest. And we had to tell him that doing a good transfer with assistance, and standing well, would be the goals we'll try to accomplish before he leaves. His family is having to re-locate to wheelchair accessible housing, and he'll be getting a powered wheelchair eventually. His family is very "switched on" as they say, and none of this was a big shock to his wife, but I think he was pretty surprised by the news. His insight has definitely been affected by the stroke, and while he will say straight away he is making slow progress in therapy, and has good days and bad days, he's very unrealistic about the big picture. I think that's the hardest part of therapy some days-- being brutally honest with our patients about what we think they'll achieve before they go home. And even harder is dealing with patients who have no insight into their capabilities and limitations, and don't believe you no matter what you say. The one I'm talking about from today, he's not as bad as that. We've currently got two patients who think that they could walk with a stick if we'd just let them, even though they need 2-3 people just to help them stand in therapy.
Ok, so enough of the sad talk...my happy stuff today: Let's see, going to the gym (always feels even better than usual after an emotional day at work), I'm all booked for a yoga and hiking weekend in the Brecons in Wales in February (yay!!), and I got my first Christmas gift!! I got the shock of my life this morning when I picked up a parcel from my Mom on my way to work, which I thought contained some items I'd asked her to get from the drugstore. But it was bigger than I expected, yet still lightweight, so I couldn't guess what else might be in there. Turns out it was a pair of black Crocs (clogs) that was on my Christmas list, which she'd sent over early, thinking I could use them in hospital now. They are the coolest! And so comfy too... thanks Mom!!!
Showing posts with label hike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hike. Show all posts
Monday, November 20, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
weekend update
Hmm, I've been rather blase about blogging lately, since I've been back from Turkey I guess...although I haven't had patience for much of anything since I got back from Turkey. The last few weeks of this rotation have really been dragging, and I'm just waiting for it to be over!!
Anywho, let's see, what did I do over the weekend? On Friday night, I went out with Nicole, Dave and Leeanne in Wanstead. And I was actually pretty impressed, they have a nice string of bars with DJs along the High St. Dave made a big deal out of the three housemates being out together for the first time, and insisted that we do it at least once a week from now on. By the time we'd been out for two hours or so, and Leeanne was being rude not only to us, but also to complete strangers, I needlessly pointed out to Dave that this is why it so rarely happens (needlessly, because Dave has been out with Leeanne much more often than I, and knows well what happens when she drinks). At the second bar that we went to, it was my turn for a round of drinks, so I leaned over the bar to tell the barmaid I wanted four drinks and proceeded to list them. Unfortunately, she misunderstood me, I guess with the music being so loud, and proceeded to give me four gin and tonics (the first drink I listed, my current drink of choice), plus the other three as well. Doh! I had help with the extra drinks, but had to do my fair share as well. In addition, Nicole and I started chatting to a guy sitting at the bar, who then insisted on buying us shots-- I had to tell him at least four times I wouldn't touch a shot of sambuca before he believed me, and he finally settled on buying us kamikaze shots. This guy told us at least twice after he'd gone off and come back (toilets maybe, who knows) that our friend was out of control, should be cut off and maybe we should go check on her (meaning Leeanne, who was over by the DJ somewhere). Nicole and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and said she's a big girl, she can take care of herself. We'd already defused at least two potential verbal fights, because she curses out anyone she thinks is staring at her, and we got cursed out ourselves for our efforts to keep the peace. The bar was playing some pretty good music, stuff you don't normally hear, such as Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder, and all in all it was a good night. I was pretty hung over on Saturday, and spent some time catching up on sleep.
Yesterday, I finally saw Nicole and Rob for the first time since mid-August, when they returned from their trip to Boston. We went on a pub walk-- a really nice 5 mile walk and it was warm with lots of sunshine. Aside from my first experience with stinging nettles, and the grass and air being filled with daddy long legs (not the spiders, that's what they call these winged things with long legs here), it was a great hike. And we didn't get lost this time, no thanks to the guy who wrote the book, but rather really good sign-posting. I've got a couple of pictures I'll try to get to later on tonight. We had a good pub lunch afterward at a picnic table overlooking the surrounding fields, with the best sticky toffee pudding I've had in a long while.
Oops, gotta go, morning handover meeting now. love, allison
Anywho, let's see, what did I do over the weekend? On Friday night, I went out with Nicole, Dave and Leeanne in Wanstead. And I was actually pretty impressed, they have a nice string of bars with DJs along the High St. Dave made a big deal out of the three housemates being out together for the first time, and insisted that we do it at least once a week from now on. By the time we'd been out for two hours or so, and Leeanne was being rude not only to us, but also to complete strangers, I needlessly pointed out to Dave that this is why it so rarely happens (needlessly, because Dave has been out with Leeanne much more often than I, and knows well what happens when she drinks). At the second bar that we went to, it was my turn for a round of drinks, so I leaned over the bar to tell the barmaid I wanted four drinks and proceeded to list them. Unfortunately, she misunderstood me, I guess with the music being so loud, and proceeded to give me four gin and tonics (the first drink I listed, my current drink of choice), plus the other three as well. Doh! I had help with the extra drinks, but had to do my fair share as well. In addition, Nicole and I started chatting to a guy sitting at the bar, who then insisted on buying us shots-- I had to tell him at least four times I wouldn't touch a shot of sambuca before he believed me, and he finally settled on buying us kamikaze shots. This guy told us at least twice after he'd gone off and come back (toilets maybe, who knows) that our friend was out of control, should be cut off and maybe we should go check on her (meaning Leeanne, who was over by the DJ somewhere). Nicole and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and said she's a big girl, she can take care of herself. We'd already defused at least two potential verbal fights, because she curses out anyone she thinks is staring at her, and we got cursed out ourselves for our efforts to keep the peace. The bar was playing some pretty good music, stuff you don't normally hear, such as Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder, and all in all it was a good night. I was pretty hung over on Saturday, and spent some time catching up on sleep.
Yesterday, I finally saw Nicole and Rob for the first time since mid-August, when they returned from their trip to Boston. We went on a pub walk-- a really nice 5 mile walk and it was warm with lots of sunshine. Aside from my first experience with stinging nettles, and the grass and air being filled with daddy long legs (not the spiders, that's what they call these winged things with long legs here), it was a great hike. And we didn't get lost this time, no thanks to the guy who wrote the book, but rather really good sign-posting. I've got a couple of pictures I'll try to get to later on tonight. We had a good pub lunch afterward at a picnic table overlooking the surrounding fields, with the best sticky toffee pudding I've had in a long while.
Oops, gotta go, morning handover meeting now. love, allison
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
