Rehab Rules

I have a lot to tell you today and all of it good news!!

Last Wednesday, my sister Maria and her husband Milton, drove me to Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney, because it had been quite a while since they used to spend their days out there with me, and boy did they get a shock to find that all of the buildings (except one the out-patients use) that they had spent a good deal of their time in, were gone!

They came into the out-patients building to see the nurses and Dr Zeman and my lovely, long suffering OT Lisa. When we got to Lisa, Maria asked her what else she thought that I should be doing (uh oh!), and was there anything else that I could be doing (more than using the Saebo Flex, the Saebo Stretch, using the mirror therapy, the tens machine, the balls little and big) to help my recovery. 

They chatted for a bit while I picked up and put down the special balls from Saebo and Lisa told Maria that I was extremely lucky, as I was to be given another dose of the Botox in my wrist! As I have mentioned before, the government gives stroke recoverers, 4 doses of Botox/Dysport (providing it is having a beneficial effect) for the treatment of upper limb muscle spasticity due to the stroke, I have been given this amount of the drug quite some time ago and since then, the other doses that I have been fortunate enough to have used on me, are for Dr Zeman to teach different doctors how to use Botox/Dysport, how much and where they can used for the treatment of the spasticity.

When I went into the clinicians room, Maria came with me to see what Dr Zeman does and how many Drs are getting the benefits of Dr Z's expertise. Then they were ready, and it is not a pretty thing as I am given an electric probe to help find the correct muscle and when they do find it, the probe bounces up and down as my heart beats. Not nice at all, but I am very, very grateful for being a research specimen!!

After they have given me a dose of Botox, I then have to do as many exercises as I can, until two weeks have passed when I will get my affected arm cast in plaster again. I returned to rehab for the next appointment and although I had done a lot of the necessary exercises, a dear friend is in Royal North Shore Hospital ICU as he fights a virulent virus and that had got in the way of the amount of exercises that I did do.

Lisa has been very patient and kind with me, and I know, that I have been ready to give up on me long ago, but she is NOT, so, I am trying to do a lot more of the Saebo exercises than I have to do, so, when I return to have my arm cast again, I hope that I will have done everything that WE can to have a successful outcome this time!

26.8.2012

Painless pain???

One of the reasons that I haven't written for a couple of months, is that I feel so bad that I have been going through a plateau and haven't been doing ANY of my exercises for 6 weeks! I know! After doing more than my share of the boring, repetitive and sometimes painful exercises for over 5 years - I came to a stop! 

Now, I am going to be in trouble with my lovely OT Lisa, as my little muscle in my right (affected) arm is soft and going away! Lisa is a fantastic and very hard working Occupational Therapist, who is going to see me next Wednesday!!! 

You see, I have been so fed up, that I couldn't be bothered to do the exercises, but you don't realise how quickly your muscles atrophy in such a short space of time, and I didn't realise the Lisa would be able to get me another 6 weeks of Rehabilitation at the Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney!

What had happened to me was something that no-one could foresee happening, but had enough of an impact on me to make me not want to do anything! I thought that I had had another, small stroke! 

One day while I was at work, I had a dull headache all day but didn't think anything much about it until I appeared to have 'broken glass' in front of my eyes for at least an hour. I kept blinking it away, except it wasn't going away! Then after a while, I noticed that it was gone and really didn't think about it again. Later that night when my daughter came home and I was speaking to her about her day, she started looking a bit frightened and as she is only 17, it worried me and I thought I was saying 'not to worry, what is the matter', but I was talking 'gobbledegook' and that really got me upset!

We called my neurologist and made an appointment for me to come in and see him. When we did tests etc Dr Joffe said that he thought that I was having a 'painless migraine'! I had never heard of such a thing, but I felt that he at least should know what was wrong with me. The more I mentioned to people about this, the more I heard about it and it the more I heard about it the more people said, 'oh yes, my ***** gets that'! So, I had a 'painless migraine' and apparently it isn't painless at all, but my pain sensors are in a part of my brain that has been altered by the stroke so pain is different in different parts of my body now and I can't explain it, but I can still feel it in a different way!!

After Dr Joffe told me that this is what was happening to me, I was left with....an 'oh no' sensation! Now that I knew that every thing was a-okay with my health, I had to face the prospect of seeing Lisa and telling her that I hadn't done my exercises for...

25.8.2012