Walk it OuT

For the multimedia project I was assigned a 51-year old woman with MS and a butter tub. Alice was diagnosed with secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis. She has been experiencing fatigue, numbness/loss of sensation in the hands and forgetfulness. Before the diagnosis Alice enjoyed gardening but hasn't been able to take care of one recently. My goal is to demonstrate and explain the purpose of Alice's OT intervention while using a butter tub to engage Alice in gardening again.  When brainstorming ideas for this project I really had to think about the needs of the client in respect to what I could do with the tub. I decided planting aloe vera would be a simple but meaningful activity for Alice. I consulted with my dad to decide on aloe vera. My ah-ha moment was his approval. Yay! It will work! I like that aloe serves the purpose of burn relief. I would also suggest herbs or something small that could grow on a window sill.  This project definitely allowed me to look at a simpl...

Hello! I'd like to introduce you to my grandparents--affectionately known as granny and pa.  Granny and Pa met in May and were married August 10, 1955. From the day they met to the day they were married they were together every day. They loved each other dearly.  Granny and Pa lived a full life together for 62 years. They had two sons, several daughter-in-laws (s/o uncle bob), three grandchildren and a garden full of vegetables and flowers. They enjoyed being outside, going to church and spending time with family.  Granny died of Alzheimer's disease in November 2017. Growing up, I can't remember when the official diagnosis was but I knew she had the signs of dementia. The memory loss was gradual. It was a given that when we would go to see Granny and Pa she would ask the same three questions the entire time we were there. "Where are you in school?", "When will you be done?", "Do you have a boyfriend?" We would always oblige and she would smile ...

 At the beginning of OT school I struggled to explain OT to others. I obviously knew what it meant to me and I had experience in observing it in action. However, I couldn't accurately describe it on the fly. Some of the questions like, "Isn't it like PT?" or "So you help people get jobs?" are certainly frustrating after hearing time and time again. This is why advocacy is still a huge part of my responsibility as a student and future practitioner. Through identifying my personal development goals in Leadership 431 I have been able to put this responsibility to practice. Now, eight months in to OT school I feel very confident explaining my chosen profession. I am excited to talk about OT because I am prepared to explain the joy that is found in encouraging people to find ways to be be independent despite their limitations. Some of the successful conversation elements I use are: inquiring what the person already knows about OT, building off of their previous k...

"Facing Death Full of Life" a ted talk by Danielle Valenti.  Valenti, D. (2015, December 4). Facing death full of life [Video]. TEDxtalks.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JRwCdmewl0  For this neuro note I wanted to research Huntington's Disease (HD) because will be learning more about it in class this week. Danielle Valenti addresses her diagnosis and experience watching her mother die from this disease in her Ted Talk "Facing death full of life." Huntington's disease is a degenerative brain disease that affects the basal ganglia area. Nerve cells break down and cause issues with movement, cognition, etc. There is no cure for HD. The disease is highly genetic. If one parent carries the gene the likelyhood of the child acquiring the disease is 50/50. Danielle underwent genetic testing immediately following her mother's death. She wanted to know what her future would look like considering her mother died at age 55.  The diagnosis was very hard on her. Ho...

Andrew's Story: Guillain-Barre Syndrome Franek, A. J. [Andrew J Franek]. (2017, August 1). Andrew's story: Guillain-Barre syndrome [Video]. Youtube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWvrHhs2jps  For this neuro note I watched Andrew Franek's documentary of his experience with Guillain-Barre syndrome. I chose this because I had never researched the disorder and I wanted to understand more about it. Andrew's youtube video documents the first signs, symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, therapies, outcomes and emotions that he experienced. He had been sick with a high fever and shortly after (within days) he couldn't walk. The most shocking thing to me about this disorder is how fast it takes over. Andrew couldn't walk within three days. He was paralyzed from this disorder within a month. He was put on a ventilator, had a tracheotomy, an NG-tube, etc. However, he was well into recovery within 5 months!  Guillain-Barre is a rare disorder that can be triggered by infection...