occupational therapy – Page 4 – Jesus is for the Wounded

Just ‘Cause You’re Sick Doesn’t Mean You Can’t…..

Published on April 17, 2014April 17, 2014 by Jesus is for the WoundedLeave a comment

Some great insights from a fellow sojourner who is near to the side of recovery from Lyme disease. Perhaps I can add making jewelry? :J

My Color Is Lyme

Yes you are in bed most of the time. Yes you feel like that possum that got hit by the truck. Yes you are kind of stuck and down in the dumps. You can’t do most of the things you want to do, so it is easy to get depressed, feel worthless and a burden on society. We’ve all been there, no matter what point in our illness we are in right now.

So since it is so easy to focus on the “can’ts” (which lead to feeling worthless), here are some “can’s” you can do right from your bed. And please don’t put these ideas down as cheesy, maybe some are but it’s the little things that sometimes make the day brighter.

1. Write Thank You Cards “just because”. Are there people in your life that you love and appreciate? How good would it feel to surprise them…

View original post 588 more words

My Top 10 List: Tools of the Trade

Published on April 7, 2014April 7, 2014 by Jesus is for the Wounded4 Comments

I had a supervisor one time that said, “you are only as good as your tools.” She was referring to the splinting supplies in the occupational therapy clinic that included state-of-the-art warming trays. Thermoplastics used in making upper extremity splints must be heated to the correct temperature or they become gummy; they also might burn your patient’s forearm when it gets too hot! They had a thermometer on the splinting cart which was a luxury in those days. Now with so many choices of materials from which to choose at a variety of temperature specs, having the right tools is standard practice.

Splinting never was my forte but the advice stuck with me. My words came back to me when the men in my life would often repeat this phrase when faced with a decision of whether or not to add to the man cave “tool box!” Yeah, it was usually o.k. with me. Usually a new kitchen gadget jumped into the shopping cart too. 🙂 These days my tools relate more to gardening and my own health care. Here’s a new spin on the latter: your recovery is only as good as the tools you employ for recovery. This post is an addendum to an earlier blog entitled, Keeping Sane While Recovering from Serious Illness. With some tools that are tongue-in-cheek and not necessarily in this order, here goes:

1) Treatment journal, online or in a notebook. Keeping track of medications, supplements, medical appointments, changes in treatment plan, etc. is critical to success. Who wants to make the same mistake twice? My hand-written journal entries are more truncated these days since I’ve got my routine stuff down better and more social supports in place. I do go back to earlier postings and am grateful for some progress. Even if I am not doing better in other areas, I know that I am coping better overall; thank you Lord!

2) Smart phone. When stuck in bed I can still stay connected to the outside world via my social media favs, email, and text. The Bible App is awesome and keeps me in the Word on a daily basis with its Bible-in-a-Year reading program. On my mobile I can also look up what the heck is going on in my body and boost my lame brain with reminders of this or that on my calendar. I was a late-adapter to the world of 4G+ and cannot see going back to a flip phone anytime soon!

3) Fingertip less gloves. My hands and extremities get chilled in the evening. It’s a battle trying to do a few things when I am awake and feeling better in the middle of the night but feel like I’m freezing! The drop in body temp can trigger noxious symptoms so I needed to find a strategy for keeping my hands warm. I was Christmas shopping at Macy’s this past year and there they were in a colorful display: a table filled with mittens that had removable mitts so you could expose your fingertips. Your hands stay warm from the middle knuckles through the wrists. Success! These even come in handy when taking frozen foods out of the freezer or grocery shopping. Grocery stores give me the chills year round. Know what I mean?

4) A really warm fleece jacket with pockets. For the reasons noted above, I finally have something to keep me warm when roaming about the house later in the evening. The softness of the fabric is comforting too. What did we ever do before Polartec? Or maybe for you it is a handheld fan?

5) Fuzzy socks! Yes they are warm. It’s the cute designs and fun colors that make me smile a little when my feet are cold. My cow socks (which were a gift from when my Aunt Patty lived in Vermont) are my favorite. The thicker the better, over the ankle, and loose-fitting too. Such a simple pleasure.

6) Breakfast from a traditional lunch bag. Mornings are the hardest for me. Most days I awaken in elevated pain with noxious symptoms that make it difficult to use the bathroom let alone make breakfast. Finally the Lord led me to a solution of making my breakfast the night before much like I used to make my lunch to take to work each day. The freezer pack keeps it cold until morning. Many times I am eating food cold that others might microwave/heat up before mealtime but that is not a requirement for me anymore. I just gotta get food in my belly to feel better so a chunk of meatloaf for breakfast it is sometimes!

7) Making the effort to cook or purchase special snack foods that fit within my restricted diet. For example, I think I’ve finally mastered coconut flour pumpkin (or squash) muffins to comply with my Candida/mold-free/low oxalate diet. Pulling a little essence of home-baked goodness out of my breakfast bag in the morning with Earth Balance Organic Coconut Spread, I no longer feel deprived! The recipe is a bit challenging so I double it and freeze them for yummy goodness each morning.

8) Emergency remedies on hand at all times. For me this includes high CBD hemp oil and a charcoal-filter face mask that have arrested an oncoming seizure attack when in a public place more than once. We need to be proactive in managing the crises of our health condition where possible, saving the real emergencies for situations beyond our control, eh?

9) Slip-on shoes and slippers. Who wants to bend over and risk falling on one’s head when weak from illness and needing to cover one’s feet? Yeah, not me either.

10) Something or someone warm and fuzzy. Yes, this can include the stuffed kind or your man with generous amounts of chest hair to comfort us when needed. (O.k. maybe your lady in soft flannel pajamas would apply here instead!) When my beloved is not home our German Shepherd pup gets a little extra massaging. Who knew that a big, protective dog breed would love to cuddle? Elle, you rock.

Well there you have it: my top 10 list of recovery tools. Have some of your own? I’d love to hear about them! Please feel free to add your comments below.

Recovery is a jagged line

Published on March 2, 2014March 21, 2014 by Jesus is for the Wounded1 Comment

Today my words came back to me. My beloved Steve was comforting with his encouragement that there can be many setbacks even when on the road to recovery. Ah yes. The old, “recovery is a jagged line” speech. I have let those words fly many times when working with my patients as an occupational therapist. There was the cardiac patient who was frustrated with having to restrict his activity level to basically mope-ing around the house for his first week home from the hospital. I also recall a lady practically quarantined in a back bedroom of her home with a great view of the surrounding woodlands. She had a portable refrigerator, phone, laptop, accessible bathroom, hospital bed, wheelchair, walker and many conveniences to help her recover from a knee replacement surgery. I had to encourage her to push up her jagged line a bit lest she become too comfortable in her hospital room at home!

One of the many reasons I enjoyed working in home health care was the ability to use the person’s real-life situations, supplies, and responsibilities as part of his or her occupational therapy. The role of an O.T. is to evaluate the daily activities of an individual and the skills needed to complete those activities. When there is a breakdown due to an illness, surgery, mental health problem, developmental delay, disability, or disease process, the O.T. works with the patient and his or her resources to restore function. I was always amazed at how “resourceful” some patients could be! I think the farmers were the best. I’ll never forget the industrious wife of a patient suffering after several failed back surgeries. The lady of the house had built from scrap wood a rolling cart with a seat on top and rope attached to move it along the floors in her home. What was she moving? Well her husband of course! He was eligible for a wheelchair rental but evidently the subject never came up. I don’t think they even wanted one when it became available. The downside: the gentleman would not likely become independent in household mobility and related activities when sitting on a cart that had to be pulled by others. Recovery is sometimes a flat line too: no true recovery at all.

As for me, the recovery is moving forward. I am 12 days into using high CBD hemp oil to attempt to control daily seizure-like tic episodes. Today I had a setback for about 2 hours but at least the episode was low grade without a severe neck headache or pain. And when night time rolled around to my bewitching hours of 9-11:00 p.m. there were pre-tic symptoms and nothing else. This is the second night in a row with relief! Every night prior to this and for the past 8 months I have had 2-4 hours of intermittent seizures. Virtually every day or night for the past 2-1/2 years I have had intermittent waking seizures. Praise the Lord, the pattern is changing! At either set intervals or when noxious symptoms start I take a full or partial dose of high CBD hemp oil and get relief. Nothing has ever done this before!

It’s not like I haven’t prayed, submitted, waited, or tried more diets/supplements/drugs/manual therapies/technologies/chiropractors/testing/remediation than, as they used to say, “Carter has got pills!” I am actually still preparing to see methylation and biotoxin illness specialists in Michigan later this month. It is likely that the cause of illness is related more to exposure to biotoxins than Lyme disease. All that may be clearer sometime down the road. At this time my husband and I are rejoicing for the relief from our hellish nights. He just might start getting a full night of sleep before too long! That is if we don’t stay up for other reasons . . . ;J

If you are curious about high CBD hemp oil then I offer this informational website: www.mycbdresearch.com and join the discussion on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/CBDhempandseizures There’s hope here for many with seizures and other neurological, intractable health conditions. For all of us there is one ultimate source of hope that will sustain us whether recovery is a straight, jagged, or invisible line: a relationship with the Lord, Jesus Christ. To find Him we only need to get on our knees and open our hearts to His enduring love, His love letters to each of us in the Bible. I would have never made it this far without my Jesus. I am humbled and grateful for many aspects of these past 2 1/2 years: I’m working on accepting the wretched parts.

Meeting you, Gentle Reader, along the way is a sweet gift. Thank you for being a part of my recovery too. JJ

The whole chicken or egg dilemma

Published on January 31, 2014January 31, 2014 by Jesus is for the Wounded2 Comments

Sometimes in life things do not occur in any sane, logical order. Well after the original Creation of all things, that is! Before Creation there was only God and we came with His speaking into existence time, space, the earth, and so on. All I can say is that after I was born a lot of things happened in a fairly reasonable sequence. However after I became an adult that all changed!

I started my career, graduated with a Masters degree, and was married 12 years without ever having had any children. I see now the paradoxical blessing of never having had a family as a young woman; it just didn’t make sense why this happened as the years went on until more recently. It was the Lord’s plan for my life. Regardless I now have had the privilege of “adopting” my intended beloved husband’s grandson this past year and it is GRAND! I love it! Sitting here in the great State of Indiana following the stream of photos on Facebook of little Jackson and his parents in North Carolina is the new replacement for dinner-with-the-family on Sunday afternoons. Well o.k. Works for me.

Ah yes, work. I began my career as an occupational therapist, dabbled in worker’s compensation insurance, ventured into a home business three times (where I continue now as a hobby), bounced back after a few orthopedic injuries, and landed in an extended medical leave two years ago. I would have thought that I would be more vulnerable to such a serious illness when undergoing some of the more significant and stressful transitions in my life but it didn’t happen that way. Illness came when I was happily married, living closer to my hometown of Detroit, Michigan, secure in my relationship with the Lord, and largely homebound in a pretty place with a cool dog too. I have never felt more loved and it came after age 47, not as a baby girl. Works for me.

And there it is again. Work. My training as an occupational therapist brings a fascination with all things “work:” from the menial tasks of housekeeping to the time-and-motion requirements of an assembly line worker. I am amazed at the inner workings and outer performance capabilities of the human frame in addition to our ability to love, to hate, to dream. Later in life I would also come to know the Creator of mankind as my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ: the One who made me and you in His image. Oh how lovely He must be for all of us to be a copy of His humanity! My life has been a wacky journey of discovery for all that He has made and gifted me to be; my weaknesses in addition to my strengths are crafted at His hand, in His time. This brings me to the current day.

I received a job notification from a prominent continuing education company for a part time Lead Occupational Therapy Education Planner. Wow, that sounds cool! The Planner would assist in the development and promotion of continuing education courses for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants nationwide. I have spent my entire career continuing my love for learning as I moved from one specialty area to another, adapting from one work setting and set of skills to another. Then when illness struck and continued into the year 2012, the Lord guided me into an online jewelry business. I knew very little about ecommerce at the time! Within a year I am grateful to report that I had customers from most sections of the United States and had learned a variety of jewelry-making techniques. I could adapt my creative schedule any time of day or night. And the marketing and writing skills of previous endeavors got applied and developed further, including photography and the use of social media.

Even with all of that, my greatest joy lies right here with you. This blog has received my heart, my hopes, my fears, my dreams, my failures, and my successes too. You have been there for me, Gentle Reader, through yet another transition in my life. I have recently doubted my ability to return to gainful employment due to the nature of the illness in my life. And yet the skills of reading, writing, creating, and social networking have grown despite any hardship. So I applied for the position! I included the online business, eBook, and this blog as accomplishments of late. It’s just like an occupational therapist to examine the skills needed to get through the day and a person’s ability to match it to what is needed in his or her life. This is exactly what I have done these past 2 years and in considering this new venture.

Thank you, Lord, for creating me as an occupational therapist. You knew the skills I would need to navigate the events of my life and breathed the seeds of them into me decades ago. And if it is your will that I move forward with gainful employment with this new company, then I am ready for this challenge. I don’t need to know if it’s the right timing, if I need to do something else first as in the chicken or egg dilemma. I’ll just trust you with all of the details. How timely that earlier today I was talking with a friend about her preparation and experiences attempting to return to work after a personal leave of absence. I place both of us at your throne of grace that your wisdom and strength would infill both of us for the opportunities that lie ahead. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. JJ

A New Project to Keep Me Sane

Published on December 29, 2013 by Jesus is for the WoundedLeave a comment

An idea for a new project has come to mind so when I’m not here, I’m brain-dumping in Microsoft Word. The topic: helping others with chronic illness with the day-to-day practical barriers to living.

My career in occupational therapy included evaluating the daily “occupations” in the lives of my patients and the skills he or she needed to get through the day. Occupations can include homemaking, pre-driving skills, functioning on the job, and more. When the person was unable to complete the steps, tasks, and activities needed to perform those daily occupations then O.T. was offered. Treatment began during an inpatient hospital or rehabilitation facility stay and continued in outpatient or home care therapy sessions. I have had the privilege of working in all of these settings. My favorite was always home care. When you are working with a patient in their own living situation, the evaluation is often more accurate and the remediation more meaningful. This was my part time work when I became sick on October 11, 2011. Within a few months I was unable to continue. Since then the remediation has focused on my own home and health!

I am grateful for my 30 years in occupational therapy practice. The Lord led me to a profession as a high school graduate that would provide a fulfilling career my entire adult life. I enjoyed serving others in both psychiatric and physical rehabilitation settings, with adolescents to older adults alike. I have been with a patient just moments before she passed away and another when he realized that his disabilities would be permanent. To look into the eyes of someone about to lose their independence because of his medical condition and another who needs a little nudge to realize she is ready to return to work are equally humbling experiences. And these days when I look into the mirror, I have some of those same discussions in mind as I consider the challenges of my own life these days. Gratefully, I have a rich variety of experiences and resources upon which to draw. In many ways I have not had to struggle as much as my patients because of my training as an OT.

For example, I intuitively know the importance of planning ahead in the evening for the next morning. If I wake up with seizure attacks and my husband is alone, I generally have a plan in place to meet my basic needs in case I would be unable to leave the bedroom. The night before, I usually pack a breakfast with my a.m. medications, enough water and food (following my special diet) to make it through the first part of the day. Low blood sugar can exacerbate my symptoms so this strategy has become one of numerous methods employed to cope with my limitations of late. I am grateful to the Lord for the skills He has giving me, His help in my time of need, and His leading me to a profession that has allowed me to cope through many trials in my life.

So why don’t I see what I can do to help others with this knowledge? When I did a preliminary search on coping strategies, I found a great deal of resources on the topics of emotional, psychological, and social skills for persons with chronic illness. This was a great discovery and I benefitted from reviewing these blogs, articles, book reviews, and so on. But where were the day-to-day strategies for example, in preventing falls when dizzy because of a medication side effect? In my role as an OT, I could point to many disease-specific organizations that might have such resources, for example the Alzheimer’s Association or Multiple Sclerosis Society. This information is also easy to find within the disability community. But what about a person with Lyme disease? Sick building syndrome? A temporary illness? Persons with a serious, multi-diagnosis, ongoing illness numbers in the hundreds of thousands or more. I see them on Facebook forums, WebMD, and the like. I would like them to know that there are simple strategies to reduce their daily struggles, improve their ability to function, and in doing so also keep myself sane while on the path to healing.

We have a saying within the therapy profession that goes like this, “therapist, heal thyself.” While this is not entirely true, certainly a therapist can do pretty well at rallying some resources to get the healing process going. My hope is that by sharing some practical information with others I will not only keep myself sane as I write but also gear myself up for returning to a productive life someday soon. The complications of my own illness make it difficult to concentrate, use various thinking skills after several episodes per day. The challenge of writing, editing, researching, and publishing my first eBook did help fire some neurons in a meaningful sequence here and there! I’m thinking I’ll try it again.

If this resonates with you, please let me know what you would like to see in such a handbook. The current outline begins with the morning of a typical day and continues through all of the activities of daily living until bedtime. I will include information on fall and injury prevention with references for sample adaptive equipment, such as a sliding tub transfer bench or automatic night lights. Many of us will be familiar with parts of the information. My hope is that by systematically reviewing a person’s typical home environment that there will be new insights: a little something for everyone and his or her caregivers. I have seen the power of a simple strategy in making the day a little brighter in the life of a person battling a serious illness. Maybe this will even lead to a forum where there will be an exchange of information as well. I am looking forward to the possibilities . . .