Encouragement is the Best Medicine

I arrived yet again at 8:30 a.m. and talked with the other employees for a second before Athina came in. I asked them why they chose their careers and what they love about them. Most shared their love for helping people and the atmosphere of the facility, two things that are important to me in a future career. They would lightly poke fun at one another, or make jokes as they passed by. Everyone was fully dedicated with their patients, but they’d also give praise and encouragement to other patients that they saw. For example, if a patient who had had a difficult time walking up the stairs previously just did so with ease, all of the ATs, PTs, and OTs would cheer and congratulate that person. Everybody was so positive and kind. Athina and I visited most of the same people we did yesterday, but I didn’t talk about them all. We saw a middle aged man named Josh who had suffered a syndesmosis tibiofibular ankle fracture and was non-weight bearing. He was a former professional football player but had injured himself via daily living. His goal was to be strong enough to get discharged by the end of the week. He did fairly well getting around using only a walker, but I needed to push around a wheelchair behind him in case he needed to rest. His endurance was in need of work, as well as getting up stairs. The biggest focus of this rehabilitation is to get people strong enough that they will be safe at home, which can be a big challenge for some. The biggest obstacle for most are the stairs. Athina is really good at asking people how many stairs they have at home, and helping them get to the point where they can do that many stairs effectively. It was difficult for Josh to get up these stairs because of the weight of the boot on his leg and also moving his heavy stature up with one leg. This guy was a big guy, tall and thick. For safety reasons, an OT needed to come and support him on the other side with his stair attempt. After doing a few leg exercises in his wheelchair, we got him back to his room.