The Care Meeting & a Case of the Shingles

Today we worked with a man who was in a head-on collision car crash, and had broken ankle and leg bones in both legs. This confined him to his wheelchair and limited his therapy considerably. He was not a regular patient of Athina’s, but she took care of him as if he was. Each time he had therapy, his therapist would stretch out his legs to try to restore his range of motion, especially in his ankles. Of course, they had to be careful of his fractures, but this helped a lot. Jackie was one of my favorite patients because she was incredibly sweet and worked hard in all of her therapy sessions. She was non-weight bearing on her left foot due to a fracture, but made a lot of progress with her endurance in walking (more of hopping on one foot). Unfortunately Jackie developed the shingles and was put on room arrest. Anyone who wanted to see her had to put on these bright yellow sick gowns and gloves before entering. The shingles had spread all along her chest and down her stomach and arms, making therapy inconvenient for her. But she buckled down and continued to do her exercises and tackle the stairs. I am so proud of her for her dedication to getting better despite some irritating obstacles. After therapy with Jackie we headed toward the meeting room. Mary had a care meeting that we attended today in which her sons came and we all talked about what needed to be done to help Mary progress. Those involved were Mary, the speech therapist, occupational therapist, physical therapist/athletic trainer (Athina), head nurse, social worker, and the cook. It was a great meeting and everyone was kind and considerate as to Mary’s needs. These meetings occur for each patient, but I am unsure on how often.