I was transported to my new home, Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation on February 11th 2019. I was nervous of the unknown that I was soon being faced with. I had no idea of how long I would have to stay at Kessler all I knew was that it was going to be a long road to recovery for me.
As I entered, I was very pleased by how modern the facility was and how nice everyone was. They wheeled me to my room to get settled. The question that many of you want to know is if I had a roommate and yes I did. She was an elderly lady who had a hip replacement. She was the type of person who would complain about everything to anyone. Plus, once she starts a conversation with someone you can’t get out of the conversation. So you know me, I’m finally getting in a better mental state so I just tried not to engage in a conversation with her as much as possible. It all worked out. For the rest of day one, they let you just get settled in. The next day begins your therapy sessions full force which are daily except for the weekends.
I woke up to my therapy schedule written on the board and wow they weren’t joking when they said they loaded you up on the second day for assessments. First up was Occupational Therapy at 7:30 A.M to come to assess me on how I shower myself. WHAT? For those that know me well, I’m pretty modest. I had to undress, shower and then get dressed again while being watched. Plus, she was younger than me and for some reason that made it worse for me. She wheeled me to the bathroom and placed my shower stuff on the shower chair and pretty much said okay go ahead. I was able to remove my socks, but I couldn’t take off anything else. So, she had to assist with all my clothes and also helped me over to the shower chair. But, once I got to the chair I did wash myself. My tired arms washed my body no matter how long it took me. Based on the assessment, she said as long as someone helps me get undressed (whomp) and transitions me to the shower chair I was able to take a shower with the staff standing outside of the door…..so half a win I guess.
Moving forward OT would be down in the gym daily.
Immediately after OT, was Speech. She first started with breakfast which was pureed, but she also brought up a chopped diet as well. A chopped diet is when the food is just cut up finely (but not bite sized) so you can swallow it easier. I did well with that so my diet will now be chopped. Next, we worked on memory skills, and categorizing words into groups. I sucked at those areas, but that’s why I’m there right! I have to remember, that I’m not just here for motor control issues, I’m also having neurological issues. I would be getting speech three times a week to mainly work on memory and recall.
I had a little down time to rest, but the neuropsychologist stopped in to introduce herself. She wanted to know how I was feeling about everything so far and if it was okay for her to come in to talk to me about things. I agreed to it, why not right.
After Lunch, I had Physical Therapy. She wanted to work on standing and taking steps with me. I explained to her the last walking experience in the hospital looked like a scene from “Weekend At Bernie’s”, but I’m up for anything. She asked me to stand up, which I had trouble doing and she placed a gait belt around me so she would be able to better support me. We then practiced sit to stands a few times. Now I’m standing and my legs are beginning to tremor, she leaned me forward a little to see if I would take a step. I think the natural tremor moved my foot enough to move me. If she was to let go I would fall completely forward. She was trying to figure out the tremors. She thought maybe they were due to muscle fatigue since I was in bed for so long prior to coming to rehab….perhaps. The tremors started to build up to my torso and then got to the point where I had trouble speaking. She ended the session at this point. PT will continue on a daily basis and she also suggested I would be a candidate for pool therapy as well which I’m excited for.
Although it was a crazy tiring day I still didn’t get to see some people that weren’t on my list to see, my family. One reason we chose Kessler over another location known for doing well for Neuro rehab, Kessler was so close to my house. I knew I would be able to see my husband and kids each day. They would help in my recovery hands down. If I was stuck in the city seeing them once a week would’ve slowed my recovery up for sure. But I knew they were coming tonight to see me and I couldn’t be happier. I haven’t seen my kids in over a week. Even when I was home, my contact with my kids was very limited due to my symptoms. The mom they are seeing now is still a damaged, but a mom that has a smile on her face, a fighter and alive.
The cup was given to me by a great OT friend Brooke after a visit. She saw I was struggling with a cup without a lid, so she bought me one with a lid. Feeling the love!!!
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