EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fifth installment in a series of columns. The series began with a column in the December 2013 edition of TechNation. The columns can be found online at www.1technation.com.
After being in the hospital for about four weeks, I was taken by ambulance to a rehab hospital. The transport to the rehab facility took about 30 minutes. It was the end of January and very cold outside. But, this was my first breath of outside air in a month, and it was good. The ride in the ambulance was a good change of pace. Upon arrival at the other hospital, I had to go through all the questions about my medical history and have my vital signs taken to get admitted.
The room I was placed in was equipped for positive and negative ventilation. It was small and very institutional. It made me feel like I was in a prison cell. Also, the room was cold. The staff told me that the room did not have a heating supply, so they provided an electric space heater. Having an electric space heater seemed to go against all of the electrical safety standards and common practices that I have followed for years. I was amazed by this response and insisted that they move me to another room. This happened the next day.
After being on my back for over four weeks, the physical therapists began to work with me in building up my leg muscles. Simple movements of lifting the leg or moving them side to side seemed to take all the energy I had. After about a week of these simple exercises, I finally took my first steps in five weeks. I was learning to walk again. Using a walker and the aid of several physical therapists, I walked from the bed to the door and back. Something as simple as walking to the door and back was a huge accomplishment to me, but routine to most. I wondered about the walker that I used with the tennis balls on the front legs. Was this strong enough to hold my weight, did anyone ever check this device to make sure it was in good condition and what about the cleaning of it from one patient to another? These are not normally taken care of by the biomed department. Who checks and services these, if anyone?
After a week or so of building up my leg muscles, I was moved to a more advanced physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) rehab unit. The requirements were to do at least four hours of physical therapy a day. Mentally, this did not seem to be a big deal. Physically, it was exhausting. My OT time started in the morning where I had to get cleaned up, dressed and put on my shoes by myself. This took about an hour and I was ready for a nap after that, but the OT therapists pushed and encouraged me to do more each day. After that I went by wheelchair to the physical therapy department. Some of the exercises, at first, didn’t appear to be too difficult. However, within minutes of repeating them I was amazed at how much all of the muscles in my body had atrophied. The therapists worked with me on arm and upper body muscles as well as my leg muscles and then we worked on my balance. Most of the exercises were done with free-weighted items and simple extremity movements. Sure you could do most of these on your own, but you needed that direction, encouragement and positive reinforcement to get stronger and build up your self-confidence. Over time, I continued to walk a little further with the walker each day.
I also spent time in the occupational therapy department practicing how to sit and get out of a chair. I also worked on getting in and out of a bed and, eventually, I worked on getting in and out of a car. All of these things were done without thought before and now doing them in slow motion required extra effort. The hardest exercise, at this point, was standing for several minutes while not touching anything. Getting the muscles in the legs and abdomen to work together to keep my balance was extremely hard. The staff would get you to talk, play a game (Wii bowling) or some other distraction while standing to get your mind off of the challenge. The staff was great by taking time, showing me over and over how to do it correctly and, most importantly, being positive, kind and patient with me.
At the end of my physical and occupational therapy, I would be physically and mentally exhausted and sleep for several hours. It was hard to comprehend how these simple, routine daily actions could take so much out of you. But, as days and then weeks passed, my muscles strengthened as well as my mental and emotional states. I could see my progress from simply moving my legs to walking (with a walker) to riding a stationary bike and then climbing stairs. This all took time. Encouragement from family, friends, nurses, therapists, doctors, nursing aids and other patients kept me going and gave me that positive strength I needed for recovery.
On February 14, Valentine’s Day, my wife (Amy) planned a surprise for me while I was out at therapy. She set a table with decorations, a nice cake and a bottle of wine. We had a nice romantic dinner (hospital food), cake and wine that evening. What more could anyone ask for; a perfect wife and an evening to celebrate my progress.