In terms of speech therapy, and my eating, I didn't really need to be seen anymore. I could eat normally, and quite enjoyed ordering off the many-choiced hospital menu. They were all microwave meals, but because of Leicester's diversity, there were lots of different options, and they weren't half bad. As well as typical British options, there were halal curries, veggie curries, Caribbean meals, and kosher meals. They weren't very big portions, but that suited me fine, and the large amount of choice stopped me getting too bored.
One of the catering staff used to come round in the mornings and afternoons and record on an iPad what you wanted to eat later. You would then have this re-heated in the ward at mealtimes. The kosher and Carribbean meals were separate from the normal paper menu, but I knew to ask for them. The meat was better quality though, probably because they were less common. Kosher was rarest so I think they were a bit panicked when I asked for it. Someone told me they'd got the kosher meals from another hospital because they had been out of stock, so I stopped ordering it. Didn't want all that effort for a meal I didn't even require.
Katie, the speech therapist, still used to see me though to work more on my speech. We did some vocal sound excercises, to combat my slurring, monotone speech (dysarthria). I was once given what looked like a navy plastic spoon to hold in my mouth to press down on to strengthen my tongue (this was before I was on a normal diet). A friend came to visit me as I was sat with this spoon in my mouth. After Christmas I was introduced to bubbling. This was where you get a straw, and blow bubbles in water, to blow against resistance. You could move on to humming through the straw, to practise controlling the sound through the water. I was delighted. I mean, all your life you're told not to do that.
Then, I got put down to do hydrotherapy on a Tuesday morning. This was right after breakfast club with the occupational therapists (no one got the film reference!), so it was a double fun morning. The physios used to take me and 2 other patients to the hospital's small hydropool (a hydropool is heated warmer than a normal pool). I had to be dunked in using the ceiling hoist as I couldn't use the steps. I found this hoist rather fun; it went quite high, I felt like an actor being wenched in a harness for a musical. Here in the water I could practise floating, to try and encourage my right side to relax and stop kicking in and overcompensating for the weaker left side. I also practised walking, with the water holding my body-weight. I found this a challenge because my left leg was much more buoyant, with its lack of forceful movement, so my foot kept floating as I tried to place it.
Rachel helped by walking in the water with me, alongside a physio called Alison. Because I couldn't float on my back alone, I had to rest my head in someone's shoulder, whilst someone else helped my feet. Physio student Becky came in with us, and therapy assistant Kerri had to wait at the poolside. The other physios would often come and go. Soon the other patients went home, so there were weeks of just me in the pool. Not that I messed around more with all that attention. I used to insist I had my splash time before and after being serious, to get it out the way. The speech therapist had told me to practise bubbling water, I said. Also, I did not know if I'd be able to go swimming when I left the hospital, so I had to get my fun in now. We played with any inflatables we found at the poolside as well, and I made a Disney playlist. We knew how to have a good time, but we did work too!
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